Outcomes Based Accountability
One of the critical platforms used at the school in collecting, analysing and applying evidence is ‘Outcomes Based Accountability’ (OBA). Based on the work of Mark Friedman (see diagram) and developed for use in schools in NSW by Eric Jamieson (formerly a Director and Principal with the NSW Department of Education), this type of accountability is straightforward and can be used by schools, teachers and school staff in evaluating their work. Outcomes (or results) based accountability is also widely used in the not-for-profit sector.
Central to the premise of this work is the fact that government schools are not profit making, students are not products and practices for teaching and learning are not manufacturing processes. In schools we “deliver service” (teaching, wellbeing programs, special initiatives). Instead of measuring inputs we measure “effort” and instead of measuring outputs, we measure outcomes (effect).
There are 3 essential questions in OBA.
1. How much did we do? (planning and preparation)
2. How well did we do it? (acting and effectiveness of our practice)
3. What impact/difference did we make? Is anyone better off? (reviewing the impact).
In OBA the professional learning that staff complete is “how much measure” because it is part of the preparation staff undertake to deliver programs, teaching and learning.
In OBA the how well measures include the quality of programs, of professional learning and of delivery. They also include staff enjoyment and morale, teacher satisfaction, student and parent satisfaction.
In OBA there are 4 measures of impact, change or difference. They are measures of changes or impact in knowledge ands skills, attitudes, behaviours and learning.
There is one other very important concept in OBA – the “story behind the curve”. At this school we look for patterns of data and evidence because we say “once is an accident, twice is a coincidence and three times is probably a pattern”. Telling the story behind the curve forces the school and staff to focus on the trends, progress and patterns of our data and evidence.
A one-off snapshot is a moment in time measure. A series of snapshots over time can show trends. The slide below is one used across the school – in subject tracking, external measures tracking and tracking any trend. As the graph shows, like all schools we work towards benchmarks (capabilities, grade expectations, teacher standards, and NSW Department of Education School Excellence Framework Version 2 as examples). We collect baseline data and we make projections based on the pattern of that data.
Anything better than the baseline is “progress” and that is what we want to see. We want students, staff and the school to be able to assess their progress, not just by meeting benchmarks but also by making progress towards them.
The result of the school’s continued focus on OBA and “telling the story behind the curve” is that the school has a compelling story of innovation and improvement based on deep data analysis, increased data literacy among staff and students, and deep data ethics in the way evidence is used to generate improvement.
