Column Discusses “Multiple Measures” Accountability System
October 17, 2016
A column in the Sacramento Bee argues that California’s new “multiple measures” accountability system, which is being finalized by the state Board of Education, “abolishes the state’s previous system of assigning scores to schools to signal how well their students are improving” and would not comply with ESSA’s requirement that states continue to identify low-performing schools based on academic tests. Columnist Dan Walters notes that education officials authored a letter “objecting to using proficiency standards in the new ‘Smarter Balanced’ tests to identify low-performing schools, calling them ‘too narrow.’” A bill vetoed by Governor Brown last month would have required the state accountability system to be merged with the federal law.