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4. Accountability as a Means of Improvement: A Continuity of Themes
- State University of New York Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
The importance of education as a campaign issue in contests for the governorship loomed large during the twentieth century throughout the United States, but was especially powerful in the South. Florida was no exception. Once elected, governors used the power of their office to influence educational policy. Some aspired to be “educational governors” by appointing blue-ribbon committees and making fundamental changes in state educational structures. In addition, national trends including the “back to basics” movement and accountability practices as well as analyses linking education to business growth and economic prosperity have heavily influenced gubernatorial decisions and priorities in funding.1 The programs developed from the vision of the governors, and the national trends have emphasized increased funding for schools and universities and have sought ways to make systems more efficient. Since 1970, however, accountability has played an important role. Over the last decade, the development of the ability to follow students through the system has given the policy makers in Tallahassee the capacity to link specific schools and classroom teachers to student achievement. This ability has brought the state government closer to the local government and has made state policy the center of local district policy. This chapter focuses on the development of accountability as a set of policy practices in Florida and the roles governors have played in this process since the 1970s. Politicians in Florida centered their programs 83 CHAPTER 4 Accountability as a Means of Improvement: A Continuity of Themes Deanna L. Michael Sherman Dorn on mandating accountability at the school district level by requiring districts to make annual accounts of expenditures, particularly those derived from property taxes and other sources. While few would argue against this necessity, a top-down accountability model ultimately has been a major force driving statewide standardized testing of public school students and the subsequent grading of schools.2 This centralized model of accountability was likely created after the state became primarily responsible for funding local public schools, as described in the prior chapter. At first, accountability meant accountability for funds used. The focus of these policies during the years from 1970 onward, however, shifted from educational programs and their costs to educational outcomes. The recent national history of accountability in many ways mirrors Florida’s trends, with expected outcomes of schooling embedded in the federal reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (2001) and in the legislation of many other states. One way to understand these shifts is to examine the historical context of accountability in Florida, where policy makers’ actions have often been on the forefront of national trends in education. One important feature of accountability in Florida has been the displacement of responsibility away from the center, even while the central state government controls accountability. This displacement creates consequences primarily for local school districts, schools, and students. To illustrate this pattern, consider the state requirement that third graders pass a state standardized test in reading before promotion to the fourth grade. Although elementary schools throughout the state are graded based on the performance of each school’s third, fourth, and fifth graders’ test scores, each individual third grader is also held accountable for how well she or he performs on the third grade examination , given in late winter. If a child does not pass this exam, the required response is retention in grade (unless the student successfully completes summer school work or has completed a portfolio providing evidence of literacy).3 This response changes the child’s school career forever. With considerable justification, advocates of the retention policy point out that children who cannot read well at age 8 or 9 have a much more difficult time handling middle and high school courses. Our point here is not to debate the wisdom of retention but to point out that the policy is one-sided: there is no reciprocal obligation of the state to provide appropriate interventions. In other words, the Florida child bears the primary consequences for the state’s failure to provide an education.4 More generally, only those at the bottom who have had 84 DEANNA L. MICHAEL AND SHERMAN DORN [18.206.83.160] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 09:39 GMT) the policies imposed upon them—third grade students and their schools in this case—are evaluated. An analysis of accountability is timely because federal policy now mandates states to use specific teaching methods in language arts, for example, along with standardized tests to measure the achievement of children from third to eighth...