On June 29th, MassINC hosted the first meeting of the Next Generation Accountability Learning Community for small to midsize urban districts. State and local education leaders from across New England gathered to discuss the opportunities presented by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Session one focused on measuring academic achievement and student growth. Ryan Reyna and Andrew Rice shared their latest thinking on how ESSA positions states to incorporate these indicators into their new accountability frameworks.

Throughout the day, teachers, superintendents, and state agency leaders engaged in a spirited dialogue. These educators discussed their experiences in recent years and put forth various ideas about how to most effectively implement accountability policy, taking note of the distinctive roles of building-, district-, and state-level leaders.

Several questions continually resurfaced.

• Does ESSA really present an opportunity to develop a next generation accountability framework and how do educators from small to midsize urban districts play a role influencing the policy debate at various stages?

• What is the purpose of accountability?

• How can we emphasize value-added measures that create a level playing field for urban districts while remaining focused on proficiency for all and ensuring urban districts have sufficient resources to achieve success for all of their students?

• How do we balance transparency with the complexity of accountability policies?

Below you can watch video of the expert presentations and download their slide decks. Next week we’ll post a session one memo with more detail on the group’s thinking on these questions. In the meantime, please engage with us. We welcome your emails with thoughts and direction for the learning community.

Prioritizing small-to-midsize urbans

Ben Forman explains accountability from the vantage point of small-to-midsize urban districts. Click here for the powerpoint presentation.