Standards & Accountability What the Research Says

More than 1 in 4 Schools Targeted for Improvement, Survey Finds

By Sarah D. Sparks — January 18, 2024 2 min read
Vector illustration of diverse children, students climbing up on a top of a stack of staggered books.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Twenty-nine percent of public schools have made comprehensive or targeted improvement under federal and state accountability systems.

Schools must develop an improvement plan if they miss state academic, graduation rate, or other accountability goals for two years in a row. They use targeted plans if individual student groups, for example, perform in the bottom 5 percent of all students in a state in math. Schools require comprehensive improvement plans if multiple student groups fall behind, or if high schools graduate fewer than 67 percent of their students from high school after four years.

These are the first school improvement plan findings from the National Center for Education Statistics’ School Pulse Panel, a bimonthly survey on how schools have responded to and recovered from pandemic disruptions. The current data come from a nationally representative group of more than 1,500 schools from every state and Washington, D.C., who were surveyed in November.

See Also

shutterstock 151162832
Shutterstock

The new data also show that schools focus most often on changing their reading and math curriculums in their improvement plans. Less than a third prioritize teacher professional development or student engagement.

Experts worry improvement efforts will be a heavier lift as the end of federal pandemic aid for schools arrives in the next school year.

Student absenteeism also continues to be a concern for school leaders as schools work to turn around low academic achievement. Thirty-six states include chronic absenteeism (generally defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days) as an additional indicator in school accountability ratings.

The Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and the non-profit group Attendance Works have found that two-thirds of public school students now attend a school with high or extreme chronic absenteeism, up from 26 percent during the 2017-18 school year.

In its survey, NCES found that while public schools overall report daily average attendance rates of 90 percent.

Fifty-two percent of schools in high-poverty communities said they are “moderately” or “extremely” concerned about student absenteeism, compared to 39 percent of all public schools in the study.

Hedy Chang, director of Attendance Works, said focusing on daily attendance rates may give schools a false sense of security about absenteeism.

“Average daily attendance really answers the question how many kids typically show up each day,” she said. “It doesn’t tell you how many and which kids are missing so much school they might be academically at risk. With 90 percent average daily attendance, you could be having a 30 or 40 percent chronic absenteeism easily.”

Events

School & District Management Webinar Fostering Productive Relationships Between Principals and Teachers
Strong principal-teacher relationships = happier teachers & thriving schools. Join our webinar for practical strategies.
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Promoting Integrity and AI Readiness in High Schools
Learn how to update school academic integrity guidelines and prepare students for the age of AI.
Content provided by Turnitin

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Standards & Accountability Education Secretary: Standardized Tests Should No Longer Be a 'Hammer'
But states won't ease accountability requirements until federal law tells them to do so, policy experts say.
5 min read
Close up of a student holding pencil and writing the answer on a bubble sheet assessment test with blurred students at their desks in the background
iStock/Getty
Standards & Accountability The Architects of the Standards Movement Say They Missed a Big Piece
Decisions about materials and methods can lead to big variances in the quality of instruction that children receive.
4 min read
Image of stairs on a blueprint, with a red flag at the top of the stairs.
Feodora Chiosea/iStock/Getty
Standards & Accountability Political Debate Upends Texas Social Studies Standards Process
The Lone Star State is the latest to throw out a set of standards after conservative activists organized in opposition.
7 min read
USA flag fractured in pieces over whole flag.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Standards & Accountability Opinion Educators Weigh In on Implementing the Common Core, Even Now
Though outlawed in some states, the standards still offer a strong foundation for English, math, and other subjects.
4 min read
A teacher looks at a book with young children.
E+/Getty