How Does an Accountability Program that Targets Achievement Gaps Affect Student Performance?

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-74
Author(s):  
Steven W. Hemelt ◽  
Brian A. Jacob
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
School Reforms ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Core Requirements ◽  
Differentiated Accountability ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education granted states the opportunity to apply for waivers from the core requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. In exchange, many states implemented systems of differentiated accountability that included a focus on schools with the largest achievement gaps between subgroups of students. We use administrative data from Michigan in a series of regression-discontinuity analyses to study the effects of these school reforms on schools and students. We find some evidence that targeting schools for such reforms led to small, short-run reductions in the within-school math achievement gap. However, these reductions were driven by stagnant performance of lower-achieving students alongside declines in the performance of their higher-achieving peers. These findings serve as a cautionary tale for the capacity of the accountability provisions embedded in the recent reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the Every Student Succeeds Act, to meaningfully improve student and school outcomes.

Look Back: The feds, the states, and Kappan

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-7
Author(s):  
Teresa Preston
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Federal Mandates ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Federal Department ◽  
Education Act ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Across the decades, the balance of power between the federal government, states, and local districts has shifted numerous times, and Kappan authors have weighed in on each of those shifts. Kappan Managing Editor Teresa Preston traces those shifts, beginning with the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which gave the federal government a larger role in public education. Further expansion occurred under the Carter administration, with the launch of the new federal Department of Education. As the new department continued operations under Reagan, its priorities expanded, but actual decision-making authority reverted to states. States, in turn, began involving themselves more with instructional and curricular matters, a trend that eventually made its way back to the federal level, with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Under NCLB, federal mandates had the effect of requiring state and local levels to take on additional responsibilities, without necessarily having the capacity to do so. This capacity issue remains a concern under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The happy (and not so happy) accidents of Bush-Obama school reform

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Hess ◽  
Michael Q. McShane
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Common Core ◽  
School Reforms ◽  
Achievement Testing ◽  
Data Systems ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Policy Ideas ◽  
The Common ◽  
Unexpected Outcomes

Drawing upon their new edited volume of essays looking back on the school reforms of the Bush and Obama years, the authors explain just how few of those reforms went according to plan. Some of the unexpected outcomes were positive, they note, pointing to the improvement of school data systems and the bipartisan compromise that put an end to No Child Left Behind. Some of them were negative, such as a public backlash against achievement testing in general and the implementation of the Common Core in particular. And all of them should lead reformers to question their own certainty about how their policy ideas will play out.

Why Connecticut Sued the Federal Government over No Child Left Behind

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 564-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Formative Assessments ◽  
Closing The Achievement Gap ◽  
Financial Responsibility ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Summative Assessments

In April 2005, Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal filed the first lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In this essay, Attorney General Blumenthal presents Connecticut's reasons for legally challenging NCLB. He argues that prior to ratification of the act, Connecticut had been nationally recognized for its assessment program aimed at closing the achievement gap and increasing accountability. NCLB mandates that require testing at all grade levels would force Connecticut to replace its formative assessments with summative assessments and divert their limited educational funds from supplementary educational programs to the expansion of the state's testing office. Blumenthal argues that NCLB's unfunded testing mandates are illegal and may prove detrimental to Connecticut students' academic achievement. While he strongly supports the goals of NCLB, Blumenthal concludes that if schools are to achieve those goals, it is imperative that the federal government allow for flexibility and assume financial responsibility for implementation of NCLB.

scholarly journals Research on Teacher Evaluation: A Review of Statute, Regulation and Litigation in the Region

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen M. Hazi
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Limited research has been done to examine teacher evaluation in rural schools. This article presents an analysis of legislation and regulation of teacher evaluation in selected rural states, highlights their commonalities and differences, reports their litigation, and speculates on potential problems that can result in rural schools. It ends with recommendations for states to consider now that the Every Student Succeeds Act (formerly No Child Left Behind) has passed, and states have the option to reconsider their teacher evaluation plans.

School Accountability

2018 ◽  
pp. 520-550
Author(s):  
Morgan Polikoff ◽  
Shira Korn
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Accountability ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Accountability Policy ◽  
Improve Student Achievement ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

This chapter summarizes the history and effects of standards-based school accountability in the United States and offers suggestions for accountability policy moving forward. It analyzes standards-based accountability in both the No Child Left Behind Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act, and discusses the effects of accountability systems. The authors argue that school accountability systems can improve student achievement, but that unintended consequences are possible. How accountability systems are designed—the metrics and measures used and the consequences for performance—has both symbolic and practical implications for the efficacy of the system and the individuals affected. Synthesizing what is known about the design of school accountability systems, the authors propose policy choices that can improve the validity, reliability, transparency, and fairness of these systems.

scholarly journals School Performance, Accountability, and Waiver Reforms: Evidence From Louisiana

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Dee ◽  
Elise Dizon-Ross
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
School Performance ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
School Reforms ◽  
Performance Effects ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Differentiated Accountability ◽  
The Impact

States that receive federal waivers to the No Child Left Behind Act were required to implement reforms in designated “Focus Schools” that contribute to achievement gaps. We examine the performance effects of such “differentiated accountability” reforms in Louisiana. These Focus School reforms emphasized school-needs assessments and aligned technical assistance. These reforms may have also been uniquely high-powered because they were linked to a letter-based school-rating system. We examine the impact of these reforms in a sharp regression-discontinuity (RD) design. We find that, over each of 3 years, Louisiana’s Focus School reforms had no measurable impact on school performance. We discuss evidence that these findings reflect policy reform fatigue and poor quality of implementation at the state and local level.

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