Rethinking State Accountability to Support Personalized, Competency-Based Learning in K-12 Education

This issue brief shares state policy recommendations and resources for policymakers who are ready to rethink state accountability systems to support student-centered learning. 

With the passage of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states gain considerably more authority and autonomy over the design of school accountability systems. This shift in responsibility creates the opportunity for states to reimagine new accountability models that align to goals of college and career readiness for all students, and to move from a culture of compliance to one of continuous improvement.

State leaders can begin to transform state accountability systems to better support more holistic definitions of student success, provide greater transparency, and allow districts and schools to analyze and continuously improve on their practice and build future capacity for change. This issue brief shares recommendations states may want to consider to take advantage of the opportunities in ESSA and move towards building student-centered learning systems in their state.

View other issue briefs:

• Redefining Student Success: Profile of a Graduate
• Redesigning Systems of Assessments for Student-Centered Learning
• State Policy & K-12 Competency-Based Education