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Accountability
By accountability, we mean that every school or education provider – at least every one that accepts public dollars – subscribes to a coherent set of rigorous, statewide academic standards, statewide assessments of student and school performance, and statewide systems of incentives and interventions tied to academic results in relation to those standards.
-Our Schools and Our Future
Koret Task Force on K-12 Education
Testing: The Key to Accountability
Annual testing
Testing students annually gives educators a way to measure their students’ progress from year to year. Annual testing is the best way to identify and aid struggling students – and takes little time relative to the extensive gains it provides educators and students.
Longitudinal tracking
Longitudinal tracking can be thought of as a ladder with each rung representing a year of a child’s education. By testing every child each year, we can determine if a student is progressing at the same level as his peers, or if a classroom as a whole is in line with the national average in achievement. Students’ scores would be measured against their own scores last year instead of comparing fourth graders in 2001 to fourth graders in 2002, which is the current practice. Each student’s gain that year can be compared to other students gains in the class, district, state, and nation. Furthermore, longitudinal tracking utilizes a software program that only costs $2.50 per child each year. This program allows teachers and administrators to easily access the information online.
National normed test
The only way for Arkansans to know if their children are up to par academically is to compare them with children in other states. National normed tests give us a yardstick with which all children in the United States can be measured. While Arkansas’ test, the ACTAAP, is a great way to test curriculum, it cannot tell us if our children can read as well as children in California, Tennessee or even Mississippi. In addition, national normed tests are given to millions of students and are less expensive than state-specific tests. Trendline Graph of ACTAAP
End of course exams
End of course exams show if a student has or has not mastered the material taught in a course. Students who do not pass end of course exams need to remain in the class to learn important skills. Annual testing results will determine if student interventions are needed, thus allowing for opportunities to most effectively help the student before it is too late.
High School exit exam
Requiring students to pass exit exams before graduating from high school guarantees that they are equipped with the knowledge they need to succeed in the workforce or in higher education programs. Although exit exams are in place already in many of Arkansas' public high schools, students who do not pass these exams graduate from the school even if they earn a failing grade. If students are not held accountable to the exit exams, they will enter the workforce or higher education programs without the tools needed to succeed. Students in many states can take the exit exam multiple times. Requiring this for graduation will reduce the cost of college remediation.
Source: Software Monetary Cost Estimate from SAS and Schools Company, North Carolina
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