Fulfilling the Promise of Educational Accountability

When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed into law, the President and secretary of education promised sweeping reform of the American education system. In the five years since the law took effect, U.S. public schools have, indeed, seen remarkable change. However, not all of the changes have been well received. Policy makers, scholars, and practitioners alike are increasingly voicing concerns about this comprehensive piece of legislation. As scholars and former public school practitioners, the authors believe that modification of NCLB is warranted. However, the call for change stems not so much from what has occurred in the five years under NCLB as from what the authors have learned in more than 15 years of work within the Texas accountability system. As the state whose reform effort served as the model for NCLB, Texas has much to offer in the debate about school accountability. In particular, examining policies and practices that have worked well in Texas along with those that have proved problematic may shed light on necessary changes for NCLB. In this article, the authors offer the history and lessons of accountability in Texas from the perspective of four individuals who worked within the system from the beginning: (1) the former Texas education commissioner who was one of the architects of the initial reform movement; (2) a former school district superintendent; (3) a former school principal; and (3) a former teacher. They also outline necessary steps to refocus improvement initiatives in Texas (and across the nation) so that they may finally accomplish the promise that was the original vision of the accountability program. (Contains 20 endnotes.)