See also: Making the Grade by Carmel Martin, Scott Sargrad, and Samantha Batel
This interactive contains corrections.
“Making the Grade” is part of the Center for American Progress’ series of products to guide state implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA. The report analyzes the indicators that states currently use to hold schools accountable for their own success, as well as how states use these indicators to rate schools. The report demonstrates that nearly all states will need to make adjustments to comply with ESSA. The data in this report are designed to help states as they consider a broader range of measures for student and school success.
State accountability systems vary in complexity, with states using between 4 and 26 different indicators, with an average of 11 indicators. Measures fall into one of seven categories: achievement indicators; student growth indicators; English language acquisition indicators; early warning indicators; persistence indicators; college- and career-ready indicators; and other indicators. Nearly all states look at more than just test scores and graduation rates, but tests still account for an average of 91 percent of state systems.
To explore the data, click on a state to see the indicators included in its accountability system and view how it weights those indicators to determine a school’s rating. Filter states by the category of indicators being used to identify which states include which measures in their systems. For a detailed analysis, see “Making the Grade.”
Carmel Martin is the Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress. Scott Sargrad is the Managing Director of the K-12 Education Policy team at the Center. Samantha Batel is a Policy Analyst with the K-12 Education team at the Center.
Correction, October 6, 2016: This interactive has been updated to show percentages in shaded cells where applicable.