States use their accountability systems to identify low-performing schools, which can receive added support and are expected to improve. Alternative schools serve students whose needs are not met in a regular school. They often serve at-risk students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. Given this unique population, the Government…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) devolves many decisions to states about how to design their accountability system and the measures to use in these systems in order to meet new goals of college and career readiness. Because few states presently have adequate measures for the new goals, they will need to develop the measures along with…

This brief reports on the early stages and initial successes of turnaround efforts in a California school district. With administrators and educators in the midst of implementing a robust reform agenda, there are clear signs that the district is on the rise. The reform initiatives have stopped a downward slide in student attendance, behavior, and…

The intent of this study is to determine whether there was a difference between school board members' perceptions of their own behaviors and beliefs related to student achievement in California's high-performing poverty districts as opposed to such perceptions in low-performing poverty districts. Due to the findings of this study, the author calls…

It has long been thought that the United States education system is the great equalizer, lifting less advantaged children out of poverty and improving their chances for success in adulthood. The opportunity for economic and social mobility depends heavily, however, on access to high quality education. Recent research has raised concerns about…

Persistently low-achieving public schools around the country have received $5.8 billion from the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, in addition to districts and state funds, and other supplementary federal funds. Despite all of these sources of funding, most of the schools receiving them have failed to make a dramatic difference in…

The authors examine how the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiated between teachers' unions and districts is associated with schools' and districts' performance under accountability pressures in California. They find that CBA restrictiveness is associated with the increased likelihood that districts will be in Program Improvement (PI)…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed to ensure that 100 percent of students would be proficient by 2014. Progress toward that goal is measured annually and results suggest that while some schools improve, increasing numbers are identified as in need of improvement (INI) and are subject to sanctions. We examined perceived levels of threat…

This article contributes to research on the impact of high stakes accountability on social studies teaching where it is "not" tested by the state, and addresses the question of what is happening in middle and higher performing versus struggling schools (Wills, 2007). The author presents complex findings from a qualitative study in five…

When Congress reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), much of the debate will undoubtedly focus on the accountability requirements added to Title I by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Title I authorizes federal aid to school districts to educate low-achieving children in low-income areas. Among the most…

A major debate among education reformers over how best to reduce the achievement gap broke out during the 2008 presidential campaign. Most advocates on both sides backed Barack Obama, but they urged him to pursue different policies. The Education Equality Project (EEP) supported a continuation of accountability and other school-focused reforms.…

In search for the practical relevance of accountability systems for school improvement, the authors ask whether practitioners traveling between the worlds of system-designated high- and low-performing schools would detect tangible differences in educational quality and organizational effectiveness. In comparing nine exceptionally high and low…

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…

Examines school-improvement plans of three low-performing schools on probation using content analysis of the accountability systems in Maryland, Kentucky, and San Francisco. (Contains 38 references.) (PKP)

Passed in 1999, the Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) established a results-based accountability system in California with specific performance targets for schools. The PSAA created a system of rewards and sanctions for meeting or not meeting those targets, and established assistance programs for low-performing schools. In 2001, the High…