Accountability, choice and transparency are the essential trinity of principles by which to reconstruct America’s schools. Each must be in place for the others to work. In combination, they transform the education system’s priorities, power relationships, and incentive structures.
-Our Schools and Our Future Koret Task Force on K-12 Education
Accountability Accountability is the idea that teachers and schools should be held responsible for the quality of education that children receive. Individual schools and teachers should earn rewards or, if necessary, face the consequences of inadequate instruction. These measurements should be based on student test results as the measure for a school’s academic performance. Read more about Accountability.
Transparency Transparency means that parents should have readily accessible and understandable information on the quality of their children’s schools and teachers. Currently, Arkansas grades schools with vague terms like “needs improvement.” Clear information is necessary for parents to make good decisions about their children’s educations. Read more about Transparency.
Choice Choice means that parents should be able to move their children from schools that do not give their children an adequate education. Students should have the opportunity to move from failing schools to any public school that can provide them with a better quality educational product. Read more about Choice.
Value Added Education Value Added Education is a way to measure each student’s academic progress from year to year. These programs let principals and teachers know how much educational value a student has gained within a single school year. North Carolina and Tennessee both have implemented value added education in their schools and they have found it to be beneficial in identifying students for intervention, holding teachers and schools accountable, and offering parents clear information on their children’s schools. Read more about Value Added Education.
Student Interventions In a value added system, schools will be prepared to identify students struggling in their studies early enough to intervene and provide those students with the necessary tools to compete with their peers. Read more about Student Interventions.
