What forms of community oversight are feasible for a nimble system that features collaboration among K–12, higher education, and business? What minimum measurements of student progress, program outcomes, and equity are necessary? Is it possible to prevent measurement from becoming de facto regulation? Will information and alert advocacy be enough to protect students, or will “hard” forms of accountability (e.g., closure or delicensing of schools and instruction providers) still be necessary? In this essay, Paul Hill develops the idea of integrated “light governance” of local schools, colleges, learning pathways, and special courses, based primarily on providing information, but with some power to remedy abuses.
“A nimble system must be open to experimentation and tolerate some failure, but it ultimately can’t leave results, on which the welfare of children and communities depend, to chance,” writes Hill.
Explore other essays in this collection: Thinking Forward: New Ideas for a New Era of Public Education
PANEL DISCUSSION – Accountability and Governance in a Customized System
How can families and communities know whether children are learning, and help students avoid ineffective schools and instructional programs while encouraging innovation and personalization? What minimum measurements of student progress, program outcomes, and equity are necessary, and how can these be used without creating a culture of compliance? What might this require of states?
- Sandy Kress – Attorney and Accountability Expert (We apologize for the low sound volume from 6:00 – 13:07 due to technical difficulties.)
- Susan Patrick – CEO, iNACOL
- Trish Millines Dziko – Co-founder and Executive Director, Technology Access Foundation
- Caleb Offley – Senior Advisor, K–12 Education, Walton Family Foundation
- Moderator: Paul Hill – Founder, CRPE
This panel occurred on Nov. 8 as part of the Center on Reinventing Public Education’s 25th-anniversary event in Seattle.
Related Posts
- Removing the Boundaries Between High School, College, and Career by Robin Lake and Betheny Gross (07/27/18)
- How Can Public School Students Get the Personalization that Private Schools Offer? by Paul Hill (05/22/18)
- How Can We Get Serious About Successful Pathways for Every Student? by Robin Lake (04/30/18)
