- WASHINGTON (AP) _ Schools
get report cards now and more students take tests to prove they've mastered
their lessons, but a new study reveals that few states have tough policies
to hold schools accountable for results. A nationwide study released Thursday
by the publication Education Week says 48 states now test students to see
if they've learned material taught, and 36 states publish report cards
on individual schools, but only a handful have comprehensive policies to
reward success and identify failure. ``An analysis of statewide efforts
shows that most are skirting the edges of a serious accountability system,''
the study says. In the early 1990s, states began to set education standards
for the knowledge and skills educators believe students should know at
certain grade levels. States developed tests to find out whether students,
teachers and schools were making the grade. Now, the focus has shifted
to figuring out what to do when students or schools don't meet the standards.
``If you look at the 50-state picture, we're at a very, very perilous stage,''
says Richard Elmore, a professor at Harvard University's Graduate School
of Education. ``The progress at the state and local levels is very uneven,
and the systems are much slower to develop and much more complicated than
a lot of reformers expected them to be.'' Among the study's findings: _Nineteen
states, or fewer than half, publicly rate the performance of all schools,
or at least identify low-performing ones. _Sixteen states have the authority
to close, take over or overhaul failing schools. _Fourteen states offer
financial rewards for individual schools based on performance. _Nineteen
states require students to pass state tests to graduate from high school.
_Two states have tried to tie the evaluation of individual teachers to
student performance. Chester Finn Jr., an education official under President
Reagan and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation in Washington,
said people generally have two schools of thought on accountability: Those
_ often educators _ who think that performance will improve if students
are given enough resources and support, and those _ often business people
and elected officials _ who think schools need external pressure to succeed.
Connecticut, for instance, publishes report cards on all schools, including
their marks on statewide tests. The state also offers grants to school
districts that have improved over time, but has no explicit sanctions for
schools that don't improve. By contrast, Texas schools and districts can
receive cash awards for top performance, but also could be taken over if
their achievement falls below a certain level. High school students in
Texas must pass state graduation tests. Education schools can lose their
accreditation if too many of their students fail teacher-licensing tests.
There also is a system to link teachers' evaluations to schoolwide test
scores. A survey by Public Agenda, a public opinion research group, also
published in Education Week, indicates that most teachers disapprove of
tying financial incentives for teachers to student improvement or replacing
the faculties at failing schools. The survey's 2,600 interviews were done
with public school teachers, parents of public school students, children
in public middle or high schools, college professors who taught freshmen
and sophomores in the last two years and employers who hire for entry-level
positions. Done in October and November 1998, the survey had a margin of
error of plus or minus 6 percentage points for employers and college professors
and 4 percentage points for other groups. In the survey, 60 percent of
employers and 53 percent of parents favor tying financial incentives for
teachers and principals to student improvement. But only 22 percent of
teachers said this was a good idea.
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