Strong school accountability systems are essential to fostering a culture of improvement in our K-12 education system, ultimately helping more students succeed. That’s why it’s so crucial to hold our education system accountable for student progress, graduation rates and readiness for college and careers.
In 2024, several states defended and strengthened their accountability policies, committing to high standards and transparency to drive better results for students. By rejecting efforts to weaken these systems, states are helping ensure every student is prepared for success in school and beyond.
Read on to learn more about the five states that improved and protected student assessments and graduation standards in 2024.
The Case for Strong Academic Standards and Keeping the Bar High for Students
Transparent and objective school accountability systems are key to helping students succeed and schools thrive. These systems measure what truly matters—like student progress, graduation rates and readiness for college and careers—and provide clear, actionable data that inspires meaningful improvement.
When parents, teachers and policymakers have access to easy-to-understand information, they can make smarter decisions to support students and strengthen schools. Accountability isn’t just about numbers; it’s about empowering communities with the tools they need to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed.
Keeping high standards and expectations drives our systems to overcome challenges, rather than lowering the bar and settling for less. By focusing on student outcomes as a measure for success and using transparent data to guide change, we can build education systems that truly prepare students for a bright future in a competitive world.
States that Protected or Improved School Accountability Policies in 2024
Several states thwarted attempts to weaken their assessment and school accountability systems in 2024 and some even strengthened their policies.
- The Louisiana State Board of Education adopted a new accountability framework, known as the Grow.Achieve.Thrive. plan, which provides a simple, transparent and rigorous evaluation of student achievement. Schools will be measured based on the percent of their students who are: demonstrating proficiency in math, English, science and social studies; growing in math and English, with special attention paid to the lowest achieving students; and graduating on time, showing readiness on a nationally recognized exam and prepared to accelerate career, college or military indicators. State leaders also rejected efforts to alter some student assessments, thereby protecting its new best-in-the-nation accountability framework.
- Policymakers in both the Florida House and Senate proposed legislation aimed at “deregulating” Florida’s public schools. However, the Senate version of the bill took things a step further by proposing anti-accountability and anti-choice policies that would have taken Florida in the wrong direction. Advocates worked hard to educate state leaders, and ultimately, the legislature listened. The state protected Florida’s third grade promotion policies, high school graduation requirements and protections for charter school funding. The final public school deregulation package provided reasonable regulatory relief from reporting requirements no longer necessary due to changes in statute and a number of other policies that will improve efficiency in managing Florida’s public school systems.
- Arizona leaders defeated legislative attempts to weaken school accountability in 2024. One bill would have removed Arizona’s A-F school letter grades in favor of an undefined school “performance classification.” Another would have required public schools to report student discipline information and would have reduced a school’s letter grade when disciplinary action was implemented in fewer than 75% of a school’s discipline referrals—muddying the waters for parents looking at the school report cards for information about student outcomes. Lawmakers preserved Arizona’s easy-to-understand A-F grades that indicate how schools are performing and continue to ensure transparency for all parents.
- Georgia improved transparency around its school accountability ratings. New legislation requires that education officials clarify that accountability ratings are a single numerical score based on indicators of quality of learning for each public school and school system in the state. It also calls for timely publication of such scores.
- The Tennessee legislature considered a few school choice bills that all would have created a universal education scholarship account program. The House version, however, would have also reduced state testing requirements. That legislation did not pass, thereby protecting school accountability in the Volunteer State.
In 2024, state leaders took important steps to protect and improve school accountability, keeping standards high and putting students first. Efforts in Florida and Louisiana specifically show how strong policies can support better outcomes for students and schools. Georgia, Tennessee and Arizona have made incremental progress and should continue upping the rigor in 2025.
As we look to 2025, challenges to these systems are sure to arise. But by focusing on proven strategies and maintaining high expectations, states can continue to prepare students for a brighter future. Accountability matters—for students, schools and our nation’s success.
Click here to read the rest of this blog series, where we summarize which states took action on key, trending 2024 education legislation.
