Geography may have as much to do with a school making AYP under the federal No Child Left Behind Act’s accountability system as does student achievement.
Because states set their own standards, define proficiency differently, and employ a variety of statistical methods in interpreting test scores, a school’s accountability status could differ from one state to another, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found in research for the “The Accountability Illusion.”
“Unfortunately, the way NCLB rates schools appears to be idiosyncratic—even random—and opaque,” says the report...
This study examines the No Child Left Behind Act system and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) rules for 28 states. We selected 36 real schools (half elementary, half middle) that vary by size, achievement, diversity, etc. and determined which of them would or would not make AYP when evaluated under each state's accountability rules. If a school that made AYP in Washington were relocated to Wisconsin or Ohio, would that same school make AYP there? Based on this analysis, we can see how AYP varies across the country and evaluate the effectiveness of NCLB.
Click Here for an interactive map of state AYP targets.
Fix that failing school! Click here for the full-size video game.
The Accountability Illusion: An interview with Checker from Education Gadfly on Vimeo.
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