Toward a Framework for Public Accountability in Education Reform (original) (raw)

2020, Educational Researcher

Public accountability through information disclosure is a pillar of modern education reform efforts. Despite the ubiquity of this approach, we argue that public accountability in education is undertheorized and often predictably unlikely to achieve its intended policy goals. Drawing on examples from an equity-oriented court case in California and the literatures on democratic engagement and parent use of school performance data, we propose a framework for thinking about the design of public accountability systems in education. The framework could provide guidance for policymakers considering new efforts at improving schools through the production and dissemination of educational data.

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It's Complicated: Rethinking Education Reform And Accountability At The Intersection Of Federal, State And Local Policy

2019

This thesis demonstrates that successful education reform can be achieved only by a concurrently implemented policy that addresses issues in education which focus on quality and equity at the local, state and federal levels of government. This paper shows that current student performance data provides evidence for the failure of previous reforms that focus on a broadreaching simplistic approach to reform focused on high stakes accountability finance and testing. Building on this evidence and on the existing literature discussing accountability, this thesis proposes five principles for education policy. However, the complex system of decentralized governance in the United States demands the coordination between federal, state and local lawmakers to draw cohesive policy at each level that will combat the nationwide achievement gap while being cautious of over testing. A methodological approach utilizing literature review, qualitative and quantitative analysis of legislation, and evalu...

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Response to " Redesigning Systems of School Accountability " : Addressing Underlying Inequities

Education Policy Analysis Archaives, 2018

As Bae (2018) suggests, one way to fill gaps between a holistic view of student learning and accountability policy implementation is to use multiple measures that reflect diverse perspectives of learning. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a discussion of issues, which need to be considered in order to achieve the desired outcomes of greater equity and transparency through these broader accountability efforts. In this commentary, we address equity issues related to Bae's argument and propose that taking action regarding existing inequities in terms of access to resources, and including traditionally excluded voices are crucial to ensuring that new accountability systems meet their intended goal of shared responsibility for deeper learning and continuous improvement.

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Post-Accountability Accountability

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 2018

Over the past few decades, parental choice has exploded in the United States. Yet, despite early proponents’ hopes that parental choice would eliminate the need to regulate school quality — since parents’ choices would serve an accountability function — demands to use the law to hold chosen schools accountable for their academic performance are central features of education-reform debates today. This is an opportune time to consider the issue of academic accountability and parental choice. Parental choice has gained a firm foothold in the American educational landscape. As it continues to expand, debates about accountability for chosen schools will only intensify. The questions of whether, when, and how the law ought to regulate the quality of the schools participating in parental-choice programs are important and vexing ones for the law of education. This Article examines these questions and proposes principles to guide regulatory design efforts.

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