The Informational Significance of A-F School Accountability Grades

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Autor/inn/en	Adams, Curt M.; Forsyth, Patrick B.; Ware, Jordan; Mwavita, Mwarumba
Titel	The Informational Significance of A-F School Accountability Grades
Quelle	In: Teachers College Record, 118 (2016) 7Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0161-4681
Schlagwörter	Accountability; Grades (Scholastic); Grading; Scoring Formulas; State Policy; State Standards; Equal Education; Achievement Gap; Disadvantaged; Educational Policy; Information Needs; Institutional Characteristics; Relevance (Education); Reading Achievement; Mathematics Achievement; Student Records; Scores; Middle Schools; Elementary Schools; Lunch Programs; Minority Group Students; Effect Size; Educational Legislation; Federal Legislation; Oklahoma + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Verantwortung; Notenspiegel; Notengebung; Schulnote; Scoring rubrics; Auswertungsbogen; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Information need; Informationsbedürfnis; Relevance; Relevanz; Leseleistung; Mathmatics sikills; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematical ability; Mathematische Kompetenz; Schülerakte; Middle school; Mittelschule; Mittelstufenschule; Elementary school; Grundschule; Volksschule; Mittagessen; Bildungsrecht; Schulgesetz; Bundesrecht
Abstract	Background/Context: Despite problems with accountability systems under No Child Left Behind, the policy has been widely commended for exposing the depth and breadth of educational inequality in the United States. As states implement new accountability systems, there is growing concern that attention to achievement gaps and the performance of marginalized children has faded. Many approved accountability plans no longer report achievement by student subgroups or include subgroup performance in the calculation of accountability indicators. Research Purpose: This study examined the informational significance of Oklahoma's A-F accountability grades relative to the policy objective of achievement equity. Informational significance as explained in self-determination theory provided a framework to explore the usefulness of an A-F grade for understanding achievement differences within and between schools. Research Design: We evaluated the informational significance of Oklahoma A-F school grades by analyzing reading and math test scores from over 25,000 students in 81 elementary and middle schools. The study was designed to address two questions: Do students in "A" and "B" schools have high average achievement and small achievement gaps compared to students in "D" and "F" schools? What is the difference in average achievement and achievement gaps between school grades when holding constant contextual school conditions? Results: We found test score gaps attributed to Free and Reduced Lunch qualification and minority status. Free and Reduced Lunch and minority students average about one standard deviation lower in math and reading than their peers. Test score gaps varied across A-F school grades with the largest gaps existing in "A" and "B" schools. HLM results showed that A-F grades do not differentiate schools by effectiveness levels. For reading, we did not find statistically significant main effects attributed to letter grades. For math, the only statistically significance difference was between students in "A" and "B" schools and students in "F" schools. This difference had a small effect size. School grades did moderate achievement gaps, but gaps moved in a direction opposite from what would be desired of an accountability system that measured achievement equity. Conclusions: Progress made under NCLB in exposing achievement inequity in the U.S. has taken a step back with Oklahoma's A-F school grades. Our evidence suggests that a composite letter grade provides very little meaningful information about achievement differences. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Teachers College, Columbia University. P.O. Box 103, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3774; Fax: 212-678-6619; e-mail: tcr@tc.edu; Web site: http://www.tcrecord.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01