Key Takeaway: School leaders seeking to build an accountability system and mindset that benefits students, staff, and community will find this article helpful and encouraging.
Criteria: Author has extensive expertise in assessment and accountability systems; he has facilitated work by state administrator associations and numerous districts across the nation.
Title: The Principles and Justifications behind Benefits-based Accountability and Leadership
Author: John Tanner https://www.brave-ed.com/
Year: 2022
Summation and Insights: In this white paper and written in clear, complete, and accessible language, John Tanner provides a powerful paradigm shift from compliance based assessment and accountability systems to a benefits -based system that can drive meaningful organizational growth, student success, and community engagement. Twelve principles are presented with justifications elaborated on for each. The principles are as follow:
1.Is always to stakeholder/student benefits
2. Is an engine for meaningful change, not another report.
3. Is presented in non-technical, easy to understand language.
4. Starts with “what do we want to accomplish?” never, “what do we want to measure?”
5. Honors the unique needs of every student and school and is still useful at a policy level.
6. Is not reducible to a single mark or grade.
7. Offers a thorough and truthful accounting.
8. Values human judgments based on evidence.
9. Establishes a social contract between a school and the community it serves.
10. Drives itself through for what and to whom?
11. Demands constant innovation.
12. Is based on the hopes and dreams of students, their parents, and the community.