High-Stakes Accountability and Equity: Using Evidence from California's Public Schools Accountability Act to Address the Issues in Williams v. State of California

  • Basic educational necessities targeted by the Williams case should be the object of state policy in conjunction with accountability policies.
  • As the percentage of students receiving reduced-price or free lunch, student mobility, and the percentage of English learners decreases, API scores rise.
  • In the High School model, the coefficients for the variables measuring teachers’ credentials are much larger compared with the other elementary and middle schools, as is the coefficient for teacher education. These suggest the importance of specialized subject matter training at the higher grade levels and in particular for high school teachers.
  • As the student-teacher ratio increases, API scores decrease.
  • The more the school district spends per pupil on instructional salaries, the higher the school API.
  • With other factors stayed equal, schools in districts that spend more money on textbooks scored higher on the API in 1999.
  • Schools following year-round, multiple track calendars tend to have lower API scores than schools following a traditional calendar or year-round, single-track calendar.
  • A more equitable distribution of resources across schools should be viewed as the first crucial step in a broader process that would, ideally, include more fine-grained analyses of how to use resources most effectively.
  • Accountability must encompass policies that promote equity.