Academic Accountability in Alabama’s Public Schools
The Alabama Legislature adopted an
accountability law for the public schools in 1995 (Act 95-313). The law requires that
students in grades 3 – 11 take a nationally normed test each spring, and the results
of this testing are used to assess student performance. The test currently used by the
State Board of Education is the Stanford Achievement Test, 9th Edition. This test compares
the performance of Alabama students in the current year to the performance of a national
sample of students from 1995. The results are published by the State Department of
Education in terms of "percentile rank" scores that range from 1 to 99. On this
scale, a score of 50 is interpreted as representing the "national average," and
scores above 50 are considered above the national average. The test covers reading,
mathematics, science, and social science. Scores are published for every grade tested in
each school.
The Alabama accountability law requires the State Board of Education to use the test
results to identify schools and school systems that are in need of assistance. Those
identified enter an improvement process of up to three years that involves self-study, the
help of an "academic improvement team" from the outside, and finally state
intervention if there is insufficient improvement in test scores. The State Board of
Education has defined two categories of schools in need of assistance:
