The Hub

The K12 Research for Equity Hub

Why Accountability Systems Matter

COVID-19 interrupted student learning and ESSA implementation, creating an opportunity for education leaders to reimagine approaches to assessment and accountability systems under ESSA. More districts and states have led efforts to co-design an accountability model that reflects community priorities for student learning, and pilot innovative approaches to assessment, including through-year assessments and performance-based assessments.

The K12 Research for Equity Hub (The Hub) exists to meet this moment. Managed by EduDream, The Hub is a multi-year actionable research initiative designed to generate evidence that informs national policy dialogue on accountability and assessment systems in K12 education.

Launched in Spring 2022, Cycle 1 focused on three areas: alternative accountability models, innovative assessment approaches, and lived community experiences with current systems. These findings highlighted a need for deeper analysis of state and local accountability systems to understand the successes, challenges, and underlying tensions introduced by ESSA implementation. That’s where Cycle 2 begins.

Understanding Accountability Systems and ESSA

Since the early 2000s, federal law has required states to establish accountability systems: a set of policies and measures to evaluate school performance and support student learning.

These systems rely on indicators such as standardized test scores, chronic absenteeism, school climate, and student well-being to: Identify schools in need of support, hold institutions responsible for student outcomes, an provide transparency to families, communities, and education leaders.

In 2015, the reauthorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) shifted power back to states, allowing them to redesign accountability, assessment, and educator evaluation policies. ESSA encouraged states to move beyond test scores by adding new indicators such as: Chronic absenteeism, measures of college and career readiness, 9th grade on-track for high school graduation, ad school climate.

This flexibility created space for more holistic definitions of student success but it also introduced new variation, tensions, and opportunities across states and districts.

Research Cycle 1

Research Cycle 2

Bellwether

Bellwether led an examination of new through-year testing structures piloted in four states: Delaware, Florida, Nebraska, and Texas. They elevate perspectives of assessment directors, district leaders, and parents regarding how the tests work for students, families, and educators.

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The Migration Policy Institute

The Migration Policy Institute studied state accountability system implications for English language learners. They examined schools' expectations of English Learners’ language growth in language proficiency and academic content areas.

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Choice-filled Lives Network

Choice-filled Lives Network's research focused on human-flourishing design principle accountability considerations. They looked into the correlation between human-flourishing design principles and practices in schools and students' well-being and academic success.

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Education Analytics

Education Analytics studied early warning systems in school accountability systems. Their report focuses on gaining an understanding of how incorporating predictive analytics and measures from early warning systems into school accountability systems is helpful to teachers, school administrators, students, and parents.

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Advisory Group Members

Diallo Brooks

Schott Foundation

Gloria Corral

Parent Institute for Quality Education

Lindsay Fryer

Lodestone DC

Michelle Odemwingie

Achievement Network

Jill Zimmerman Pinsky

Watershed Advisors

No results found.

Lyons Assessment Consulting

Partnering with the Wisconsin Center for Education Products and Services and KnowledgeWorks Research Team

At the federal level, Lyons Assessment Consulting evaluated the compatibility of a fully performance-based assessment system with federal requirements related to comparability and alignment. Their research on the Portfolios of Performance (PoP) Pilot, led by the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Educational Assessment (MCIEA), informs federal policy recommendations and provides lessons for states seeking to innovate their statewide assessment systems.

They found that PoP assessments have a strong potential to meet federal requirements, and provide concrete recommendations on how to strengthen state summative assessments.

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Houston Education Research Consortium

A research center of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University

At the state level, the Houston Education Research Consortium analyzed changes to Texas’ accountability system, focusing on how students are deemed college- career- or military-ready. The study highlights how historically underrepresented and underserved student groups are affected by evolving accountability measures. While the accountability system prioritized transparency, rigor, and understanding of the metrics, it encountered challenges to its implementation due to internal and external factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and insufficient supports to address persistent readiness gaps. Read their actionable recommendations on how states can strengthen and formalize their accountability systems and close persistent readiness gaps.

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Center for Innovation in Education

Partnering with the University of Kentucky

At the district level, the Center for Innovation in Education examined Kentucky’s Allen County Schools (ACS) co-design processes in its new performance assessment system and community-facing accountability dashboard. The study identifies processes for inclusive design within accountability systems, and provides recommendations on how to redesign systems that gain stakeholder buy-in.

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