Toward a composite index of school performance

School controversies focus mostly on academic test scores. But Americans in sist that schools have broader purposes, including also equity of outcomes, citizenship, social ethics, and health. And Americans want children to be happy in schools. To assess progress in meeting these purposes requires a " composite index of schools," construction of which requires judgments that balance all the measures. In a proposed composite, core academic outcomes h ave the largest weight, 40%. Nonacademic outcomes (citizenship, health, tea mwork, and social ethics) together have a 25% weight. Because accurate meas urement of all outcomes remains limited, the index also includes process in dicators (school completion, teacher qualifications, and parent involvement ) that reflect the probability of adequate outcomes. Finally, 20% reflects whether children are secure in school, the adult attention they receive, an d the condition of school facilities. Accountability reforms, without compo site outcome measurements, cannot assess whether schools deliver the balanc ed educations Americans demand.