A Better Accountability Approach--John Tanner

Anette visits with John Tanner, an educational writer and thought leader committed to a benefits-based accountability in every school and community. Accountability in effective organization is a truth-telling communication and directional system used to build trust with the organization’s stakeholders. It can be done well or poorly, and there are consequences for both. It would never be turned off in a crisis, which is when it is most urgently needed. What has long passed for educational accountability has nothing to do with building trust, but rather, is based on the model used to force compliance with safety and other standards. This is a legitimate but also a limited model and must be deployed thoughtfully, because when such systems reach too far, they will create the very problems their creators intended to avoid. Their far-reaching use in schools has done just that, trapping them in a narrative of failure, with the poorest, most vulnerable of our students experiencing the greatest amount of harm as a result. John has long believed that school accountability should be to students, their parents, and the communities they come from. His time and effort are dedicated to finding and putting in place what he calls True Accountability. True Accountability begins with the question: “what are your hopes and dreams for your children?” and then looks forward and determines what must be done to make that happen. Two questions show the power in this: was my child safe yesterday? is an important question but an after the fact report. Will my child be safe tomorrow? is the true accountability question, since it will be the one that directs future efforts. True Accountability in schools must be focused on generating enough trust with stakeholders that they entrust school leaders to shape schools in anticipation of the future. John has spent his entire educational career focused on educational accountability. He started his career in testing when that was considered the best means for an educational accountability and has served as a state test director and an executive at a leading test publisher. He served as the director of accountability efforts for one of the leading educational organizations in the country, which is when he began formulating the ideas for what a True Accountability should look like. He founded bravEd (formerly Test Sense) in 2009, an organization dedicated to the True Accountability movement he helped create. John lives and works in San Antonio, TX. Links to more of John's work: Texas Accountability Series The Accountability Mindset Policy Brief