ACCOUNTABILITY
Webster defines "accountability" as: the quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions. How can this concept be applied to education policy in our nation? Following are some publications and organizations that deal with the issue of accountability in education. We will continue to add new content to this page, so please come again.

PUBLICATIONS

21st Century Skills: The Challenges Ahead
Article | Andrew J. Rotherham, Daniel Willingham | Education Sector | September 1, 2009
A growing number of business leaders, politicians, and educators are united around the idea that students need "21st century skills" to be successful today. It's exciting to believe that we live in times that are so revolutionary that they demand new and different abilities. But in fact, the skills students need in the 21st century are not new.

International Lessons about National Standards
Report | Richard Houang, William H. Schmidt, Sharif Shakrani | Thomas B. Fordham Institute | August 27, 2009
Whether the United States should embrace national standards and tests for its schools is perhaps today's hottest education issue. For guidance in addressing it, the newest Fordham report looks beyond our borders. How have other countries navigated these turbid waters? What do their systems look like? How did they get there? What can we learn from them? Expert analysts examined national standards and testing in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore and South Korea. This report presents their key takeaways.

U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan Issues Statement on Release of the U.S. Students' Rankings on International Assessments of Student Achievement 
Press Release | U.S. Department of Education | August 18, 2009
"Today's report is another wake-up call that our students are treading the waters of academic achievement while other countries' students are swimming faster and farther. Our students have stagnated educationally, putting our long-term economic security at risk."

The Great Graduation-Rate Debate
Report | Christine O. Wolfe | Thomas B. Fordham Institute | July 2009
This 20-page primer takes a look at the complicated discussion surrounding the measurement and definitionof graduation rates. It turns out that the exact same body of students can have different rates of school completion, depending on how they are calculated. In this handy reference, Christine O. Wolfe, a veteran of the Department of Education and Capitol Hill, lays it all out--the formulae, why the debate matters, and where the discussion will go from here.

From the Snapshot to the Full Picture
Policy Brief | Douglas N. Harris | American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research | July 2009
The development of the horse and buggy was a necessary first step toward the development of the automobile; in fact, the first cars were built by putting engines on buggies. So it is with school accountability. The failure of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to measure school performance is well known among researchers and, to some degree, among policymakers and their staffs. There is a potential solution: "value-added" measures. Shifting from "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) to a value-added approach called "school performance tables" (SPTs) is possible due to the provisions of NCLB. The law's expansion of standardized testing, the focus on accountability for results, and the goal of 100 percent proficiency were all important first steps. Now is the time to bring our horse and buggy accountability into the twenty-first century and upgrade to value-added measures.

When Private Schools Take Public Dollars: What's the Place of Accountability in School Voucher Programs?
Report | Thomas B. Fordham Institute | Chester E. Finn, Jr., Christina Hentges, Michael J. Petrilli, Amber Winkler | March 24, 2009
It's time for the school-voucher movement to embrace accountability done right, just as most of the charter-school movement has done. But it's also vital to preserve the capacity of private schools to be different and not to deter them from taking children who would benefit.

ORGANIZATIONS

Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability
The Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability is an independent education reform organization led by a coalition of business leaders, education reformers, and civic and cultural leaders.