Engaging in Process Evaluations to Assess Local School Accountability Systems

• In Event: Evaluating Accountability Systems and Local Accountability Initiatives

Abstract

To counter test-based school accountability designed by states to meet federal requirements, local accountability initiatives have grown exponentially in school districts across the country. Local accountability taken up by school districts tend to emphasize improvement efforts and highlight the use for “actionable” rather than lagged data used in state-designed school accountability to help improve schools. Although local accountability initiatives commonly include actionable data, scant work has been done to monitor whether these indicators and new approaches to accountability are meeting stated improvement objectives. This paper shares learnings from evaluating local accountability efforts taking place in two school districts and highlights the utility of engaging in process evaluations for districts and schools seeking to engage in this work.

Authors

• Elena K. Diaz-Bilello, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Kaitlin Mork, University of Colorado - Boulder