Student Success Indicators

What are student success indivators?

 

Holistic measures alongside test scores

Most state accountability systems rely on student summative test scores and graduation rates to identify struggling schools and inform decisions.

Student success indicators examine additional student outcomes as well as highlight disparities in learning opportunities and school and community conditions.

  • Some student success indicators draw on data already being collected locally by schools or by other state agencies.
  • Others require innovations and the development of new tools, surveys and assessments.

What is being measured?

The types of student success indicators can be grouped into three categories: outcomes, access and context. Some examples are listed below.

Outcomes:

  • Kindergarten readiness
  • On-track course completion and graduation
  • Financial literacy
  • Educational attainment

Access:

  • Qualified teachers
  • Funding
  • High-quality curricula and instructional materials
  • Supportive school and classroom environments

Context:

  • Student demographics and learning needs
  • Neighborhood safety, healthcare and crime
  • Family assets
  • Community resources

States and communities are experimenting with using student success indicators to:

  • Determine whether students are academically on track or falling behind.
  • Understand how well a school climate supports learning and engages parents as partners.
  • Assess how students fare after high school graduation in postsecondary education and in the labor market.
  • Ascertain the impact of out-of-school investments in strengthening student and school report cards.

Policymakers, educators and advocates assert that greater use of student success indicators can improve school accountability efforts.

  • These indicators serve to improve educational equity. A recent panel convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded, “To ensure that the pursuit of equity encompasses both the goals to which the nation aspires for its children and the mechanisms to attain those goals, a revised set of equity indicators is needed.”
  • With richer insights, stakeholders will be able to better diagnose root causes.  They will be better motivated to act on disparities in education outcomes and opportunities. The ultimate goal is to break down the unique systemic barriers students face in order for all students to flourish.

Why student success indicators matter

Student outcomes are becoming less equitable.

Many researchers have well-documented the historic positive impact of test-based school accountability policies and consequences. However, the impact of this approach seems to have plateaued. Student achievement as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has barely improved (and worsened in some cases) over the past decade.  COVID-induced school closures in 2020 and 2021 have pushed student learning even further behind.

More holistic data could help.

As required by federal law, every state accountability system already includes some indicators beyond test scores, and states’ school report cards already report a variety of additional data. However, these data don’t necessarily provide context for the root causes of persistent disparities. They don’t  inform the understanding of policymakers and educators in envisioning new approaches.

What is educational equity?

According to a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel, educational equity means:

  • Parity among student groups in terms of educational outcomes or access to resources;
  • A fit between resources and student needs; and
  • Adequate effort to lessen the effects of structural disadvantages that disproportionately affect different student groups.

Used intentionally, student success indicators should make accountability and improvement efforts more effective and more equitable.

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