University News
Accountability in Education
February 19, 2008
MACOMB, IL -- "Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it." -- Marian Wright Edelman.
That opening line in the book, "Accountability for Results: the Realities of Data-Driven Decision Making," by Western Illinois University educational leadership faculty Sandra Watkins and Donna McCaw perfectly sums up the pair's feelings on education and sets the tone for the recently published book. "Accountability" addresses the most relevant questions that school board members, administrators and community stakeholders, including parents of elementary and secondary school students, need to ask to ensure academic and fiscal needs are being met.
"Research on professional development for teachers indicates little correlation between spending and student achievement. Teachers are often provided training with little or no monitoring for actual implementation, and this lack of follow-up and follow-through minimizes the positive impact on student achievement," McCaw and Watkins explained.
The idea for the book stemmed from the duo's individual and collaborative consulting work in school districts throughout the nation. What they were finding across the board was that many schools were simply "putting a bandage on problems" rather than finding real solutions and making decisions based on research and data. In 2005, McCaw and Watkins presented "20 Questions School Boards Need to Ask to Improve Student Achievement" at the National School Boards Association Conference. They were set up for 25 participants; they ended up with 350 people in the room and more than 100 standing outside. This was an "a-ha moment" for the pair.
"After that initial workshop, we received more than 100 e-mails from participants wanting more information. We were presenting at schools throughout the nation as a result of the Spring 2005 workshop, and in November of that year we had another standing room only presentation at the Illinois School Boards Association conference in Chicago," McCaw explained.
"All these things added up and told us that educators were hungry for information; we were frequently asked when we were going to write a book addressing the topics we had been presenting," Watkins added. "Our biggest issue -- and one that we see in almost every district we visit -- is that professional development for teachers often is not well-planned and is not based on outcomes. The decisions surrounding professional development and program implementation must be data-driven. At the onset of a new school year, principals and superintendents needs to have a well-designed professional development plan in place, which includes specific outcomes."
According to McCaw, it is as simple as "what gets measured gets done." For instance, in an all-day training focusing on customer service, a supervisor must also participate, and then he or she must follow-up to ensure the employees are practicing the new information.
"The follow-up by leadership is key," McCaw stressed.
Watkins pointed out another example: reading aloud is one of the most important acts a teacher can do. If teachers attend a workshop on reading aloud, the principal should participate in the training and then follow-up to make sure teachers are using the tools provided. It's only then can a district measure outcomes, such as "Are reading scores improving?", "Are children checking out books of various genres?" and "Is the school library seeing an increase in books checked out by a particular class?" When Watkins and McCaw present workshops for in-service days at schools, they require the principal to take part.
"It's about expectation and outcomes, and professional development for teachers is all about student achievement. It's all about results," Watkins said. "Administrators have to be in the training so they know what the teachers should be doing to help students achieve results."
Parents should also be involved in the accountability factor, Watkins and McCaw added. A chapter in the book, "Academically Gifted and Talented – Our Lost Generation," is dedicated to research on what schools should be doing to identify advanced learners. According to McCaw and Watkins, there is scant evidence of schools identifying and meeting the needs of those students who are advanced learners. If a parent is getting reports from the teacher that the child, for example, finishes his or her work with little effort and appears "unfocused" or "bored," the parent should follow up to determine what can be done to nurture the student's abilities.
"We're leaving advanced learners behind and often labeling them as attention deficit because they seem to lose focus. They aren't losing focus; they're bored. When a first grader is reading at a fifth grade level and the school is not providing that higher level of learning, they are not meeting the student's needs," Watkins emphasized.
Watkins added "No Child Left Behind is all about accountability and meeting the needs of all children. According to a report from The Office of Educational Research and Improvement, most regular classroom teachers make few, if any, provisions for talented students.
"In a country that believes in equal access to education as well as equity, meeting the needs of advanced and talented learners needs to become a higher priority," the pair said. "Is it not the ethical and the moral responsibility of school boards, administrators and teachers to provide challenging curriculum content where all students can thrive?"
While data-driven decision-making is not necessarily always the most popular option and certainly does not make decisions any easier, data-driven decisions are informed decisions and can help school districts ensure the success of the students they serve, McCaw said.
"What we are telling administrators, educators and school boards is that schools must teach to the whole child. Research is so clear that scores increase when schools focus on the whole child. This means physical education, art and music are essential to a student's success, yet schools cut these programs first without any real hard data," McCaw said. "It's frustrating for us when schools are only measuring success in math, science and reading and not measuring the benefits of the co-curricular programs. Researchers have substantial data connecting academic achievement and involvement in the arts. The College Board (2006) found within the subgroup of arts and music, the lowest scores on the SAT Critical Reading, Math and Writing were scored by students who did not participate in any coursework or have experiences in the arts and music."
Another sticking point for McCaw and Watkins is that schools often do not honor the strengths of the children; rather they focus on "what's wrong."
"Educators need to focus on what's right. Smart district leadership turns toward strength-based learning and achievements. They honor every child," McCaw added. "It's an honor to be a public school teacher and administrator; parents entrust us with their children. There is no reason in this century for school districts to blame budgets, state mandates, income levels and parents. As educators, we know what we need to do to get children to learn.
"The knowledge is there," Watkins echoed. "We just have to raise the bar."
Posted By: Darcie Shinberger (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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