Results improve when schools are held accountable

A new study shows student grades in reading and mathematics improve when US teachers and their schools are held accountable for the educational performance of their pupils and face consequences when children do not measure up.

'Does School Accountability Lead to Improved Student Performance?' by Eric Hanushek and Margaret Raymond finds that the introduction of accountability systems leads to higher achievement growth.

This is most effective when poor educational results have real, adverse consequences for schools.

The report also finds that having educational standards and testing for primary school students has not narrowed the educational gap between blacks and whites, although it has trimmed the Hispanic-white achievement gap.

In fact, accountability increased the gap between black and white students a little, because the performance of blacks improved less than that of whites.

"Achieving multiple objectives with a single policy instrument is not generally feasible," the authors conclude.

Accountability policies have been controversial, with claims that they have led to higher drop-out rates, more cheating on tests, a narrowing of what is taught and a move to shift more students into special education classes to improve regular achievement rates.

The study finds no evidence of such effects at the state level. Between 1980 and 2001, the proportion of students assigned to special education classes rose from 10 percent to over 13 percent.

But this trend was not altered when accountability was introduced from 1995-2000 across the US.

'Does School Accountability Lead to Improved Student Performance?' is at this web page.