The Lingo

......................
To Order
Publications:

• Go to our on-line
order form

• Call us at
(401) 863-3833.
......................



ac		how are we doing?

language is power good schools for everyone making alliances working and learning together finding a focus trying out new ideas how schools are organized how are we doing? opening the school doors things to avoid		WHAT SHOULD our children know and be able to do? How will we tell if they know it? What are we going to do if they don't? Challenge schools put a high premium on gathering the information they need to answer those questions. They start by spelling out what they want to accomplish-everything from a more stable school environment (as in Los Angeles) to a network of small, autonomous schools (as in New York City). Then they set benchmarks-progress points to help them chart their results.
		accountability
		Looking closely at results to see whether they meet one's stated expectations is called accountability in school reform circles. In Challenge sites, it means more than just "counting up" test scores-schools also show evidence of progress in the many layers of action that affect student achievement. The Challenge views accountability not as a balance sheet but as an ongoing dialogue between all members of a school community.
		ac
		Most important, they start an honest conversation among teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community members. They gather and look together at hard evidence about what goes on in their schools-student attendance, tardiness, and dropouts; student work (including reporting from parents about homework and reading at home); and the number of outside adults in contact with kids in learning situations. They look at actual student work. They take surveys to measure satisfaction on the part of teachers, principals, students, and parents.

		Most Challenge schools must also report progress to the state or district using standardized tests designed to rank-order large groups of students as a way of evaluating their education. When teachers and schools are punished or rewarded on the basis of such tests, the stakes rise for doing well on them. Such high-stakes accountability can complicate change when it diverts attention away from other, often more meaningful, measures.
		data
		All kinds of information about what goes on in schools count as data, depending on what questions people are asking. Some data are presented as numbers-like promotion and retention rates, student mobility, teacher transfers, the number of books students read. Some data come in the form of actual student work, providing a richer picture than test scores can. Stories can also constitute data-providing evidence of community involvement, for example, or documenting how teachers work together.
		ac
		* WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS: Evaluators at a// the Challenge sites have agreed to use the same five ""levels" as they assess its impact. As well as charting its direct benefits to students, they are looking at how the Challenge has affected schools, groups of schools, larger educational systems like districts or states, and political and community support.
	.	previous \| next