The Potential of More Comprehensive Metrics of School Quality: Evidence From an Experimental Deliberative Poll

• In Event: The Many Faces of High-Stakes Accountability

Abstract

While data from standardized tests can be informative, they are imperfect indicators of school quality, often distorting rather than clarifying. Parents and the public repeatedly express the need for information on teachers and the learning environment, school culture, resources, character and wellbeing outcomes in addition to indicators of academic learn. If a more robust set of measures were offered to parents and members of the community, would views of school quality change? In this paper, we explore the ways that parents and community members respond to school performance information using a modified experimental deliberative polling experience. We compare responses to two different sets of school quality data – existing state test score reports and a new, more comprehensive school report.

Authors

• Rebecca Jane Jacobsen, Michigan State University

• Jack Schneider, College of the Holy Cross

• Rachel White, Michigan State University

• David Casalaspi, Michigan State University