This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mintrop, H. Articles by Trujillo, T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Practical Relevance of Accountability Systems for School Improvement: A Descriptive Analysis of California Schools

University of California, Berkeley

Tina Trujillo

University of California, Los Angeles

In search for the practical relevance of accountability systems for school improvement, the authors ask whether practitioners traveling between the worlds of system-designated high- and low-performing schools would detect tangible differences in educational quality and organizational effectiveness. In comparing nine exceptionally high and low performing California middle schools, the authors conclude that if such travelers expected to encounter visible signs of an overall higher quality of students’ educational experience at the high-performing schools, they would be disappointed. Rather, they would have to settle on a narrower definition of quality that is more proximate to the effective acquisition of standards-aligned and test-relevant knowledge. High-growth schools tended to generate internal commitment for accountability and consider it an impetus for raising standards.

Key Words: school quality • state accountability systems • school improvement • school effectiveness

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?