Maintaining Accountability

Our newsletter topic for January is “Foresight Should be 20/20.” This week, we consider academic goal setting and the accountability to the school community for student success through the board.

When Congress replaced the No Child Left Behind Act with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, federal law moved forward with evaluating student success as more than just academic achievement in math and reading scores. While standardized tests are important, graduation rates and school quality factors such as college readiness or consistent attendance also have a role to play. Combined with the World’s Best Workforce goals, the Minnesota State Plan under ESSA emphasizes equity in education and continuous improvement over punishing and prescriptive federal mandates.

Schools are required by the state to enact through their board an accountability policy that applies state and federal requirements to their own local goals and strategies. Emphasis in the policy ought to be on the board’s engagement in setting, reviewing, and reporting on goals and progress with broader student, teacher, and family engagement to ensure total community accountability for student success. Along with reviewing the policy annually for goal updates and progress, scheduling a regular community engagement session to present the State of the School can both facilitate results sharing and enable feedback on the board’s goals. If you need assistance with executing an engagement strategy, setting goals, or even reviewing policies, be sure to use our free consultation service to meet the accountability expectations of your community!