Program

Accountability Systems

CCSSO, on behalf of the states, hereby commits to further states' proactive leadership in promoting college- and career-readiness for all students by establishing next-generation state accountability systems. Over the past several years, chief state school officers and other representatives from state education agencies have come together to develop a set of guiding principles for what a next-generation accountability system should include. These principles represent the vision of chiefs and state education agencies to dramatically improve student achievement through the development and implementation of next-generation state accountability systems that are based on the goal of college and career readiness for all students. These next-generation accountability systems will build upon historical and current accountability efforts that have led to our sharp focus on student performance data and will go beyond the current system to build new systems that are more innovative and consistent across the systems' components.

The ultimate goal of these new systems is to ensure that every student has access to a high-quality education. States will achieve this goal by (1) driving school and district performance towards college- and career-readiness, (2) distinguishing performance in order to more meaningfully target supports and interventions to the students most in need, (3) providing timely, transparent data to spur action at all levels, and (4) fostering innovation and continuous improvement throughout the system.

To date, 44 states and the District of Columbia have endorsed these principles and committed to developing next-generation accountability systems consistent with the principles. Many states have already started the work of designing and implementing new systems and still more are poised to do so. CCSSO is committed to support states in their design and implementation of these new accountability systems toward to ultimate goal of ensuring that every student has access to a high-quality education.

On November 14, 2011, the following states submitted ESEA Flexibility Requests consistent with the state developed accountability principles the U.S. Department of Education. These states include:

Related Resources

• Roadmap for Next-Generation State Accountability Principles
• Principles and Processes for State Leadership on Next-Generation Accountability Systems
• MapState ESEA Flexibility Map
• CCSSO Statement on Waiver Announcement