Setting the Record Straight on Charter Schools and Achievement: A Reply to Francesca Lopez
At CRPE, we appreciate and encourage scholarly debate. However, a recent review by the National Education Policy Center of one of our reports went well beyond that to misrepresent the report and malign the analysis. I’ve offered the authors of our report—Dr. Julian Betts and Dr. Y. Emily Tang of the University of California San […]
Time to Take Stock on Charter Authorizing
I had the opportunity to speak about the future of charter authorizing to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), the agency staff and board members who select, oversee, and regulate charter schools. It was a nice chance to reflect on how far performance-based charter oversight has progressed, and where it needs to go. […]
Accountability: It’s In the Eye of the Beholder
When it comes to school accountability, different people see the same events differently. It’s all in the eye of the beholder. When a school district closes a school with persistently low student outcomes, is it punishing the teachers? Or is it acting to protect the children in the school from a damaging experience? The answer […]
What’s Next for Accountability?
Today, we wrap up our blog series on accountability prompted by a paper and statement of principles released last week. Thanks to guest bloggers and co-signers James Merriman, Joanne Weiss, Sandy Kress, and Jane Hannaway for weighing in with their thoughts about where accountability systems need to go next. Join the conversation on Twitter: #TheNewAccountability […]
Measuring the Health of the Charter Movement Is Important to Get Right
Today the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report looking at what outcomes charter schools are achieving in different states and what might explain the variation. This report is the first of its kind and offers a starting point for tackling these important questions, but I can’t say I have any real confidence […]
It’s All About Improvement
Schools have long been held accountable for how they carry out their activities. State and local authorities require students to take certain courses, minutes of classroom instruction are specified, limits on the ratio of students to teachers are set, textbooks are approved, and teachers leading instructional activities are certified by the state. Such procedural standards […]
Fix the Problems, but Don’t Retreat on Accountability
Talking with this group over the last few months about the future of school accountability has been a pleasure but also reassuring. The fact that education leaders like these are still committed to the basic, critical elements of school accountability shows that this important work will continue. For almost two decades, school accountability has focused […]
The Long Road to Accountability
School accountability matters. In a country founded on the dream that any child can grow up to be whatever she wants to be, accountability provides a measuring stick to judge how well schools are doing at giving each child—and every type of child—a fair shot at a good future. In a fast-changing world where the […]
Feeling Our Way to Solid Ground
Preparing for a hiking trip brings you face-to-face with the world of trade-offs. You weigh, literally and figuratively, every ounce of what you put in your pack, trying to decide if the comfort something might bring in camp is worth the discomfort of hauling it up there in the first place. Designing a state accountability […]
A New Start on Accountability
Today, Paul Hill, Robin Lake, and Michael Petrilli kick off a blog series intended to prompt a productive dialogue around fixing school accountability systems. Join the conversation on Twitter: #TheNewAccountability Read “An Open Letter On School Accountability” Every child should be in a school where he or she can learn effectively. That’s not a controversial […]