Citing a "deep sense of urgency," a State Board of Education committee has proposed that the state be given authority to intervene in schools and districts that are struggling to meet state and federal standards for improving student achievement.

The proposal is included in a package of preliminary recommendations developed by SBE’s System Performance Accountability Committee. The committee’s proposals, which are expected to undergo further refinements, will require approval by the full board and, in several instances, from the state Legislature.

The State Board of Education was assigned the task of developing an accountability system in 2005 as part of a legislative overhaul of its configuration and responsibilities. The board formed the committee at the beginning of the year to assist in developing a statewide accountability system for K-12 education.

The committee is made up of seven members of the full board, including three members elected by local school directors – Steve Dal Porto (Quincy), Steven Floyd (Gig Harbor) and Phyllis Bunker Frank (Yakima). The committee has also been working with a 15-member advisory group which includes WSSDA President-elect Ted Thomas (Longview) and WSSDA Vice President Martha Rice (Yakima).

During a presentation to the full State Board in July, the accountability committee put forward a series of suggestions grouped in four areas:

Continuous improvement/interventions. Under this concept, all schools and districts would be required to participate in a system of continuous improvement. Most schools and districts would fall into one of three tiers based on their performance measured against a state "accountability index," which would include criteria such as WASL results, federal Adequate Yearly Progress status, student learning performance over time, and non-academic indicators such as rates for on-time graduation, dropouts and unexcused absences. Schools and districts would receive recognition or be subject to "progressively greater levels of intervention and assistance" depending on their tier.

The call for interventions is a key component of the committee’s report. While the Legislature has directed SBE to develop intervention strategies, it has also made it clear that the State Board and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction do not have statutory authority to intervene in a school or school district. The committee is suggesting that SBE and the OSPI ask the Legislature for authority to intervene in selected schools and districts where student achievement is stalled. The draft recommendations do not, however, define intervention or the school board’s role in each tier.

Targeted interventions for struggling schools. The committee is proposing "transformative interventions" in chronically underperforming schools, which it defines as schools where students have underachieved for five to seven years. Under this concept, up to 25 of these schools (which would be called "Summit Schools") would be required to undergo a performance audit and participate in a corrective action plan that would involve a complete restructuring of the school, including staffing. The district school board would have authority to approve the plan; if it did not, the state could order the school to be disbanded or reconstituted. This proposal would also require legislative approval.

K-12 report card. The committee suggests that SBE issue an annual report card on Washington’s K-12 education system, focusing on measures such as academic achievement, graduation, dropout and unexcused absence rates, teaching quality, post-secondary participation and remedial course enrollment, fiscal responsibility, and student learning opportunities provided outside the regular school day. The report card would provide information to parents, educators, legislators and community members about student performance in a given school or district and would allow comparisons across districts.

Data system enhancement. This proposal calls for a collaborative effort among various state agencies to develop an integrated data system to track the progress of students from preschool to college using tools such as a single student identifier number. The committee also says the student data should be tied into a new teacher data system that identifies teacher qualifications and which students they teach.

"The State Board of Education has a deep sense of urgency to help all Washington students attain a 21st century education," the committee noted in its report. "The state needs a focused, coordinated accountability system to target resources in radically different ways."

WSSDA, through its permanent positions, has supported a statewide accountability plan since 1998. The association’s position says such a plan must focus on continuous improvement in student learning and include state assistance to schools and districts. It also emphasizes that local districts and schools should develop their own improvement plans and report progress to the public.

"School districts are already held to some of the highest accountability standards of any public entity in the state, and we welcome efforts to support local districts to improve student achievement," said WSSDA’s Thomas. "At the same time, we have concerns about intervention proposals and how they would affect the way communities govern their schools through locally elected school boards. In many other states, intervention is another word for takeover. We are not in favor of mechanisms that sidestep local governance of schools."

The accountability committee will ask SBE for approval of its draft recommendations when the full board meets Sept. 18-19 in Wenatchee. The committee will then seek additional input from its advisory group and the public before finalizing the recommendations and asking for full board approval in early November. Copies of the committee’s reports and presentations are available on the SBE Web site.