Group proposes skills-based school accountability system

The standard for high school graduation should be readiness for skilled employment or college -without the need for remediation - a coalition of business and research groups says.

The Texas Coalition for a Competitive Workforce, headed by the Governor's Business Council and the Texas Association of Business, is urging the Legislature to address the lack of skills among high school graduates by taking action on a three-part agenda for education reform.

The agenda proposes basing the state's public school accountability system on the degree to which students in each grade are on a path to college and career readiness.

"Students that graduate from Texas high schools should demonstrate college/career readiness that allows for successful transition to skilled employment, advanced military training, associate's degree, bachelor's degree or technical certification - without the need for remediation," the agenda states.

"It's a definition of what defines post-secondary success and it's going to be Job 1 to get that firmly established," said Jim Windham, chairman of the Texas Institute for Educational Reform.

TIER, along with the Governor's Business Council, Texas Association of Business and The Texas Public Policy Foundation, formed the Texas Coalition for a Competitive Workforce to address public school accountability, career and technology training and educator effectiveness.

Windham was in the Rio Grande Valley during the weekend to make presentations about the coalition's reform agenda as part of a statewide informational campaign.

He said Texas has made significant progress in increasing student achievement, but much remains to be done to be competitive with other nations, which have higher high school graduation standards and whose students outperform their U.S. counterparts in math and science.

A policy briefing by the coalition called "Creating the Schools We Need for the 21st Century" makes these points about the competition Texas schools face in an increasingly global economy:

ä Higher-performing nations set higher standards and have lower dropout rates. Research shows student performance, particularly for disadvantaged students, generally rises when standards are raised and schools are held accountable.

ä Research shows that well designed high-stakes tests in other states and nations result in higher, meaningful learning gains and closing achievement gaps, although poorly designed tests do undermine instruction.

The criticism that teachers teach to the TAKS, or the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, Windham said, is more a question of management, and the need for better standards.

The coalition's reform agenda proposes replacing the current public school accountability system based on the TAKS with one based demonstrating college and career readiness. It makes these points:

ä Accountability ratings should be based on the percentage of students who are 1) on track for college/career readiness or 2) making sufficient progress so that they will be on track for college/career readiness within three years.

ä The state's curriculum standards must be raised immediately to reflect the knowledge and skills students need to be college/career ready. Assessments, performance standards and goals would be adjusted over a three-year transition period.

ä Districts and schools that do not meet accountability goals, or that experience a decline in their rating must improve or face serious consequences.