INTRODUCTION

The South Carolina Education Accountability Act of 1998 (EAA) establishes new standards for student performance.  There is little doubt that such standards are needed as our State attempts to move up the ladder toward excellence.  It is significant that this is a “State” effort; it would have been easy -- and incorrect -- to assign the responsibility to "schools."  All of us finally agree that all of us are -- and always have been -- responsible.

The State has set the standards by which quality performance is to be gauged.  If student performance is to be the "product" of the educational industry, there must be valid and reliable quality assurance procedures throughout the "production" process.  At every step in production, we must be able to show that the previous steps have been successfully completed before we can go on to the next steps.

With that in mind, let's consider what the EAA does, who it does it for, and what those people need to assure success.  In essence, we must (1) find out who is responsible for each step, (2) determine how they can be successful, and, (3) make sure they have the tools they need to be successful.  The tools must include a curriculum management system that provides the necessary step-by-step quality assurance measures.

WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE?

Under the EAA, each school in the state is to be the subject of a report card that details the school’s success in creating student performance.  As it should be, student performance is the only measure of a school’s success. 

Immediately after a school’s success -- or lack of success -- is demonstrated on the school report card, the principal of that school will be declared successful.  Or not.  The immediate reaction in every community will be to equate the principal with the school.  Each community will begin to hold the principal accountable for the school’s success.  Student performance will become the measure of each principal’s success.

Principals who are held accountable by their communities will be called upon to improve student performance or to move on.  Those who decide to stay will immediately begin analyzing the “profit centers” in their schools -- the classrooms.  Student performance is created in those classrooms.  Principals will begin looking deeply into the patterns of student performance in those classrooms.  Invariably, those patterns will  lead to an analysis of teacher performance.  Who creates student performance; who does not. 

The classroom teacher has the responsibility for creating student performance.  Despite other  factors, including parent involvement and available resources, the classroom teacher ultimately will be held accountable for student performance.  Like their principals, teachers will be called upon to create student performance or to move on.

HOW CAN TEACHERS CREATE STUDENT PERFORMANCE?

The EAA provides the standards against which student performance will be measured.  It also provides training for those who must create student performance.  Standards and staff development, in effect, define what the product should look like and how that product can be created.  The EAA, however, does not provide the management strategies or tools needed for assuring success in the production process.  That process requires accurate, complete, and timely information.

That information can be different for each student in each subject area or course.  That information changes as each student completes a learning activity.  That information is always changing.

To create student performance, a teacher needs to know (1) what the student already knows, (2) what the student does not know, (3) what the student should know, and (4) what to do to move the student from what he/she doesn't know to what he/she should know.  A teacher who does not know these four pieces of information cannot systematically create student performance.

This is not different from the information required to be successful in manufacturing or service industries.  The manufacturing process goes from (1) the condition of the raw material to (2) what has to be added to the raw material to (3) what the final product should look and work like to (4) the assembly of the pieces to make it look and work like that.

Throughout the manufacturing process, the materials and production practices are tested again and again to be sure that those meet the specifications required to create the final product.  The testing is completed and the results are at least satisfactory before going on to the next phase of production.  In industry, that's called "quality assurance."  It is universal.

In education, it doesn't exist.  In education, we test.  No doubt about that.  We teach it, we test it, we score it, we put it in the grade book.  Then, it's on to the next lesson or grade level regardless of the results.  We tend to use those tests to end an instructional activity rather than starting the next activity.  We use the results to document success -- or lack of it -- in the prior process rather than documenting that we have been successful in preparing our product for the next process.  We send both the successful and the unsuccessful on to the next phase of production.

It's important to note here that "successful" and "unsuccessful" do not refer to children.  We make the mistake of making emotional rather than rational decisions when we equate "children" with our "product."  Children are not the product of the education industry.  "Student performance" is that product.  We must create a systematic process for assuring and ensuring successful student performance at all points along the production continuum.

If we are to be successful at creating student performance, our teachers must have and use valid and reliable quality assurance procedures.  Before starting any learning activity, a teacher should have assessed, in some fashion, what each child knows, doesn't know, and should know.  The learning activity should be designed to move the student from some known point to another known point.  And only the students who are assessed with similar needs should be involved in that activity.  Other students with different needs should be involved in other activities.  If students are involved in activities they don't need, the teacher is not systematically creating student performance.

After an activity is completed, it is essential that each student's performance is assessed again.  Some may have progressed more than others.  It is not reasonable to assume that every student made the same progress -- for even one such activity. 

This is part of quality assurance.  Test, adjust, test again. Adjust again.  Test again.  Each time, the test determines what is to be done next.  And sometimes, "next" means going back and doing it again.

This is what teachers must do if they are to be successful in creating student performance.  The problem is:  We have not provided our teachers the tools they need to gather and analyze the information they need.  As a result, we may be unable to hold those teachers accountable for creating student performance.

WHAT DO TEACHERS NEED IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL?

One of the standard rules of the manufacturing and service industries involves product testing.  They test each part, each process, and each product or service.  They look at the test results to see if everything is ready to move forward.  If not, they re-tool it and test it again.  This is repeated until everything works as it should -- at each step in the production process.

One of the most pervasive myths of education is that we test too much. 

The reality is that (1) we test too few of the important things along the way; (2) we use the results to measure things already done rather than things that still need to be done; (3) our one quality assurance test is given only after we've finished production, and (4) we don't have the tools or resources to do it any other way.

We know we must change the way we do the first three.  We cannot be successful unless we can give our teachers the appropriate tools and resources to empower them to make those changes.

Educational accountability requires that teachers create student performance.  To be successful, they must have real-time data from which they can make real-time decisions about the students with whom they work.  Without those data, education will continue to base important decisions on year-old test scores and decades-old myths.  Without day-to-day data and the resources to act on those data, teachers cannot be expected to succeed.  No business or industry can succeed without such data and without such resources. If it is to be a successful industry, education is no different.

The information needs of teachers have changed dramatically as a result of the EAA.  No longer can teachers afford to wait until the end of the year to see if their efforts to create student performance have been successful.  No longer can they assume they’re creating successful student performance only to find out that it just doesn’t show up in the end-of-year achievement testing. 

No longer can they permit one measurement to define their success -- or lack of success -- over the course of a whole school year.

Teachers must have information throughout the production process.  That information must be used to make critical decisions about what to do next with each child.  That information must be used to systematically create student performance.

There’s too much of that information to manage -- unless we change the way we do our business.  Unless we change the set of tools we use in our planning and delivery of instruction.  Unless we use technology to help.

WHAT ARE THE TOOLS THAT TEACHERS NEED TO ASSURE SUCCESS?

Technology is the only tool we have to help us manage the volume of information we must have if we are to be successful -- regardless of the industry.  The EAA creates an absolute need for a new set of tools for teachers.  What should that tool set include?

The Tools

Everyone understands that teachers must have computers in their classrooms.  Those computers can provide access to knowledge and information for students and teachers.  Under the EAA, those computers become doubly important because they provide access to the information tool set that teachers must have.

The tool set needed by teachers is generically known, in South Carolina, as a “curriculum management system” -- CMS.  CMS contains tools for specific jobs related to accountability and the creation of student performance.  The following includes a brief description of the essential tools:

·         Database of Performance Standards in Each Content Area (State, District, School):  This database should contain all the performance standards defined in the State and local accountability policies.  These should be coded for easy correlation to other accountability factors.

·         Database of Goals and Objectives Correlated to Performance Standards in Each Area (District, School):  This database should contain all the goals and objectives defined in local plans to address the State and local performance standards.  These should be coded for easy correlation to the performance standards and to other performance factors.

·         Database of Resources for Use in Instruction (District, School, Other):  This database should contain lists and descriptions of locally available resources for addressing the local goals and objectives.  These resources should include materials, equipment, persons, web sites, and others.  These should be coded to the goals and objectives as well as the activities in which the resources can be used.

·         Database of Activities for Each Goal and Objective, Including Resources Available (District, School, Other):  This database should include teacher-made and other activities designed to deliver content and learning to the student.  Activities should be coded for easy correlation to local goals and objectives and to the broader performance standards.  These activities can be thematic units (instructional modules) or parts of thematic units, coded appropriately.

·         Database of Diagnostic Assessment Items Correlated to Goals, Objectives, and Performance Standards (State, District, School, Other):  This database includes informal assessment items designed for assessing current status of student knowledge.  This item bank can be used to create daily assessments to identify what a student knows and does not know.  Based on that information, the teacher or teaching team can choose activities that will help the student attain the knowledge that should be known.  Diagnostic assessments are not part of grading or measuring student achievement; rather, diagnostic assessments are used to guide the teacher(s).

·         Database of Performance Assessment Items Correlated to Goals, Objectives, and Performance Standards (District, School, Other):  This database includes assessment items designed for assessing student achievement.  These items become part of a database from which teachers and administrators can select items to measure achievement.  These items can be compiled into assessment instruments (tests) for the purpose of grading and/or reporting student performance.

·         Database of Performance Assessment Instruments Correlated to Goals, Objectives, and Performance Standards (State, District, School, Other):  This database can contain pre-built assessment instruments (tests) for assessing student performance at specific points along the instructional continuum.  For example, end-of-term, end-of-year, and end-of-course tests can be created from the item database and stored for use with all students in a particular grade level or course.

·         Database of Standardized Achievement Test Results (District and School):  This database should contain year-to-year results from standardized achievement test results.  The results should be linked through student ID numbers to permit longitudinal analysis.  This database can be used to identify programmatic needs as well as show patterns in student achievement and performance.

·         Student Database Containing Results of Daily and Other Periodic Assessments for Each Student (District, School, Other):  This database stores results from diagnostic and other assessments.  The data are current and can be used by the teacher to identify the students to engage in specific activities related to specific performance standards.  This database is the most important daily source of information for teachers because it helps pinpoint what a student knows and does not know.  Using that information and information about what the student should know, the teacher is able to plan activities that have specific purposes.

·         Grade Recording and Reporting System (Traditional Gradebook):  The gradebook tool permits the teacher to record, average, and report grades without duplicating any work.  In addition, the gradebook can be used to report mastery of objectives and standards to parents.  It can also be the tool that links daily and period-by-period attendance to the school management system. 

·         Database of Report Formats for Longitudinal Analysis of Standardized Achievement Test Results:  This database contains a set of report formats from which teachers can print standardized test information about the students they teach.  The reports would give several years’ comparisons, subtest results, and right/wrong response analysis.  These reports would help teachers understand the general areas of student needs.

·         Database of Report Formats for Teacher Use in Making Instructional Decisions for Individual Students and Groups (including Traditional and Diagnostic Assessment Data):  This database contains a set of report formats from which teachers can print daily diagnostic information for students or groups of students.  Each report format would permit the teacher to query for lists of students who have not mastered specific objectives or standards.  The reports could also include specific references to activities that could help the identified students.  This database would be used daily by teachers as they check and re-check for specific student needs and plan specific activities to meet those needs.  These reports provide the quality assurance information needed to make mission-critical decisions about individual students or groups of students.

·         Database of Report Formats for Principal Use in Making Decisions about Instructional Needs (including Teachers and Students):  This database of reports can give principals and other instructional leaders information about programmatic needs and staff development needs based on specific student performance results.  These reports help principals identify profit and loss centers within the curriculum and in instructional programs.

·         Database of Report Formats for Accountability and Reporting to the Community:  This database contains report formats that clearly and concisely show what is happening in each of the curriculum areas.  This information is intended to be part of the report to the agencies that manage accountability and to the community.  While this information would not identify specific teachers or students, it would identify specific areas and the level of achievement attained in those areas during the reported period.

The purpose of the curriculum management system is to provide the tools for teachers and principals who must assure that systematic academic growth is taking place.  That assurance is based entirely on controlling the production process so that the product -- student performance -- is created at the end of that process.  Without these tools, there can be no systematic quality assurance during that process.

Using the Tools

With the appropriate technological tools, teachers can have access to important student information that they’ve never had before.  With that access, the typical instructional day, from a teacher’s perspective, might look like this:

·         At the end of the previous day or at the beginning of the current day, the teacher logs onto the network.  She/he asks (queries) CMS for lists of students who have not shown mastery of specific objectives and standards that are to be addressed in the morning’s activities.  CMS provides those lists of names and provides a list of possible activities and resources that might help those students.  Without CMS, the teacher may not be able to get lists of names grouped by specific needs without several hours’ work.  The biggest advantage of CMS is that it provides important information in a very short period of time, freeing the teacher to use her/his time to deal with the face-to-face tasks of teaching and creating student performance.

·         With those lists, the teacher is able to create two or three groups that have specific needs and can organize the lessons and materials needed for those students.  When students arrive for class, they can immediately find their places for instruction.  The teacher can deliver a preview or background lesson to the entire class; then, he/she can move the students into their respective groups.  The activities for the groups are organized so that students in one or two groups can get started without further direction while the teacher works with another group.  The teacher is then able to visit each group or individual students at the appropriate times.  Constant monitoring, coaching, and teaching takes place in each group.  Students learn to stay on task during this process.

·         With the proper planning and implementation, learning activities will include integrated content, spanning several subject areas and the appropriate performance objectives for each.  A social studies activity could include, for example, specific reading and writing tasks related to art and economics in the period being studied.

·         As students complete specific tasks, the teacher is able to assess individual performance and update each student’s CMS information.  In some cases, students can update their own information based on the teacher’s direction.  When appropriate, the teacher can administer an informal diagnostic test or may provide a formal assessment for a grade.  Some of those assessments can be online and can automatically update the student record.  At other times, the teacher or an aide (who may serve more than one teacher for record keeping purposes) will update each student’s record.  These updates will always include more than one content area and more than one objective or standard for each content area.

·         As the day progresses, the teacher is able to query CMS for status reports on student performance.  If some students need additional help, they may be re-grouped with others for more assistance.  Others who have shown mastery in specific areas can be directed into other activities.  At times, the teacher may re-group for peer assistance, using CMS reports to identify students who can help others with specific activities.  This process is repeated throughout the day, with CMS providing the information needed to make the necessary instructional decisions.

Because instruction must be data-driven, the data must be accurate, complete, and current at all times.  The information that teachers can get from CMS will be only as good as the data given to CMS.  The fact is that teachers cannot teach at the same time they are collecting and recording data about student performance. 

As part of changing the way they do business, schools must find ways to manage the data collection process without taking away from the teaching.  Part of that process should include daily planning time and clerical help for teachers.  Teachers need clerical aides who can accurately collect and input data related to student performance.  These aides can work with more than one teacher in a grade level, cluster, or department.  It is important to include this component if CMS is to work.  Teachers’ time is too expensive and valuable to be used for tasks that do not involve face-to-face instruction. 

Note that this changes the way teachers do business.  Instruction becomes a data-driven activity rather than relying on scope-and-sequence charts provided by curriculum publishers.  Scope-and-sequence addresses only the content needs; CMS provides information about individual student needs.

CONCLUSIONS

South Carolina’s classroom teachers are responsible for creating student performance.  Their success means success for their students and their schools.  The Education Accountability Act of 1998 identifies the things that students should know (performance standards) and provides strategies for helping teachers understand those standards how those standards are to be integrated into instruction.

In order for the accountability process to be successful, it must provide a quality assurance process that provides teachers the information they need to create systematic student performance.  The “curriculum management system” described above provides the tools and information to assure systematic growth.  CMS creates a data-driven instructional process that is always changing as student needs change.

We know what to do (defined by our performance standards).  We know how to do it (through our staff development programs).  We do not know when, for whom, by how much, or what next.  That’s the information that can come only from CMS.

Without the information to make day-to-day decisions about what to do next for each student, teachers cannot be held accountable for student performance.  Without that information, accountability will fail to change the way our students perform. 

Without that information, none of us can live up to the responsibility we’ve assumed for our children.

Gary West

116 Limerick Road

Greenwood, South Carolina 29649

864/223-1685 (home)

864/941-5466 (office)

westg@mail.gwd50.k12.sc.us

This article was published in THE Journal, December 2000.  It can be viewed at http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A3225.cfm.