Faith in the Public Arena: education and academic, fiscal accountability

There has been increasing discussion in House education committees in recent weeks about fiscal and academic accountability. In early February, Representative Tim Pawlenty (R-Eagan) introduced House File 71 that would direct the Commissioner of Children, Families and Learning to contract with an independent school evaluation contractor for the express purpose of conducting performance evaluations of school districts.

Similar ongoing evaluations in Pennsylvania and Michigan were initiated to help make informed decisions about how best to improve student achievement and the management of school systems. The proposed evaluation process includes an analysis of academic and financial indicators and trends, establishes comparative benchmarks, and offers impartial findings on the performance of school districts and school sites.

Six core categories of analysis proposed in H.F. 71 are as follows:

1. School district expenditures;

2. Students’ performance outcomes based on multiple criteria including students’ test scores, attendance rates, dropout rates and graduation rates;

3. Return on resources to determine the extent to which student outcomes improve commensurate with increases in district spending;

4. School district finances, taxes and debt to establish the context for analyzing the districts return on resources;

5. Students’ learning environment to establish the context for analyzing the district’s return on resources; and

6. School district demographics to establish the socioeconomic context for analyzing the district’s return on resources.

Contractor reports would be submitted to the commissioner within 360 days of the date on which the contract is signed. The commissioner is directed to immediately make these reports available to state and local elected official, members of the public, educators, parents and other interested individuals.

At a recent house education committee hearing, representatives from Standard & Poor’s school evaluation division described services that could be provided to meet the criteria described in this bill.

Along the same line of enhancing educational accountability, Representative Tony Kielkucki (R-Lester Prairie) offered a bill that would establish a voluntary accreditation program for school districts with funding appropriated through the department of Children, Families and Learning.

These measures are supported by the Minnesota Catholic Conference because we are confident that they will enhance the rigor of academic and fiscal management systems in Minnesota public schools.

In the state of Minnesota, most nonpublic schools (and over 90% of all Catholic elementary and secondary schools) are members of accreditation associations recognized by the Minnesota Nonpublic Education Council (MNEC), a statutorily authorized entity under the auspices of the commissioner of Children, Families and Learning. Presently there are nine MNEC-recognized accrediting associations providing service to Minnesota nonpublic schools, including home schools. These accrediting association require schools to participate in a rigorous school improvement process to identify relative strengths and needs, subsequently developing a long-term school improvement plan. Among the components of the process are a self-study process, review of standards including fiscal and academic quality measurements, a validation visit by an independent team of professionals, culminating with a long-term school improvement plan that requires an annual progress report to the association.

The origins of accreditation of nonpublic schools in Minnesota can be traced back to the mid-1970’s. Since that time the accreditation process has assisted hundreds of nonpublic schools enhance the quality of their programs. The result has paid tremendous dividends in term of student achievement and fiscal responsibility to the stakeholder who have entrusted the administrators and teachers of these schools with their most treasured possessions.