State Accountability Systems: The Role of Needs Assessment
Education leaders in K-12 settings face a series of challenges as they respond to current imperatives to improve the education conditions that affect student performance. More than ever, state education leaders are being urged to fashion and implement broad accountability systems that go beyond single scores on standardized tests to describe the academic health of a school, school district, and state education system. To date, an array of state level accountability systems have been developed that describe expectations for student and school performance. These systems often include complex matrices incorporating multiple measures of student achievement, expectations of school improvement over time, and steps that will be taken to reward and penalize school performance. Each element in these matrices is impacted by human, physical, and fiscal resources at the local level, with the result that the overall success of a statewide accountability system actually hinges on the ability of schools and school districts to harness their resources, identify any existing gaps, and request appropriate assistance.
But how can education leaders gauge the realities of resources at the local level? Considerable attention has been paid to developing content standards, performance indicators, and the instruments that are meant to assess student learning, which is, after all, just one aspect of an accountability system. Less apparent is attention to the processes and tools that can be used to make sure that the overall design of state accountability systems is predicated on local level needs and resources.
State education leaders can benefit by using strategic planning to aid the design of an accountability system. Fashioning a state accountability system is a process that mirrors strategic planning in general. Strategic planning begins with a focus on mission and goals, identifies criteria which describe progress, includes activities that are meant to realize the goals, entails a critical look at the outcomes associated with what took place, and then circles around so that the findings inform the entire process. In designing an accountability system, many state education leaders have confronted the important task of assembling a vision and framework. With this blueprint in place, a haunting series of questions arise. Where do we begin? What factors might interfere with the implementation of such a system? What resources are needed to heighten opportunities for success?
As states confront this next stage of designing (or revisiting) accountability systems, education leaders should take note of a tool that is an invaluable part of the strategic planning process, the needs assessment. A needs assessment provides the structure and process that enable a wide variety of stakeholders impacted by an accountability system to identify and prioritize opportunities, problems, and concerns. As this short definition indicates, needs assessments yield two important outcomes for state education leaders. First, a product of the needs assessment is a manageable list of priorities and issues for officials to further pursue. That is, by their very nature, needs assessments present decision-makers with core information concerning what must be done, and in which order. A second and equally important outcome relates to the process of conducting a needs assessment. Throughout the course of a needs assessment, different groups of stakeholders are able to contribute their experiences and voice their opinions. This process tends to result in buy-in for any initiatives that are subsequently proposed and pursued. Both the process and the products of needs assessments, then, benefit the architects of accountability systems.
Needs assessments are one of the first activities education leaders engage in as they attempt to determine how to document education quality in the state. A variety of approaches to conducting needs assessment exists, but most borrow from methods encountered in research and evaluation. Needs assessments emphasize using multiple approaches to data gathering and rely on a variety of sources of information to “triangulate” findings. In general, needs assessments involve four activities.
At the onset, the goals of the needs assessment must be identified. The goals can be quite sweeping and reflect the overarching goals of the accountability system itself. For example, one goal may be to obtain feedback on options for rewards and consequences for school improvement, as well as the standards by which school improvement should be judged. Alternatively, the goal may not reflect those of the accountability system as a whole. Instead, a needs assessment could strive to provide essential information about obstacles that might impede the success of the state’s accountability system. For example, a needs assessment might seek to describe the financial resources available for data collection and evaluation at the school district level or gauge the limits of senior level administrators’ understanding of Title I requirements. Whether the goals of a needs assessment are broad or more focused, articulating them will create the backdrop necessary for all subsequent activities.
A second, key step involved in conducting a sound needs assessment to support a system of accountability lies with distinguishing appropriate stakeholder groups. Since input from the stakeholder groups will be used to develop priorities for action, it is critical to consider which groups and individuals to involve. It is important to keep in mind that stakeholder groups include members beyond the K-12 education community, especially if partnerships with business entities are planned. In addition to agency and school district leaders, teachers, parents, school staff, and students, a needs assessment may involve higher education faculty and administrators, representatives from private industry, policy makers, community members, and non-profit organizations. Again, the clearly articulated goals of the needs assessment will help identify which groups should be included. Although going overboard in consulting stakeholder groups is never advisable, it has been Hezel Associates’ experience that when more people are involved in the process, the credibility associated with any proposed outcomes increases.
Third, once appropriate stakeholder groups have been identified, a variety of data gathering methods are used to solicit input. Both qualitative and quantitative data should be collected. Because it is imperative that the accountability system align with the state’s particular context and political climate, an examination of past and existing policies, legal considerations, and practices should take place. This review should be supported by data from stakeholder groups regarding their perceptions of specific issues. Surveys, group interviews, and one-on-one interviews provide the means to obtain reactions to key concerns. Reviews of relevant documents from other states, financial statements, and other information can provide insight concerning readiness and available resources.
Finally, the fourth step of a needs assessment involves analyzing the qualitative and quantitative pieces of information. It is at this stage that priorities for action can be distilled from the body of data that has been gathered. That is, the priorities identified in the needs assessment will serve as the basis for fine-tuning the state’s accountability system. The final step of the needs assessment, then, actually represents a precursor to the implementation of the accountability system.
It is this iterative nature of strategic planning and needs assessments that most benefits education leaders who grapple with including realistic parameters in state accountability systems. Accountability systems should be viewed as living, breathing documents that are meant to be revisited and improved. By seeking feedback through vehicles such as needs assessments, state education leaders can understand and respond to the implications of the system at multiple levels. Although a considerably more complex undertaking than assembling the content standards that form the backdrop of statewide testing, including needs assessment activities in the design process can actually provide some relief to education leaders. That is, the breadth of needs assessment data that the accountability system can draw upon underscores the fact that assessing education quality requires more than reports of test scores. A mature system of accountability should entail a consideration of parental involvement, community expectations, existing social disparities, higher education and workforce needs, the political environment, state goals, and fiscal realities. Accountability systems call upon the contributions of multiple parties that each have a stake in public education, and needs assessments identify the resources and requirements that allow stakeholder groups to meet the learning needs of today’s young people.