Beyond Outcomes

Abstract

Current policy goals are designed to ensure all students are college and career ready resulting in a process of curricular intensification which should have significant impact on student coursetaking in high school. However, reforms have been pursued in the context of test-based accountability, which emphasizes assessment metrics as the primary outcome measure, though such data are not useful in guiding school improvement efforts, in this article, student transcripts-available but seldom reported data-were used to explore coursetaking as a factor in mathematics achievement as part of a university-district partnership focused on equitable student outcomes. Results reveal that prescribed curricular paths are consistent with accountability goals, but actual curricular participation deviates from these paths, resulting in negative outcomes for low-income students in particular. Findings illustrate the value of non-test data in decision-making and a need to resurrect research on education processes underlying the outcomes measures dominating accountability discourse.