Summary: Making accountability a matter of policy has helped this school district narrow the acheivement gap and raise students' achievement scores overall.

Accountability is not a word to be feared in the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township near Indianapolis. A system-wide accountability plan has helped spur noticeable student achievement gains and narrowed the achievement gap, especially in math. 

The plan grew out of the district’s regular process of setting annual goals, says Superintendent Terry Thompson. He credits board members with supporting a series of locally developed indicators, or standards, including performance by students and teachers, parental involvement, community partnership, and leadership. Today it is the basis for important changes in curriculum, instruction, schedules and decision making.

Using the accountability plan, the board looks at cause and effect when establishing policy or doing strategic planning. In addition, when schools make annual progress reports to the board, Thompson says, the accountability system forms the structure and content of the reports.

And the results in the classroom? “This year every school in the system, including both high- and low-poverty schools, achieved significant improvement in academic achievement as measured by both state and district assessments,” Thompson says. Increased student achievement has always been the district’s long-term goal. Recent district statistics suggest that the achievement gap usually associated with economically disadvantaged students and with minorities has dropped to less than 10 percentage points. In math scores among middle school and elementary children, the gap has almost been closed.

Visit the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township web site for more information.

Contact Information:

Karen J. Gould
Assistant Superintendent
Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township
City, State zip 
Phone: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: karen.gould@wayne.k12.in.us