Navigating School Accountability

Discover the heartbeat of educational excellence as we delve into the intricacies of school accountability with me, Dr. Genelle Morris. As the proud superintendent of the Olean City School District, I discuss the latest measures shaping our schools and the impact they have on our diverse student body. This episode is a journey through the successes and hurdles we face in providing an equitable learning experience, underscored by the New York State Education Department's accountability measures.

Our conversation navigates through the delicate balance of accountability measures and our strategic framework. I'll share how our strategic plan for the 2022-2023 school year, born from the collaborative spirit of our community, serves as a compass, guiding our efforts to enhance student outcomes and uphold our commitment to accountability. This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about the transformative power of education and the collective mission to nurture our next generation.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Welcome to the Husky Huddle where we delve into pressing issues facing our educational system. I'm your host, proud superintendent of the Olean City School District, dr Janelle Morris, and today I'm going to dive into the topic of school accountability, focusing on the Olean City School District. So the Olean City School District, like many others in the country, faces the challenge of ensuring that all students receive a quality education. So what does accountability mean in this context and how does the district measure up? To help us understand more about this issue, I'd like to discuss the recently released School of Accountability Measures. Let's start by talking about what does school accountability entail? So an overview of school accountability refers to the process of holding schools accountable and responsible for the academic performance and the outcomes of their students. This includes measures such as the standardized test scores that we receive, graduation rates and student achievement levels. So at the federal level, the every student succeeds acts, or E-S-S-A, ensure that all students get a quality education. This law requires that states hold public schools accountable for how students achieve. E-s-s-a does give states flexibility and their accountability systems can measure much more than just test scores. So the New York State Education Department, or NYSED, has established a set of indicators to measure school performance. Nysed developed these indicators with the input of thousands of people statewide, such as parents, educators and experts, and the indicators in New York State include student academic achievement, student growth and school progress, the progress of English language learners, chronic absenteeism and, for high schools, graduation rates and preparing students for college, career and civic engagement.

Speaker 1: 2:29

In January, the New York State Education Department released state accountability school designations for the 2023-2024 schools. This is for all schools and districts in New York State Beginning with the 22-23 school year. The identification status, formerly known as Good Standing, was renamed as Local Support and Improvement, or LSI. So, as of the January release, all of the schools in the Olean City School District were designated as LGI. So what does this mean for our schools and the district as far as Olean is concerned? Regarding accountability, well, this demonstrates that the Ole and City School District has made strides in a lot of areas, and being in good standing at all of our schools is something to be proud of. There are also areas for continuous improvement and, as we examine our accountability data, we will continue to work on that. For example, the district's graduation rate has exceeded the state average over the past few years, which is a positive sign. However, there are still some disparities in our student achievement among different demographic groups, and more needs to be done to address this.

Speaker 1: 3:53

So what specific accountability measures are in place within the Ole and City School District? So, like with many districts, the Ole and City School District uses a variety of measures to assess school performance. This includes standardized testing and assessments of student growth over time. Additionally, the district also may take into account factors such as attendance rates and dropout rates. We continue to always work to improve this, in part through our strategic plans and goal setting, to ensure that we're addressing some of the action steps required to make improvements in these areas. So how do these measures impact students and teachers within our district? Well, accountability measures can have both positive and negative effects. On one hand, they can provide valuable data that can be used to identify areas for improvement and allocate resources more effectively. Sometimes they can create pressure for students and teachers to perform well on these tests, and that can lead to teaching to the test and narrowing of the curriculum. We don't want that for our students. We want them to have full access to the curriculum and allow for access to that without having a lot of anxiety. So some ways to improve school accountability in our district include focusing on holistic measures of school performance that take into account factors just beyond test scores, such as student achievement, student engagement and school climate. Additionally, providing additional support and resources to schools that are struggling can also help address underlying issues that might be contributing to poor performance.

Speaker 1: 5:50

Our strategic plan was developed in our district in the 22-23 school year, and this serves as our district-wide blueprint for our district success. We brought many members of our school community, including parents, students, teachers, administrators, support staff, community members, board members and residents together to discuss and develop a plan to elevate students' success for years to come. Through this process, we developed a new vision statement and identified five action steps which support school accountability. These are creating and supporting a positive culture. Maximizing success for all. Data-driven decision-making. Progressive and enriching learning for all students. And engaging parental and community involvement. Our goals include implementing targeted interventions and support programs for struggling students. Providing professional development opportunities for teachers to enhance their instructional practices. Establishing monitoring systems to track student progress and adjust interventions accordingly.

Speaker 1: 7:05

If you would like more information about our schools or our strategic plan, please feel free to visit our website at wwwoleanschoolsorg. I would like to thank you for joining me on this discussion about school accountability, and I continue to be thankful to all of you who tune in. Be sure to subscribe to the Husky Huddle for more discussions on education, especially how they relate to our students and our community. And, olean, I can't wait to continue to share, connect and huddle with all of you Until next time. I'm Dr Janelle Morris, your superintendent, signing off. Go Huskies.