As required by state law, California’s Department of Education approved key elements of a new accountability system Sept. 8.

“It is essentially a dashboard with various gauges telling you how things are going to go,” said retired Newhall Superintendent Marc Winger. “It gives parents and staff members a much more robust picture of what it takes to be a successful school… the success of schools is based on much more than test scores.”

The new, groundbreaking accountability system evaluates schools and districts in 10 areas critical to student performance, including: graduation rates, readiness for college and careers, test scores, and progress of English learners. The system will replace the outdated Academic Performance Index (API), which relied almost exclusively on test scores to measure progress.

“The API score is deceptive,” said Winger. “Some schools may have high test scores, but low graduation rates and vice versa. It (the API score) masks over important information that the public didn’t previously have easy access to. This new system tells people where to look for school improvement.”

Rather than having a single number to evaluate schools or districts, there will now be an “evaluation rubric,” a tool for holding schools and districts accountable for priorities such as student achievement, student engagement, school climate and parent engagement.

“The system gives parents, educators, and the community more tools to understand what is happening at their schools, promotes equity by helping to identify disparities among student groups, and more effectively identifies the schools that need extra help and where they need it,” according to officials.

There are now four state indicators of school success with performance standards:

• readiness for college and careers,
• graduation rates,
• progress of English learners, and
• suspension rates.

There are two state indicators with performance standards to be finalized:

• scores on state standardized tests and
• chronic absence.

The board has adopted four local indicators with performance standards:

• basic conditions at a school,
• progress in implementing standards,
• parent engagement, and
• school climate.

Schools will be rated based on a combination of these measures and assigned one of five performance levels. Additionally, officials are working on establishing a system for schools that do not performance standards to become eligible for technical assistance and intervention.

The Web-based system will be available in early 2017.

“My opinion based on my experience working in the Santa Clarita Valley, is that the schools in Santa Clarita are going to keep looking pretty good,” said Winger. “It wasn’t just test scores that made us successful. For example, in Newhall, they make great progress for english learners and that’s not going to change. However, (now) it’s going to show up as an evident factor in our success.”

For more information, please click here and check California State Board Agenda Item 1.