Associate Director Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., who oversees NCREL's Educational Decision Support Systems and author, "Professional Development in Education and the Private Sector: Following the Leaders," believes school principals are realistic about the challenges and opportunities high-stakes accountability poses.
Sabrina Laine:
I think teachers and principals and school district administrators are at the point where they understand that accountability is the big "A" word that's here to stay. And a big piece of accountability of course is assessment, and a big piece of assessment is data. So if we're to move to a culture of continuous improvement and continuous learning, then the role of data in that process is critical. And I think teachers in particular are anxious to have more opportunities to assess their work in the classroom, to assess how their students are progressing, and where they need to give either more or less attention. So I think there is a much greater value placed on the need for use of data then there ever has been in the past.