Dive Brief:
- Vermont is piloting a program officials plan to take statewide in which teams of reviewers visit schools to collect evidence for a report that offers recommendations for improvement to instruction, school climate and operations.
- Education Week reports the model is common in some countries, including Great Britain, as well as states like Kentucky, Massachusetts and New York that conduct similar reviews of their lowest-performing schools — though education researcher Linda Darling-Hammond says an improvement strategy must follow the initial review for change to occur.
- In Vermont, “integrated field reviews,” which each school will get every three years, have led to new priorities in districts and have helped the state assess schools in a more holistic way, which the Every Student Succeeds Act calls for.
Dive Insight:
As a small state, Vermont may have the luxury of visiting every school every three years in a way that would not be possible in other places. That surely factors into why New York State only conducts the more labor-intensive reviews in its lowest-performing schools. There is something to be said for bringing in outsiders to review a school. People with a fresh take on the school can bring their own experiences and perspectives that may be lacking in an existing staff.
Programs like this have to be clear about expectations and outcomes, however. In Vermont, the review is not meant to be punitive. Schools can take the recommendations in the follow-up report or not. If these reviews are tied to ESSA evaluation systems, they will need to result in a grade for accountability purposes, which could impact the tenor of the visits.