High Schools That are Accountable for Student Success
America’s high schools are meant to provide young people with the knowledge and skills necessary for life after graduation, but there are few mechanisms in place to make sure schools are delivering on this promise. Unfortunately, many students of color and youth from low-income neighborhoods receive a substandard education and the lack of sufficient data about different racial, ethnic, and language groups impedes our ability to accurately diagnose and address problems.
American high schools should have the capacity to provide top-quality instruction, but are currently failing to offer it to all students. Schools that operate without data that specifically characterizes the academic, graduation, and dropout crisis they are facing by default neglect the needs of whole segments of the student population, hindering their ability to succeed in our neighborhood schools.
Policy Recommendations
In order to ensure that American high schools are serving all students equally, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends:
- developing state longitudinal data systems that align student data with teacher data and school performance and resource data;
- commonly defining graduation rates and following every child’s path to graduation;
- developing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act accountability that requires schools to increase their graduation rates over time and to consider graduation rates on an equal footing with college and work-readiness in determining school quality;
- providing incentives and professional development to foster more effective, data-driven decisionmaking;
- publicly reporting disaggregated racial and ethnic data;
- investing in technical assistance and proven school improvement tools; and
- using high-quality, valid, and accurate assessments for all students.
Read other priorities:
- All Students Proficient and Prepared for College and Work
- High Schools That are Accountable for Student Success
- A Redesigned American High School
- Excellent Leaders and Teachers
- Community Investment in Student Success
- Equitable Learning Conditions
- Common Core State Standards
- Expanded Learning Opportunities
- Effective Teaching