Authorizer Resource: Measuring School Quality in Multiple Ways

| By | Categorized: Commentary

Authorizer Resource: Measuring School Quality in Multiple Ways

| By | Categorized: Commentary

Evaluating charter school performance to ensure school accountability is at the heart of authorizing. Measuring school quality is multifaceted work. To do it well, authorizers work with schools to set the right performance goals and expectations and then gather the right information. We need disaggregated data on student literacy and numeracy, including growth and proficiency on statewide and other standardized assessments. We also need to look at graduation and attendance rates, as well as performance on college-readiness assessments. Finally, we ALSO need additional measures that can tell us more, in order to comprehensively measure school quality.

NACSA and our partners have been working on innovative ways to evolve definitions of school quality. Using multiple measures is a “BOTH/AND” approach for measuring school quality: BOTH long-used and normed measures AND new measures of measuring school quality that are school- and/or mission-specific. 

In essence, multiple measures is the future of school accountability. 

NACSA’s Multiple Measures Readiness Assessment is designed for schools and authorizers to decide together if they are ready to begin using multiple measures.

Engaging in a multiple measures approach to accountability is both challenging and worthwhile. Many authorizers and schools have embarked on this work—trying approaches that may be imperfect—and are committed to iterating and strengthening the work together. Authorizers can also start small, with one school that seems most ready, or a small cohort of schools that can learn with you together. 

While a multiple measures type of accountability system may take more time and effort up front, having more useful data on student performance can help with decision making later. This Multiple Measures Readiness Assessment, alongside our resources and guidance, will help you get started. 

Using multiple measures of charter school quality is valuable work. When we have a full picture of school quality, then schools, authorizers, and parents are equipped to make better informed, more sustainable decisions that benefit students.

NACSA and our partners have been working on innovative ways to evolve definitions of school quality, including Multiple Measures. Multiple Measures is a both/and accountability system: BOTH long-used and normed measures AND new measures of school quality that are school- and/or mission-specific. 

In essence, Multiple Measures is the future of school accountability. 

Multiple Measures Readiness Assessment

 


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