School Rankings & Ratings
Accountability
Why a Judge Stopped Texas from Issuing A-F School Ratings
Districts argued the new metric would make it appear as if schools have worsened—even though outcomes have actually improved in many cases.
Accountability
Why These Districts Are Suing to Stop Release of A-F School Ratings
A change in how schools will be graded has prompted legal action from about a dozen school districts in Texas.
School Climate & Safety
Gallup Asked U.S. Students to Grade Their Schools. Here’s the Report Card
Schools earned their lowest marks on supporting students' mental health and making them excited to learn.
Accountability
School Accountability Is Restarting After a Two-Year Pause. Here's What That Means
For a moment, the COVID-19 pandemic succeeded in doing what periodic protests about school accountability couldn't: Halting it.
Accountability
Opinion
Let's Take a Holistic Approach to Judging Schools
Parents wouldn't judge their kids based on a single factor. So, says Ron Berger of EL Education, why must schools use a lone test score?
States
States Missed Opportunity to Provide Key Data About Schools During Pandemic, Report Says
An analysis of states' school report cards finds many failed to report key indicators, like absenteeism and school spending.
Accountability
States Fall Short on School Data Transparency, Advocacy Group Says
After reviewing states’ school report cards, the Data Quality Campaign says dozens of states are failing to offer a clear window into the data they’re required to collect under ESSA.
Accountability
A Heavy Lift to Make School Data Transparent—And Easy to Use
States and districts are scrambling to meet the Every Student Succeeds Act’s demand for broad and readily searchable information about schools.
Accountability
The Ball Is in Betsy DeVos' Court as States Seek to Revise ESSA Plans
Will the education department let a state go in an entirely new direction, as long as what it is proposing to do is still kosher under the law?
Accountability
Opinion
Use Caution When Measuring School Quality
In the rush to provide parents with information about school performance, we should make sure we're measuring what matters.
Accountability
Rollout of ESSA Report Cards Frustrates School Leaders
Tensions flare between state policymakers, K-12 practitioners, and parents over how to best define and report school success under redesigned accountability systems.
Education
ESSA: Which States Are Eschewing School Grades?
At least ten states have plans to create some kind of accountability "dashboard", which consider school performance on a host of factors, but don't give an overall score to a school.
Accountability
School-Rating Site GreatSchools Expands Its Measuring Stick
GreatSchools.org, whose reviews are seen by more than 50 million people, is expanding its ratings indicators to provide a more nuanced statistical portrait of schools.
Accountability
ESSA Brings User-Friendly Makeover of State Report Cards
State report cards, the much-maligned and politically fraught web portals for conveying how schools stack up, are set for a head-to-toe makeover, both in how they look and the information they provide.