THE STATE agency responsible for assuring that local school districts offer solid academic fare - the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability - is about to be removed from life support. Meanwhile, the state Board of Education is refusing to add more names to a list of 114 "underperforming" schools until there is a reliable way to offer them additional assistance. Massachusetts needs an immediate infusion of new strategies to help the weakest schools, where students lag their statewide counterparts.
Once seen as a pacesetter in accountability, Massachusetts is falling back. Yesterday, US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said the state "has a long way to go" toward providing tutoring and supplemental services for struggling students. Many who are eligible under federal guidelines for extra help, she said, "aren't getting it."
Mitchell Chester, the incoming commissioner of the state Department of Education, is the man on the spot. Last week, he offered general views on underperforming schools at a meeting with the Board of Education and several urban school superintendents. Educators in Randolph, Southbridge, Holyoke, and other failing districts will be looking for more detail when he takes up his official duties later this month.
The state's accountability system is unnecessarily confusing. Department of Education officials are responsible for evaluating individual schools and crafting turnaround plans. But the quasi-independent EQA assesses the academic, leadership, and financial operations of entire school districts. School officials complain that the system is often duplicative and sometimes punitive. And they have a point.
Board of Education Chairman Paul Reville, who takes up the new post of secretary of education in July, says the current system that separates the diagnosis of school district ills and the supports needed to fix them is a "recipe for incoherency."
The Legislature is eliminating the EQA office, and looking for a new home for its accountability functions. Lawmakers need look no further than the Department of Education. The entire evaluation and intervention function should be the responsibility of one agency.
The Legislature could provide even greater assistance by increasing funds for a longer school day, one of the few proven methods that help educators close the achievement gap between low-income and middle class students.
It's clear to most principals and teachers how flagging MCAS scores, low student performance, and sparse academic offerings can land their schools on the underperforming list. Now Chester and Reville need to show them how to push off.
