Reporting School Quality in Standards-Based Accountability Systems

I T is commonplace to talk about education in the United States as 50 separate educational systems. The vast differences in state accountability systems exemplify that characterization, with virtually no two comparable assessment programs at this point in time. Unfortunately, this variation results in our learning less from research on state testing programs than we would hope. Nevertheless, given policymakers’ and educators’ plans to expand accountability, we need to develop better designs, evaluations, and redesigns of assessment and accountability systems. This policy brief builds on the issues of school accountability and reporting discussed in recent CRESST work (Linn, 1998, 2001; Linn & Baker, 1999).