Educate For A Change - Accountability for Teachers and Students

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EDUCATE FOR A CHANGE and ACCOUNTABILITY for TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

The “Educate For A Change” mandate embodies a simple and very effective accountability system. One component of the mandate yields all of the instructional program accountability our school system ever needs: the Proficiencies Profile.

The Proficiencies Profile replaces the traditional report card, and it becomes a permanent part of each student’s cumulative record. The Proficiencies Profile is a permanent record of each student’s progress through the sequence of competencies listed in the learning objectives of each discipline. Learning objectives may be marked on the Profile as either being “Achieved” or “In–Progress.” Objectives that have not been introduced have no designation.

One of the less obvious but most innovative aspects of the Proficiencies Profile is that in order for a learning objective on the student’s profile to be marked “Achieved,” the teacher of record must in fact, “certify” that the student has indeed attained the objective, and that the student possesses the competency describe in the learning objective.

Therein is the ultimate accountability system: when a teacher “certifies” that a student has met an objective, the teacher is now on record as stating that he has observed that the student has clearly demonstrated the possession of the knowledge, skill, or understanding required.

If, after advancement to the next level of study, a student consistently fails to demonstrate the possession of a pre-requisite competency, it is appropriate that both the (previous) teacher of record and the student be called to account.

From an administrative standpoint, a lack of teacher competency can be easily determined if there is a consistent pattern of problems in “student assessment and proficiency certification.”

This implies that teachers who certify competencies of students must back up their assertions with hard-copy evidence of student abilities. This in turn implies the necessity of student portfolios as long-term repositories of student work that clearly demonstrates that the student possesses the competency in question.

The portfolio becomes an unquestionable defense for a teacher who is called to account, but if portfolios consistently lack clear evidence of students' competencies, it should be sufficient grounds for administrative action. (Students should take the primary responsibility in building their own portfolios. Teachers should hold students accountable for that responsibility. It is in both the teacher's and student's best interests to do it this way.)

If the student is exhibiting low or non-achievement in the current placement, and if clear evidence of pre-requisite achievement is present in the portfolio, then the student must be called to account for the discrepancy. The student and parent must decide whether the student should continue in the current placement, or should be returned to the previous course of instruction. A student with only one specific discrepancy could probably catch up easily. A student with many discrepancies would probably benefit from being reassigned to the previous course.

When this kind of accountability is practiced as the norm, teachers and students will give due diligence to their respective responsibilities, and will work together cooperatively to reach objectives.

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