Education

Conference-Goers Outline Next Steps for States

October 17, 2001 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Participants in the National Education Summit held last week in Palisades, N.Y., adopted a “statement of principles” identifying three steps that states need to take to sustain momentum toward higher student achievement: improving state testing programs, ensuring that accountability measures are fair and effective, and raising the quality of teaching.

Participants in the National Education Summit held last week in Palisades, N.Y., adopted a “statement of principles” identifying three steps that states need to take to sustain momentum toward higher student achievement: improving state testing programs, ensuring that accountability measures are fair and effective, and raising the quality of teaching.

The full text of the statement is available online at www.achieve.org. Here is a summary of the statement:

Testing: Tests need to perform a wide variety of functions—including measuring individual students’ progress from year to year and helping schools create plans to address their students’ weaknesses. They also need to be “transparent” so there is “no mystery about what is on the test.” States should consider releasing test questions every year.

Accountability: Accountability programs need to be fair, offering time so that schools can prepare for their impact and emphasizing assistance before sanctions. But if schools don’t turn around, states must be prepared to take “dramatic action,” such as replacing the school’s leaders, hiring a new staff, and allowing students to transfer to another public school.

Teaching: States must “make the teaching profession more attractive” by offering a variety of pathways into the profession. Once there, teachers need access to “high-quality curriculum” and professional development that helps them teach what students are required to know to perform well on the state tests. School officials need to take steps to make teacher salaries comparable to those of other professionals.

—David J. Hoff

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reimagining Grading in K-12 Schools: A Conversation on the Value of Standards-Based Grading
Hear from K-12 educational leaders and explore standards-based grading benefits and implementation strategies and challenges
Content provided by Otus
Reading & Literacy Webinar How Background Knowledge Fits Into the ‘Science of Reading’ 
Join our webinar to learn research-backed strategies for enhancing reading comprehension and building cultural responsiveness in the classroom.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Innovative Strategies for Data & Assessments
Join our webinar to learn strategies for actionable instruction using assessment & analysis.
Content provided by Edulastic

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Quiz Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Trending Education News
How well do you know the trending news in education? Test your knowledge by taking our quiz.
Education Briefly Stated: March 15, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: March 8, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 22, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read