Reimagining the roles of state and local education agencies

Shifts in the education system to more student-centered learning will require state and local education agencies to rethink how they do their work. Current accountability systems focus on compliance with standards, as demonstrated in annual summative assessments. Mark Elgart explains that a new approach to accountability will offer more authentic and flexible assessment options and give schools support for continuous improvement in response to assessment results. Instead of focusing on compliance and testing, state education agencies can shift to offering options for assessment and resources for professional development. Local education agencies would be responsible for providing accountability data to the state and providing professional development on how to use assessment data for continuous improvement.