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Measures of Quality

 
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The vision of Fleming County Schools to become a District of Distinction challenges the district to commit to continuous improvement. High-performing organizations, like school districts, never stop learning and growing. For far too long, school districts have relied on a single metric to rate themselves or label themselves. Yet, what education has learned is that a single metric has overlooked critical pillars of an organization as reliance on high-stakes testing has consumed the conversation.

Measures for Quality is an accountability system that looks at all pillars that make an organization effective. Accountability is the means for telling the "truth" about an organization. Though standardized test scores are important, they only give us a small snapshot of a student. We are actively seeking the full picture album. School districts that rely on test scores, a single metric, to determine if they are effective are not truthful with stakeholders. An effective accountability system must include all critical pillars of the district, such as caring for students and staff in addition to teaching and learning. In a typical accountability system, the actions for student benefit rarely ever show up. The key to a true accountability system is that even during a crisis, measures and accountability continue. For instance, during the spring of 2020, high-stakes accountability was frozen, but in fact, accountability continued - as there were other facets of the organization that continued.

Stakeholders want a system that provides truthful data, the good and bad, and is extremely transparent. More importantly, communicates to stakeholders in an understandable way the district's areas of focus, what it wants to accomplish, how well they're meeting those expectations, and where and why they are not. Holistically, Measures of Quality addresses what the district is doing for students, such as school safety, food and nutrition, engagement, access, and facilities. High-performing accountability systems focus on the most important stakeholders. For a school district, which means students, teachers, parents, and the community.