The new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) affords states the opportunity to develop new accountability indicators that provide a more holistic measure of school quality. Many states have already begun to explore postsecondary indicators to evaluate students’ college and career readiness once they graduate.
This paper from the Learning Policy Institute takes advantage of the ESSA policy window to propose a new model for accountability. The paper offers three potential career readiness indicators — CTE pathway completion, work-based learning and industry-recognized credentials — and discusses strategies for collecting and presenting data in a way that supports continuous improvement. This is a helpful resource for any state working to develop or update its accountability system under ESSA or explore potential postsecondary indicators.
