SD Accountability Systems

The No Child Left Behind Act seeks to raise academic standards for all children and provide information to parents and communities on how their schools are performing. The first step in creating a strong school accountability system is setting the bar for academic achievement. South Dakota has developed state content standards in each academic content area (reading, language arts, math, science, social studies, etc). While individual schools and teachers may use unique approaches for instruction, they will be responsible for student achievement of the content standards. The progress of students in becoming proficient in content standards in reading and math will be a key measure of the effectiveness of the public schools.

Student progress toward meeting state content standards will be measured through statewide standardized testing in reading and math for students in the 3rd through the 8th and the 11th grades. This annual testing, called the Dakota STEP or Dakota State Test of Educational Progress, will provide an independent measure of how much progress students have made toward meeting the academic content standards. These test results will provide information on how students are progressing academically, as well as how the child’s school is performing.

Information from the annual testing will be provided to parents and community members through the publication of report cards.

Each school works to achieve "adequate yearly progress". Each state sets goals for student achievement and school progress. Schools that do not meet the set level of performance for two consecutive years are identified as “in need of improvement”.