Opinion ID: 1843606
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the system must incorporate mechanisms to ensure accountability at all levels.

Text: A system of school rewards for successful performance and assistance and penalties for unsuccessful performance shall be established for successful and unsuccessful school performance. Schools shall be provided with adequate resources and with the authority necessary to achieve the results for which they are to be held accountable. Rewards, assistance and penalties shall be determined based upon the increasing or decreasing proportion of successful students within a school and the progress of students toward successful performance. School success shall be defined in terms of the student achievement of the student learning goals and student performance objectives described hereinabove. Students with disabilities, including students with cognitive disabilities, shall participate fully in the assessment and accountability systems so that schools will have a strong incentive to increase the success of these students. Other components of school success shall be appropriate non-cognitive indicators such as graduation rate, drop-out rate, unwarranted retentions, suspensions and expulsions, and other similar factors. The accountability system shall also incorporate an assessment of the school's implementation of the components of this plan. The accountability system shall be designed in such a way that all schools have the opportunity to succeed and will not involve comparisons of one school with another. For accountability purposes the system shall recognize that schools begin from different starting points and face different challenges. Expectations of school performance shall be rigorous and shall increase every year. Achievement thresholds shall reflect the anticipation of both an increase in the proportion of satisfactorily performing students and a decrease in the proportion of lowest performing students. The accountability system shall take account of the special needs of at-risk students to ensure that they are part of the increasing proportion of successful students. The accountability system shall be monitored to ensure that it rewards performance, rather than wealth or any other non-performance factors. The accountability system shall be designed to provide schools that fail to meet their performance thresholds with appropriate technical assistance and support, and to include a reasonable time for local school boards and superintendents to assist schools in correcting performance problems prior to any state takeover of a school, along with a mechanism for local school boards to petition the State Board of Education to return a school to local control after a reasonable period. The system of accountability shall require accountability of, and include mechanisms to assure adequate performance by, all levels of Alabama's public education system including the State Department of Education, local systems, schools, and educators, consistent with the authority and responsibility assigned to each level. Defendants shall submit an accountability system to the Court within 12 months from the date of the Court's remedy order. Parties shall have 60 days from the submission of the accountability system to file objections with the Court.