Education Week - January 7, 2016 - Quality Counts - 14

EDUCATION WEEK | January 7, 2016

QUALITY COUNTS AT 20
A sampling from issues
and research findings
in the last two decades

1999

2004

2007

With the burgeoning standards-based reform movement spurring policymakers to
focus on strategies for sparking improvement on statewide tests, the 1999 report
examined efforts to hold schools accountable for student achievement. According to
the results of an Education Week Research
Center survey of state education agencies,
48 states had implemented statewide tests
and 19 rated schools on their performance
for the 1998-99 school year. Sixteen states
had put penalties in place for chronically
failing schools.

The 2004 report focused on expectations
and outcomes for the nation's roughly 7
million students enrolled in special education programs. As part of that undertaking, Education Week sponsored a survey
intended to capture teachers' views regarding the education of this population.
The large majority of teachers, more than
8 in 10, said special education students
should not be expected to meet the same
standards as their peers, underscoring a
tension between educators' views and some
advocates' calls to raise expectations.

2001

2006

For the 2007 report, the Research Center
began the process of revamping the Quality Counts framework by using its new
Chance-for-Success Index to put a spotlight on the ways in which K-12 education
intersects with other sectors, including
the early-childhood, postsecondary, and
workforce systems. Most states had not
yet taken major steps to align K-12 policies with the expectations students face
following high school. For instance, according to an Education Week Research Center
survey, K-12 systems in just 11 states had
spelled out what a college-ready student
should know and be able to do as of the
2006-07 school year. That number had increased to 38 by 2012-13.

School Accountability

Special Education

Cradle-to-Career Pipeline

hen the inaugural Quality
Counts report
was launched
in 1997, states
were in the
process of
adopting education initiatives formulated in the early years
of the standards-based reform movement. As
that movement evolved and matured, the report adapted to the shifting education landscape. Throughout its history, the annual report card has tracked states' progress on key
education indicators. Each year's report has
also featured in-depth analyses of the forces
shaping the environment for educators and
policymakers. For this 20th edition of Quality Counts, Education Week took a retrospective look at the developments, milestones, and
trends the report has chronicled.

1997

Introduction of
Quality Counts Report Card

Content Standards

Retrospective on Standards-Based
Reform

EDUCATION WEEK
www.edweek.org

2008

Teaching Profession

Quality Counts
At10

A Decade of StandardsBased Education

QUALITY COUNTS 2006

As state policymakers grappled with the
challenges of implementing the early
phases of standards-based reform, they
expressed a need for more information
to guide their efforts. In response to that
call, Education Week's Research Center
developed the first-ever Quality Counts
report card. That inaugural report graded
state policy efforts and also identified
21 vital indicators for which data were
unavailable.

With Support From
THE PEW CENTER ON THE STATES

As standards-based reform and statewide
testing fully took root across the nation,
Education Week commissioned a survey
of a national sample of teachers to gauge
the extent to which they had changed what
and how they taught in response to state
standards and tests. Eighty-four percent of
teachers reported that they had modified
their curricula to reflect state standards.
Most respondents also indicated they had
devised modules or lesson plans and instructed students in test-taking skills.

The 10th edition of the annual report took
a look at the nation's progress on both student achievement and adoption of the policies the scorecard had tracked since it was
launched a decade earlier. The Education
Week Research Center conducted a study
finding a positive relationship between
states' adoption of standards, assessments,
and school accountability policies and improvements on the National Assessment of
Educational Progress in reading and math.

Research has consistently pointed to the
quality of instruction as the single most
significant in-school factor affecting student
achievement. With that in mind, Quality
Counts 2008 examined the status of the
teaching profession. The Education Week
Research Center conducted an original
analysis finding that public school teachers
nationwide made 88 cents for every dollar
earned in 16 comparable occupations. In 10
states, teachers earned at least as much as
comparable workers. The 2008 report also
unveiled a new grading framework, which
reflected a shift to evaluating states on student outcomes in addition to policy efforts.

http://www.edweek.org

Education Week - January 7, 2016 - Quality Counts

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - January 7, 2016 - Quality Counts