Federal regulations requiring states to submit Consolidated State Performance Report (CSPR) data to the U.S. Department of Education should be strengthened by adding other indicators of school and district performance, such as rates of: attendance and chronic absence, retention in grade, school transfers and withdrawals, disciplinary actions, including suspension, expulsion and arrests, discipline, and course failure. State allocations should be conditioned on progress The federal government should standardize the manner in which states define and measure specific data elements in order to promote comparability between states on key measures such as graduation rates and student achievement. Federal policymakers could also require states to develop systems to collect early warning data in addition to standard demographic information and use, as one means of evaluation, states’ reports on progress toward decreasing the occurrence of these indicators. Finally, the federal government could increase its investment in the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) program and offer funding preferences to states that maintain longitudinal data. The federal government should replace the current unrealistic student turnaround achievement standards prescribed in NCLB and develop an accountability system that sets high expectations for school improvement and student achievement but is accompanied by benchmarks reflecting high, but attainable requirements for improvement over time. The federal government should further incentivize turnarounds at the state level by giving noncompetitive grants to states that meet prescribed improvement benchmarks, and identify target subgroups for improvement; conversely, schools and districts that consistently underperform should be subjected to stringent preconditions for funding -- including tighter fiscal controls, professional and leadership development, and partnership or teaming requirements. The federal government should provide further support for a wraparound or systems of care model of school turnaround efforts. It should prioritize funding to districts that employ
2020 Vision Roadmap: A Pre-K Through Postsecondary Blueprint for Educational Success
toward meeting supplemental benchmarks related to improvements in each area.
approaches that incorporate partnerships with civic leaders and organizations, private corporations, parent group and community organizations to provide social supports as part of a broader effort to turn around low performing schools. State education agencies should develop a state parental involvement action plan, and include
steps for implementation and monitoring to ensure – consistent with the Title I mandate – that local education agencies, and schools which receive Title I funding develop their own substantive plan to communicate effectively with, and involve, parents in schools’ programs and processes.
59