Federal A Washington Roundup

Accountability Forum Backs Local Tests

By Alyson Klein — June 19, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Schools should be permitted to use multiple, locally created assessments instead of “one shot” tests to measure student progress for accountability purposes, according to a report released last week by a panel of experts convened by the Forum on Educational Accountability, a group that includes some of the most vocal critics of the 5-year-old No Child Left Behind Act.

Members of the forum include the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, based in Washington, and the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, or FairTest, a longtime critic of high-stakes testing, based in Cambridge, Mass.

The forum’s members unveiled their recommendations in Washington on June 14. They plan to distribute them to members of the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Both panels are charged with leading the reauthorization of the law this year.

The recommendations also call for encouraging states to incorporate a wide range of subjects, not just mathematics and reading, into their accountability systems. But, the forum says, the reauthorized law should ensure that adding subjects will help schools meet accountability goals, not further penalize them.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings sharply criticized the report’s proposals, saying in a statement that they would “turn back the clock to a time when accountability was not a way of life in our schools.”

See Also

For more stories on this topic see Testing and Accountability and our Federal news page.

For background, previous stories, and Web links, read Accountability.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 20, 2007 edition of Education Week

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
Mathematics Webinar
Engaging Every Learner: Strategies to Boost Math Motivation
Math Motivation Boost! Research & real tips to engage learners.
Content provided by Prodigy Education
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
Student Well-Being Webinar
The Ripple Effect: Mental Health & Student Outcomes
Learn how student mental health impacts outcomes—and how to use that data to support your school’s IEP funding strategy.
Content provided by Huddle Up
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.

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

Federal Judge Reverses Ed. Dept.'s Abrupt End to States' Time to Spend COVID Relief
The order comes after Education Secretary Linda McMahon effectively canceled more than $1 billion in remaining pandemic relief funding.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of a coin in the top section of an hour glass
Dumitru Ochievschi/iStock/Getty
Federal Opinion Trump's Barrage of Executive Orders for Education: How Significant Are They?
A Washington insider discusses the immediate—and long-term—implications of the administration's education goals.
8 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin. From Dismantling Library Services Agency
The president referred to the agency as "unnecessary" in a March executive order, after which it started winding down many operations.
2 min read
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. A federal judge blocked the president's attempt to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Federal Opinion We’re All to Blame for What Has Become of the U.S. Dept. of Education
The trouble started decades ago with a flawed plan to improve America’s schools, writes a former New York superintendent.
Michael V. McGill
5 min read
Illustration of pointing fingers.
DigitalVision Vectors<br/>