Accountability

Accountability is a theory of action on raising student performance by applying pressure on, and providing support for, schools and districts that do not meet academic standards. Annual or periodic reporting on school performance forms the basis of actions to address academic needs. Simply put, what gets measured and reported receives attention from stakeholders in the public arena. This entry further defines accountability in the context of public education before describing the federal role in school accountability in the United States and how it has changed since the mid-20th century.

In the United States, accountability is defined in the context of a decentralized public education system. With a federal system of governance, states assume a leading role in primary and secondary education. The constitution in each of the 50 states affirms state responsibility in this policy domain. States and their localities continued to [Page 24]provide about 90% of the funding in public education. States exercise control over their academic content standards, educator preparation and recruitment, and the scope of intervention in low academic performance.

State dominance notwithstanding, accountability in public education has become a shared state–federal function. The 1960s marked the beginning of an active federal role to address educational inequity and the achievement gap between students from low- and high-income families. The U.S. Congress has established a grants-in-aid system to target federal support for students with particular needs, such as low-income students, English-language learners, Native Americans, and students with learning disabilities.

Grants from the federal government account for about 10% of total public school spending. In return for federal dollars, states and school districts are required to comply with federal standards on assessing students. Federal involvement in accountability intensified in 2001 when Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). With the 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states have regained some control over accountability policy.

NCLB expanded the federal role in educational accountability. The federal law required annual testing of students at the elementary grades in core subject areas, mandated the hiring of “highly qualified teachers” in classrooms, and granted states and districts substantial authority in taking “corrective actions” to turn around low-performing schools. Further, the law provided school choice to parents to take their children out of failing schools. Equally significant was NCLB’s intent to close achievement gaps among racial and ethnic subgroups as well as subgroups based on income, limited English proficiency, and special education.

Under NCLB, to determine whether a school met adequate yearly progress (AYP), student achievement for each school was aggregated by grade and subject area. All students in Grades 3–8 and one additional grade in high school were tested annually in mathematics and in reading/English-language arts. In addition, students in select grades were tested in science. The school-level report included the percentage of students proficient in each of the core-content areas, student participation in standardized testing, attendance rates, and graduation rates.

Equally prominent is the equity focus on NCLB. Depending on their socioeconomic characteristics, schools were required to report the academic proficiency of students of the following subgroups: economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and limited English proficiency students. In this regard, for accountability purposes, the NCLB promoted transparency on student progress. Schools that persistently failed to meet AYP were subject to a gradation of intervention, including school closure or conversion to a charter school.

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