EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM

This is one of the four bills for which I am the prime sponsor; I am co-sponsoring the bill with Republican Senator Keith King. The bill will also be co-sponsored by a Democrat and Republican in the House: Representatives Karen Middleton and Tom Massey. This bill is one of the most significant education reforms that the state has made in nearly a decade.

The bill makes substantial changes to our state accountability system. It repeals the law requiring schools to have a School Accountability Report, which has been using a one-word rating (Unsatisfactory, Low, Average, High, and Excellent) based on an average of the school’s CSAP tests. Instead, it aligns state accountability with our new procedure for the Accreditation of schools and districts, using student growth from year to year on statewide assessments to determine whether schools and districts are performing adequately. The new system will use online reporting, on the CDE website as well as local district websites, rather than the paper SAR, which has been mailed to parents.

In addition to a longitudinal assessment of student growth from year to year, the new accountability system will look at achievement gaps (of poor and minority students) and postsecondary readiness (based on ACT scores and graduation rates). Schools or districts that are not meeting targets in these areas will be required to develop an Improvement Plan – which will be written with the help of the Accountability Committee. If the Improvement Plan fails to work after several years, the school or district must develop a Turnaround Plan, with state oversight. If that is unsuccessful, restructuring will be required.

Because the new accountability system utilizes an extensive database of information and requires the state to provide support and intervention for low-performing schools, it gives Colorado essential components that allow us to qualify for a significant amount of federal funding under the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It will also qualify us to meet some very specific requirements for the Race to the Top grant, which will go to only a few states.