Past Positions

July 2001

Accountability
Students, parents, and the public appropriately hold educators accountable for providing equitable, high-quality learning experiences for all students. Historically, funding inequities, flawed staffing patterns, and episodic professional development are barriers to ensuring that each student learns. Holding educators accountable for results requires providing clearly articulated expectations, sufficient resources, access to data from multiple assessments, and appropriate professional development to learn the new skills and knowledge required.

High-Stakes Testing

Using a single test to measure success or to sanction students, schools, or districts is an inappropriate use of a single instrument. Only when students. Educators, and policymakers have timely access to information from multiple assessments can they make informed judgements about student learning, student placement, and graduation eligibility.

Achievement Gap

Too many students are unsuccessful in schools. A disproportionate number of these students are minority students in rural and urban environments. For more than 30 years, researchers have worked to identify effective instructional practices that ensure student success. We know that each student can learn from a teacher with expert content knowledge and a rich repertoire of teaching skills and who is working in a supportive school environment. Coherent policy that supports research-based practice at every school is urgently needed at state and federal levels.

Funding

Policy makers, sensitive to the changing school population, are introducing new initiatives to ensure that each student's needs are met. While it is appropriate to explore reallocating resources to fund new programs, schools require constant funding over time for ongoing, successful initiatives. Finding for new accountability mandates and programs should not detract from funding that already supports student learning.