From Accountability/Prediction to Systems Improvement: Interorganizational Learning and the Transformation of Early Warning Indicators

• In Event: The Interplay of Discourse, Policy, and Perception in Education Inequities

Abstract

In 2002, around 2,000 high schools graduated less than 60 percent of their freshman class—many of these hurting racial minorities in predominantly urban districts. However, many districts have seen significant double- digit increases in graduation rates, some argue because of early warning indicators (EWIs) that predict and address students at risk of dropping out. Using interviews (n=95) and various documents, I show how the emphasis of EWIs shifted, moving across four inter-related systems: (1) accountability, (2) data prediction, (3) student intervention, and (4) school improvement system. The paper highlights interorganizational learning and the transformation of technologies of accountability in the context of challenges to accountability, greater autonomy of schools, updated theories of instructional improvement, and move away from deficit- based thinking.

Author

• Jose Eos Trinidad, University of California - Berkeley