By Ruth Ferguson, NDG Editor
As the school districts across the country continue the migration from No Child Left Behind to conform to the guidelines required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), one potential positive is a report card readers can understand. Under No Child Left Behind parents and those concerned with the state of education were drowning in mounds of data and confusing jargon. States are required to provide an annual overview in an “easily accessible and user-friendly” format.
The redesigned report cards will include a wide-range of information, which will provide insight into the performance of students across racial and economic populations. In addition, it will also break out data regarding students in military families, the foster system as well as homeless students. The states are required to provide an overview of how a consistently underperforming school is identified for each of these student populations.
The goal of the reports is to capture the achievement progress of the student populations including data such as performance on standardized tests and graduation rates. It is believed having a standardized way of capturing the educational progress of the children in the foster care system or homeless can lead to interventions to address the population’s unique needs. For example, as many school districts, particularly in border states such as Texas, receive an influx of students learning English, the report card will be required to report the number of students and their progress in achieving English proficiency.
In recent years, parents and watchdog groups have raised concerns regarding the number children, especially minority students, are receiving in and out of school punishments. The new report cards will include data on:
- In-school suspensions
- Out-of-school suspensions
- School-related arrests
- Referrals to law enforcement
- Chronic absenteeism
- Incidences of violence, including bullying and harassment.
According to the summaries provided by the Council of Chief State School Officers, the information slated to be featured on the revamped report cards include:
- A description of the state’s accountability system
- Parents will be able to see where their child’s schools rank in accordance with the state’s accountability system
- The number of inexperienced, ineffective, and out-of-field principals and teachers.
- Progress and number of students participating in preschool programs, Advanced Placement courses, and International Baccalaureate classes.
- How much money each school spends per student with a breakdown of staff versus non-staff costs. They will also report the amount of local, state, and federal government dollars received.
The new report cards must be posted online by December 31, 2018, for the data covering the 2017-18 academic school year.
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