Top News Stories
UFT proposes new accountability system
Mar 27, 2008 4:36 PM
‘Multiple measures’ replace test-based accountability in new vision
UFT President Randi Weingarten explains the UFT-developed accountability system at the breakfast of the Association for a Better New York.
Hoping to promote a fairer, more accurate and more transparent approach to evaluating schools, UFT President Randi Weingarten unveiled a new UFT-developed accountability report on March 13 that goes far beyond test scores in judging school effectiveness.
Addressing a breakfast of the Association for a Better New York (ABNY) that included chief executives, political leaders, university presidents, a former mayor and top Department of Education deputies, Weingarten called for a “360-degree” accountability system that considers not only test scores but multiple measures of school performance and environment, as well as indicators of DOE accountability.
Teachers “do not fear being held accountable for the achievement of our students,” Weingarten said. But unlike the narrow, test-based accountability that No Child Left Behind has fostered, the UFT’s proposal, she said, “looks at what makes a school a place where every parent wants to send their child and every teacher wants to work — a school that is safe, collegial, and well-supported — one that educates not only every child, but the whole child.”
Four pillars
The new report, developed pursuant to a Delegate Assembly resolution in November, identifies four “pillars” of school success, with separate grades for each. Academic achievement is the first pillar, including not only achievement and progress on standardized tests but also the richness of the curriculum. The other three pillars are school safety and order; teamwork and collaboration focused on achievement; and the Department of Education’s own responsibility for providing resources and oversight to the schools.
“It is ultimately the department’s responsibility to build school capacity —both physical capital and human capital,” Weingarten said. “Capacity-building, not finger-pointing, is an essential component of managing the city’s public schools.”
The speech, Weingarten’s third before ABNY in her 10 years as UFT president, created a stir among city leaders, editorial boards and educators. The speech was widely viewed as signaling Weingarten’s concerns both with the current DOE School Progress Reports and with No Child Left Behind, as well as her willingness to be part of an effort to restore balance to schools’ instructional programs, which the union believes became too narrowly focused on test prep.
The UFT created three prototype accountability reports, for elementary, middle and high schools.
The day after the speech, City Council Member David Yassky, who attended the speech, said he planned to introduce a bill that would turn the UFT proposal into law. “I think this got it just right,” he said.
The DOE Progress Reports, which came out in mid-November, provoked confusion and worry across the school system, and Weingarten said at the time she hoped they were “the first and not the last word on what constitutes a Progress Report.”
Unfair and confusing
About 85 percent of a school’s grade was derived from standardized test scores. In many cases the grades seemed unfair, for example heavily penalizing schools for fractional declines in test scores. In addition, the grading system proved difficult to understand. In an editorial, The New York Times called the single letter grade each school received “simplistic and counterproductive.” What’s more, the city’s grades were frequently at odds with the state and federal accountability assessments.
“I know 20 schools on Staten Island. Most of the grades for those schools don’t feel right,” said Jackie Bennett, an English teacher who helped develop the UFT’s proposal. “Single grades for complex institutions rarely do feel right. At a minimum, the DOE must take into account data from several years.”
Several days before Weingarten was scheduled to speak at ABNY, the DOE announced it was reviewing its Progress Reports and planned some changes. But while she welcomed the review, Weingarten said the DOE changes didn’t go far enough.
A UFT team headed by vice presidents Aminda Gentile and Leo Casey developed three prototype accountability reports, for elementary, middle and high schools. Each starts with a detailed school “portrait” that shows student and teacher demographics, the principal’s experience, the school budget, the condition of the building, support services, the availability of computers, and similar measures. In other words, as the introduction states, it presents “a full context for learning.”
Schools are compared to broad categories of other schools with similar student characteristics. In most cases, academic achievement includes three years of data to control for the random ups and downs of test scores. (Kindergarten through 2nd grades are evaluated differently, emphasizing school readiness measures and age-appropriate curriculum.) Measures of academic progress, disaggregated by general ed, special ed, English Language Learners and Title I-eligible students, are another large part of the academics grade, and a third area evaluates the school’s curriculum, using information from parent, teacher and student surveys and the observations of a Quality Review Team.
The school’s overall environment
Again, using results from the DOE’s Learning Environment Surveys and an independent review team, the school’s second and third pillars look at school environment factors including safety and order, the existence of a positive, team-oriented approach to student discipline, parent involvement and collaboration among the adults to improve student achievement.
The fourth pillar gives a close look at whether the DOE has provided adequate resources and support for manageable class sizes, professional development, guidance, support services and facilities (such as gyms, labs and libraries). It also looks at whether the department has provided curricula in all subject areas and ensured the school meets federal, state and local mandates.
Weingarten welcomed suggestions for improvements and changes to the reports. “It’s not that we want to be right; we want to get it right,” she told the audience. “And ultimately, if we do get this accountability system right … chances are that it can serve as a model for other urban school districts.”
Many teachers welcomed the new reports. “What you are proposing will hopefully open up the eyes and ears of the DOE, to get it right this time. Thank you,” one wrote to Weingarten.
