Office of Planning and Service Coordination
Regional Needs Assessment 2001
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Executive Summary
Three major themes emerged as priority concerns to educators in this year’s regional needs assessment: accountability, diversity, and the educator workforce. Demographic data, survey data, news articles, and state and federal reports were analyzed to identify these regional education priorities.
While classroom teachers are continuing to focus on alignment and implementation issues in regard to standards, the focus of regional policymakers is shifting to designing systems for accountability. No field-tested models for accountability systems exist for education, so states are moving into new territory in designing these systems. This is a policymaking area in which access to clear, concise, and valid research can inform decisions that are likely to have a profound impact on the performance of schools and students.
A federal initiative requiring rewards and sanctions aimed at improving schools’ performance on standards adds another level of complexity to the challenge of designing an effective accountability system. The intent of this initiative is to motivate schools to make changes necessary to improve performance. But, if poorly designed, rewards and sanctions may also lead to unintended and unwanted behaviors, such as cheating or tilting the curriculum too steeply toward test preparation.
A number of critical challenges in designing accountability systems remain for most Northwest states. One example is the design of report cards, for both students and schools. Such reports should accurately reflect performance over time and provide the type of feedback needed to improve performance. Another example is the design of fair and meaningful exit standards, still an issue in many states. In addition, educators are concerned that the heavy emphasis on high-stakes testing is deflecting attention, and funding, from the development of instructional programs and support systems in schools that enable all children to achieve to high standards.
The issues related to the region’s growing diversity are a second major area of concern that emerged from the needs assessment data. Of particular concern is the achievement gap between Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Alaska Native students relative to other students. Educators want to understand what is causing this gap in their schools and find ways to improve performance for failing students. The growing enrollment of English language learners (ELL) is a concern to an increasing number of schools. Schools are looking for guidance on planning and implementing effective ELL programs.
The third major theme that emerged from the needs assessment data is the need to ensure a quality educator workforce. Schools are struggling with finding an adequate supply of high-quality teachers to fill vacant positions, particularly in specialty areas such as math, science, special education, and bilingual education. Some educators suggest that certification requirements should be reviewed to ensure that they identify and reinforce the characteristics of an effective teacher. Several survey respondents suggested that alternative avenues for certification be given more serious consideration and legitimacy in light of deepening teacher shortages. Some respondents suggested that the teacher shortage is not a production problem, but a retention problem. They suggested that schools must determine why educators are leaving the workforce and what would induce them to stay.
Educators and policymakers are looking for more effective strategies for ongoing professional development. They consider one-day workshops ineffective. Transforming schools into high-performing learning communities was discussed as one way to provide the opportunity for continuous improvement for educators. Alignment of professional development with standards is another priority need expressed in the surveys. Educators said they want to know what is working in the field to get students up to standards. They want to learn how to interpret performance results and adjust instruction accordingly.
Policymakers were surveyed to identify the priority issues they felt could be moved ahead by focused and informed discussions in state or regional forums. They suggested the following: designing accountability systems; measuring performance, including the issue of high-stakes testing; working effectively with English language learners; recruiting and retaining quality educators; and exploring educator certification issues, including alternative certification.
Survey respondents indicated that the most helpful resources for informing policy decisions were as follows: information on best practices; clear and concise research syntheses; Internet access to research information; evaluation studies of education programs and practices; and information on constituent needs. Comments from survey respondents and previous needs assessment reports provided helpful information on how NWREL can improve information sharing and collaborative work with other school improvement organizations.
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