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Linda Jacobson/Education Dive
Education Dive
State ed chiefs rethinking accountability during COVID-19
Naaz Modan
Oct. 7, 2020
Dive Brief:
State education leaders should think about leveraging information from
accountability systems mainly to put in place support initiatives for
school improvement, according to leaders who attended a webinar Tuesday
hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers, rather than using
it to make claims about school performance.
Missing data from the 2020-21 school year will impact accountability
systems that rely on multiyear indicators, they said. And even when
data is collected, its meaning and interpretation will change if states
adopt models like skip-year growth, which would look at ways to
calculate improvement for based on 2019 assessment data.
In the meantime, reverting systems to the status quo is a "bridge too
far" for this year, said Chris Domaleski, associate director of the
Center for Assessment. But states may have to transition back by
phasing in accountability in its legacy form when the time comes.
Dive Insight:
The skip-year growth approach, Domaleski said, is "a promising model"
being explored in a number of states. (Domaleski and other panelists
didn't discuss other models during the webinar.) However, even with new
models, states need time to research and evaluate data collected in
2020-21 before the information is used for high-stakes purposes.
In the near term, states can collect and evaluate legacy and new data
to understand the pandemic's impact and identify areas where states and
districts can partner to address challenges. Ways accountability could
be modified in 2021 include:
Changing indicators.
Revising classification categories (like focusing on entry/exit of
schools most in need, but not reporting full range of letter grades).
Changing design decisions (like how indicators are aggregated).
Revising support strategies.
Adding district-level indicators and reports.
Changing reporting plans (like modifying reports to guard against
unintended interpretations and create interpretation guidelines).
In the long term, states could focus on designing, developing,
implementing and evaluating new systems that incorporate 2020-21 data.
Accountability and assessment experts urged states to build in time to
review "operational" data from this school year before making final
decisions on how it will be used and interpreted, considering current
data will be used to make important decisions around resources and
support.
Experts also agree using standard accountability systems is unlikely
this year, especially considering changing variables like absenteeism,
graduation and attendance rates due to COVID-19. In a September letter
to chief state school officers, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said
the U.S. Department of Education will be open to discussions around
accountability flexibilities, especially when it comes to using
assessment data as part of accountability metrics.
When asked to comment, the Education Department said it had no new
updates on accountability flexibilities. Domaleski said there has been
no communication from the department suggesting there will be
accountability waivers, but that states understand the department is
open to addendums and amendments.
Juan D'Brot, senior associate at the Center for Assessment, said during the webinar he expects there to be some guidance "soon."
But either way, data collected this year will help inform states about
whether resetting the data trendline might be necessary, or if there is
reason to maintain the baseline for performance and goal-setting in the
long term, he added.
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