Accountability & Assistance Advisory Council (AAAC) Meeting Notes
April 6, 2016 (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Best Western Marlborough (181 Boston Post Road, Marlborough)
Attendance AAAC: Valerie Annear, Erica Brown, Ethan Cancell, John D’Auria, Jason DeFalco, Kirk
Downing, Meg Mayo Brown, Kathryn McDermott, Paul Schlichtman, Mary Skipper, Tari Thomas,
Elizabeth Shevlin Tripathi, Jason Williams
ESE Facilitators: Erica Adametz, Matt Pakos, Joan Tuttle, Lauren Woo
AAAC Chair, Meg Mayo Brown, convened the meeting and welcomed Council members. New Council
members, Erica Brown, Ethan Cancell, Jason DeFalco and Mary Skipper, were given a chance to
introduce themselves to the larger group. Following these introductions, Matt Pakos, from the Center
for Accountability, Partnerships, and Targeted Assistance at the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education (ESE), provided a brief overview of January 13th meeting and previewed the day’s
agenda. A copy of the slide presentation can be found attached to these notes. Following this overview,
Joan Tuttle, Director of the Office of District and School Turnaround at ESE, facilitated a break-out
discussion and activity for Council members focused on two key discussion questions. Facilitated by the
Council chair, Council members shared-out their group discussions and began to come to consensus on
a set of recommendations for the future of the MA accountability system. The following notes were
recorded during break-out and whole-group discussions between Council members.
Break-out Discussion Question: In your opinion, what types of behaviors/actions does MA’s current
accountability & assistance system incentivize? Are these the right things?
The current system does incentivize:
 A focus on test scores, as both a positive and a negative result
 A focus on subgroup performance and gaps between groups
 Failure as a means of accessing additional resources (e.g., funding, support services)
 Accountability as a punitive measure as opposed to a vehicle for assistance
 A negative interpretation of how test scores relate to classroom actions
 The need for schools and districts to work with external partners. However, many organizations do
not have the proven track record for successful school improvement or turnaround that some
districts/schools may need or expect
 A self-assessment process
The current system does not incentivize:
 The strategic use of resources
 The use of multiple indicators as measurements of success, including tiered systems of support and
safety nets
 The use of accountability-related language in a positive context. For example, the term “hold
harmless” implies that without the provision, harm would otherwise be done to the school or
district
 The use of other ESE review processes (e.g., Coordinated Program Reviews) as indicators used in
accountability determinations or assistance activities
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Better or more consistent data collection methods for data other than assessment results. For
example, each district has its own discipline policy, so data reported to ESE is not necessarily
comparable from one district to the next
The quantification of self-assessment information for use in accountability measures and assistance
activities
Suggestions from individual Council members:
1. Use multiple measures of success, with a focus on a well-rounded education
2. Reward schools and districts that offer opportunities for a well-rounded education
3. Beyond the current commendation process, identify/recognize schools that demonstrate
incremental improvement
4. Do not assume that mid- to high-performing schools and districts do not need support
5. Do not incentivize failure as a path to additional supports and resources
6. Differentiate supports based on demonstrated need
7. Maintain the need/cause for self-assessment, and find a way to quantify these results
8. Be careful in the selection and use of terminology around assessment and accountability to avoid
the language taking on a negative tone
Break-out Discussion Question: Thinking broadly, what aspects of MA’s current accountability and
assistance system – if any – would you like to change in the future? Why?
Questions from Council members:
 Does automatically putting the bottom 20% of schools in Level 3 status create unintended
consequences?
 Should the lowest rated school in a district determine the district’s overall accountability rating?
 Does the current system actually tell you [educators, students, families] how a particular school
is performing?
Suggestions from individual Council members:
 Current assessments/metrics are too narrow and place an uneven value on subject areas (i.e.,
arts, social justice, etc are devalued in current system because they are not tested)
 Accountability system should assess challenges schools face and make a determination about
how schools are fairing against those challenges
 Continue to identify subgroups, but potentially change weighting formulas or how the
subgroups are identified
 Add metrics beyond student outcomes (e.g., net school spending)
 Add metrics related to whole-school quality
o Create expression from students, social justice
o Social-emotional learning
o Project-based learning
 Create incentives for the use of additional time
Whole Group Discussion:
Following the small group break-out discussions, the full Council had a wide-ranging discussion
regarding the break-out conversations. The following opinions were voiced by individual Council
members during the whole-group discussion.
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The system of assigning “Levels” alone does not help districts and schools pinpoint how student
outcomes might be improved
There are three distinct levels to consider and the ESE needs to redefine accountability each
one, with their own measures: 1) Students, 2) Schools and 3) Districts
o Challenges at the school level and district level are different and therefore need
different approaches to measure quality and impact.
A portfolio approach to measuring schools and districts would be helpful
o Incorporate indicators not currently utilized (e.g., per pupil expenditures, etc.)
System should incorporate some competency-based measures
System should incorporate multiple measures
System should weight student growth more heavily
ESE should consider using different measures for certain groups of students (e.g., WIDA/ACCESS
for ELLs instead of MCAS for ELLs with very limited English language proficiency)
Accountability system should reflect what we value (whole child, creative expressions, projectbased learning, social/emotional supports, vocational-technical educational opportunities, etc.)
ESE needs to reflect on current system and strategies created to avoid “gaming the system” and
consider new approaches without recreating previous problems
The focus on data has created an anti-data movement
Is accountability intended to be a hammer or a flashlight?
Accountability is not a punishment
The system should represent what we value
ESE should consider modifying the language used to describe components of the system (e.g.,
“Held Harmless” may send a message of “harming” the field)
Don’t wait until an accountability level is assigned—provide support before a school or district is
very low-performing
Formative assessments should inform changes needed, data is needed up front, not as an
autopsy
o CAUTION: if the state provides formative assessments, there could be unintended
consequences and impact of local curriculum/scope and sequence.
o District could provide their formative assessment data to the state
Caution: There is currently no consensus by the experts on how to effectively measure growth
Next steps and requests
 One Council member requested that ESE staff provide a crosswalk of federal and state
legislation at the next meeting, identifying requirements contained in each
 One Council member suggested that ESE develop an “accountability system institute” this
summer with presentations on different approaches to measuring school and district
performance, so that AAAC members and others have an opportunity to dive deeper into the
content and options, and to develop concrete recommendations