Minnesota Charter Schools Evaluation
Assessment Resources and Tools for Program Accountability
and Evaluation (April 1997)
Compiled by the Center for Applied Research and Educational
Improvement and the Enrollment Options Project as part of the
Minnesota Charter Schools Evaluation
Introduction: A Focus on Results
Two legislative purposes for authorizing the creation of
charter schools in Minnesota focus on promoting new forms of
accountability for student performance:
- the measurement of learning outcomes and creation of
different and innovative forms of measuring outcomes, and
- the establishment of new forms of accountability for
schools.
In addition, Minnesota charter legislation states that
A charter school must design its programs to at least
meet the outcomes adopted by the State Board of Education.
In the absence of state board requirements, the school must
meet the outcomes contained in the contract with the
sponsor. The achievement levels of the outcomes contained in
the contract may exceed the achievement levels of any
outcomes adopted by the state board.
As part of the charter contract, each school must stipulate
the specific outcomes students are to achieve, and, student
assessment methods used to determine whether the school's
contract is renewed or terminated. This reporting requirement
may be thought of as
external accountability.
Finally, the legislation specifies that at least annually,
charter schools must report sponsor—or state-required
information. In 1995, the Minnesota State Board of Education
adopted an annual program evaluation and reporting system for
charter schools that focuses more on internal evaluation and
accountability. This system requires all curricular and
instructional areas to be evaluated and reported on a regular,
rotating basis not to exceed six years. For each curricular or
instructional area, the report must include:
- specification of selected key outcomes that are
measurable and realistic;
- identification of indicators for selected key outcomes
as the standard for determining the degree to which each
outcome has been attained;
- a plan for program improvement; and
- a survey of parents and/or students to determine their
attitudes and needs relative to the charter school and its
programs, at least once every third year.
Purpose of this Document
As the Minnesota charter schools evaluation was being planned
during the summer of 1996, site representatives indicated that
it would be helpful to have a short list of available
instruments related to the following areas of student
performance:
- Presence and Participation (e.g., attendance,
participation, completion);
- Academic Performance (e.g., academic and nonacademic
skills);
- Contribution and Citizenship (e.g., compliance with
school and community rules, volunteering);
- Physical health (e.g., lifestyle choices; physical
fitness; awareness of safety, fitness, and health care
needs);
- Personal and Social Adjustment (e.g., coping skills,
self image, respect for differences, peer relations);
- Satisfaction (e.g., student, parent, and teacher
satisfaction with the school experience).
The abstracts of instruments and sources of data included in
this document are cross-referenced to the above outcome areas.
In preparing these abstracts, the primary objective has been to
provide a useful compendium of existing measures that may be
appropriate for use by a charter school as part of its
accountability plan. The selection of outcome areas to be
assessed and measures will of course depend upon the mission and
goals of the charter school.
A charter school working to establish new forms of
accountability for student performance will find itself on the
path to developing new measures and processes. The challenge of
establishing new forms of accountability may involve the use of
non-traditional assessment processes for improvement of
instruction and curriculum (internal program accountability), or
school performance reporting/evaluation (external
accountability). Such efforts are complex and take time. In the
short-term, charter schools may need to use existing measures to
meet their contractual obligations and reporting requirements.
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