Accountability is not a press release. Accountability is a scoreboard that anyone can read. When schools publish clear, privacy-safe numbers, adults align, families understand, and students see that services are real. When numbers are hidden, trust erodes.
Build a public scoreboard with measures that reflect service and learning. At minimum, include students served, service minutes delivered versus scheduled, IEP goals on track, IEP goals met, and the number of authentic work experiences completed for transition-age youth. Add a measure for family engagement and a measure for student voice in IEP meetings. Post overall results and disaggregate by race, disability category, multilingual status, and grade band. Protect privacy by using group-level data and minimum group sizes.
Set targets and publish the plan to reach them. If minutes delivered fall short, list the causes and the fixes, such as schedule conflicts, staffing gaps, or pull-out timing that clashes with core instruction. If IEP goals are not on track, identify which interventions will change the trajectory and who owns each action. Give dates. Then report monthly on progress to the plan.
Decide where the scoreboard will live. School website, family newsletter, lobby monitor, and a staff data wall are all viable. Make the graphic simple, readable, and consistent month to month. Celebrate strong areas with the same energy used to repair weak ones. Avoid the temptation to hide behind averages. Equity lives in the disaggregation.
This work counters a familiar cycle. Carceral systems publish compliance statistics without changing conditions. Public education can choose differently. We can show service, show learning, and show the actions we are taking when results lag. If the data is strong, show it. If it is weak, fix it. Either way, tell the truth.
Thoughts Processed 