ERIC ED456147: Accountability Dialogues: School Communities Creating Demand from Within.

66 Pages·2001·0.79 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 456 147
TM 033 210
AUTHOR
Jamentz, Kate
TITLE
Accountability Dialogues: School Communities Creating Demand
from Within.
INSTITUTION
WestEd, San Francisco, CA.
SPONS AGENCY
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),
Washington, DC.
ISBN
ISBN-0-914409-05-0
PUB DATE
2001-00-00
NOTE
65p.; Developed from the work of the Western Assessment
Collaborative at WestEd. Companion videotape not available
from ERIC.
CONTRACT
RJ96006901
AVAILABLE FROM
WestEd, 730 Harrison St., San Francisco, CA, 94107-1242.
Tel: [phone]; toll-free: 877-403-7833; Web site:
http://wested.org.
PUB TYPE
Guides
Non-Classroom (055)
Reports
Descriptive (141)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Accountability; *Educational Change; Elementary Secondary
Education; *Evaluation Methods; Parent Participation;
Program Evaluation; School Districts; Standards
IDENTIFIERS
Standard Setting
ABSTRACT
This document introduces a new school accountability
mechanism, the Accountability Dialogue. An Accountability Dialogue
brings
together educators, parents, and the larger school community
to:
(1)
establish standards for school and student performance;
(2) determine how the
school is doing in relation to those standards;
(3) investigate the
conditions that contribute to the school's strengths and
weaknesses; and (4)
plan how to address the areas where improvement is needed. The
Western
Assessment Collaborative worked for 5 years with a set of districts
and
schools in their efforts to implement standards-based reform.
By drawing on a
multiplicity of perspectives and sources of data, Accountability
Dialogues
acknowledge, rather than ignore, each of the challenges raised by
large-scale
external accountability systems. At the same time that Accountability
Dialogues accelerate the implementation of standards and facilitate
the use
of data to plan improvements, they also upset the traditional
ways in which
educators have related to parents, the community, and
one another. The
greatest promise of Accountability Dialogues lies in their potential
to
strengthen the relationships that are essential to sustained school
improvement. Appendix A contains a checklist for planning and
conducting
Accountability Dialogues, and Appendix B contains overheads
to introduce
concepts of accountability and Accountability Dialogues. Appendix C contains
materials for assisting participants to look at student performance
data.
(Contains 12 references.)
(SLD)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS
are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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ialogus
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
DiCENTER (ERIC)
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ur.
rhis document has been reproduced as
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'C
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Points of view or opinions stated in this
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d
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PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
BEEN GRANTED BY
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TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
1
IS
Kate Jamentz
Wes d
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Accountability
Dialogues
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Kate Jamentz
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Improving education through researa, development, and service .
3
2091 West Ed.. All rights reserved.
West Ed is a nonprofit research, development; and
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Library of Congress Card Number: 00-111507
ISBN.: 0-914409-05-0
This document was produced in whole or in part
with funds from the Office of Educational
Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of
Education, under contract number W96006901. Its
contents do not necessarily reflect the views or
policies of the Depdrtment of Education.
4
ttit
Introduction
5
A New School Accountability Mechanism
5
6
Figure 1. From Accounting to Accountability
7
Acknowledgments
11
Part One. Why Accountability Dialogues?
Serious Questions about Large-Scale Accountability Systems
12
A Question of Quality: What is a good school?
13
A Question of Measures:
What data should be used to determine quality?
13
A Question of Responsibility: Just who is responsible
14
for improving student performance?
A Question of Capacity: Do schools have what they need
15
to make improvements?
A Question of Motivation: Can commitment be mandated?
15
A Question of Consequences: Will these new systems actually
16
benefit students and increase student learning?
Accountability Dialogues: A New Way of Thinking
about Accountability
17
Figure 2. Stakeholders in an Accountability Dialogue
18
Figure 3. New Ways to Think about Accountability
18
2
Part Two. What Schools Are Learning about Accountability Dialogues
1
Accountability Dialogues Propel the Work of Standards-Based Reform
22
Establishing Agreements about What Students Should Know
22
and Be Able to Do
24
Parents as "Critical Friends"?
25
Building Strong Assessment Systems and Establishing Performance Standards
Increasing Understanding of the Conditions That Contribute
26
to or Inhibit Student Achievement
27
Figure 4. How Good Are Our Data?
28
The Power of the Informed
Increasing a Sense of Urgency and Efficacy to Improve Student Achievement
29
What IfYou Gave an Accountability Dialogue and Nobody Came?
30
Accountability Dialogues Challenge Traditional Roles and Relationships
33
Important New Roles for Parents
33
Increased Awareness of Diverse Perspectives
34
New Norms of Honest and Open Conversation
35
A Sense of Shared Responsibility and Demand from Within
36
Tackling the Challenges of Conducting Accountability Dialogues
39
Acknowledge New Roles and Relationships
39
Encourage Diverse Participation
40
Figure 5. Sample Norms for Accountability Dialogues
41
Amplify the Voice of All Participants
43
44
Integrate Dialogue into the Ongoing Work of the School
Figure 6 Anticipated Outcomes Over Time
45
47
Conclusion
What Do Dialogues Add to the Current Focus on Accountability?
47
Bibliography
51
Appendices
Appendix A: Checklist for Planning and Conducting Accountability Dialogues
53
Appendix B: Overheads to Introduce Concepts of Accountability and
Accountability Dialogues
61
Appendix C: Materials for Assisting Participants to Look at Student
Performance Data
67
6
WilT1
oucefiticno
1The call for greater school accountability will not be ignored. Journalists, politi-
cians, parents, educators, policyrnakers, and the public are all weighing in on
the theme. Presidents and governors are elected on promises to sanction low-
performing schools and reward successful ones. Mayors promote former military
leaders to run their schools, and new superintendents earn their stripes by
promising to "clean house" and rid the system of ineffective school leaders.
States threaten to take over low-performing school districts, districts to reconsti-
tute or reassign the staff of low-performing schools, and schools to withhold
diplomas from or retain students deemed unsuccessful. Top-down accountability
sends a clear message
"someone must pay."
Not surprisingly, this call for accountability has created considerable unrest
in the educational community. Critics of the public school system attribute this
unrest to what they see as the long-standing unwillingness of educators to accept
responsibility for the quality of schools and student performance. Many educa-
tors, on the other hand, acknowledge the need for greater accountability, but
question the fairness of many recently enacted plans and caution against their
unintended consequences. Recently adopted plans reinforce the idea that
accountability is something "done to" educators rather than a value sustained
from within the system and by the individuals who work there.
A New School
Accountability Mechanism
tffhis document introduces a new school accountability mechanism, the
Accountability Dialogue. An Accountability Dialogue brings educators, par-
ents, and the larger school community together to establish standards for school
and student performance, determine how the school is doing in relation to those
standards, investigate the conditions that contribute to the school's strengths and
weaknesses, and plan how to address those areas where improvement is
Introduction
5
ii
IMC61W11
Accou
Aceo
MOT
u&IITEy9
Assessment for ACCOUNTING
"Accounting refers to the act of gathering, organizing, and making
available for use any of a variety of information describing the
performance of the system."
Assessment for ACCOUNTABILITY
"Accountability takes that information and uses it to inform judgements
including planning
about performance and how it can be improved
and action."
ACCOUNTABILITY DIALOGUES
"The goal is to involve various constituencies in the construction of deep
and commonly held understandings about the performance of the system,
the reasons for the performance, the best possible ways of improving
performance, and the responsibilities of each in doing so."
Paul G. LeMahieu, "From Authentic Assessment to Authentic Accountability''
needed. Accountability Dialogues are forums through which schools and the
larger community strive to become partners in the effort to assure that every stu-
dent achieves to high standards. The dialogue is conducted on the premise that
this process .of professional and public engagement will help schools develop a
sense of internal accountability that will guide continuous improvement.
Under the auspices of the Regional Educational Laboratory at WestEd and
with generous support from the Stuart Foundation, the Western Assessment Col-
laborative (WAC) has worked for five years with a set of districts and schools in
their efforts to implement standards-based reform. Accountability Dialogues have
served an important role in these efforts.
In supporting schools to conduct Accountability Dialogues, WAC borrows
heavily from the work of Dr. Paul LeMahieu, currently Hawaii Superintendent of
Education. LeMahieu challenges schools to move beyond the practice of merely
"accounting" to the public about school performance and to understnd "authen-
tic accountability" as the act of taking responsible action to improve perfor-
mance. In the belief that not only educators, but also parents and the community
as a whole must take steps to assure that all students achieve to high standards,
8
Accountability Dialogues: School Communities Creating Demand from Within
6
LeMahieu urges schools to conduct public engagement processes designed to
"construct deep and commonly held understandings about the performance of
the system, the reasons for the performance, the best possible ways of improving
performance, and the responsibilities of each in doing so" (LeMahieu 1996) (see
Figure 1). Taking up this challenge, schools and districts in WAC's Kysoseil pro-
ject have conducted over 25 dialogue sessions to date.
Acknowledgments
'ff'his document describes how Accountability Dialogues have stimulated the
implementation of standards-based reforms as well as what has been learned
about the promise and challenges of this accountability mechanism. In present-
ing these findings, we wish to commend and thank the staffs and communities of
the following California schools and districts for their pioneering efforts with
Accountability Dialogues:
Parkside Elementary and Bayside Middle School, San Mateo-Foster City
School District;
Sedgwick and Stocklemyer Elementary Schools, Cupertino School District;
Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Wilson Elementary Schools, San Leandro Uni-
fied School District;
Montair Elementary School, San Ramon Valley Unified School District;
Irvington High School, Fremont Union High School District;
International Studies Academy High School, San Francisco Unified School
District;
Galt Joint Union Elementary School District; and
San Mateo-Foster City School District.
Thanks, too, to the staff of the Western Assessment Collaborative who sup-
ported these districts and schools in this work and contributed a great deal to
' The word kyosei is Japanese for cooperation. The project name was inspired by an article by
Ryuzaburo Kaku in which the author urges companies to adopt not only a commitment to
improvement, but an understanding of their responsibility to the larger community in which
they function (Kaku 1997).
Introduction
7
9
this publication. They include: Mary Camezon, Lori Van Houten, Gina Jaime,
John Larmer, and Trudy Schoneman.
In addition, we must acknowledge the Bay Area School Reform Collabora-
tive (BASRC), whose 83 leadership schools conducted Accountability Events as
part of their participation in the Hewlett-Annenberg Challenge.' The stories in
the pages that follow draw on what has been learned from those with whom we
have worked closely, as well as from sharing our work with the BASRC schools.
It is important to note that we are reporting our work with Accountability
Dialogues in midcourse; at this writing the impact of these conversations must be
considered promising, but incomplete. Our goal at this juncture is to provide
school, district, and community leaders with a vision of what it looks like to
bring the accountability conversation to the local level, and, in doing so, to cre-
ate what we believe can become a powerful vehicle for generating continuous
school improvement.
WAC at West Ed designed and conducted professional development on implementation of
standards-based reform and Accountability Dialogues for BASRC schools.
1 0
Accountability Dialogues: School Communities Creating Demand from Within
8