Masslive.com, November 24th, Jeanette DeForge:

Early last week, Masslive.com covered a story on the Chicopee School Committee and their review of the new MCAS teacher accountability system.  Changes have been made to the original system, most notably, the replacement of the Annual Yearly Progress standard with the Progress and Performance Index.  This benchmark looks to have schools reduce the proficiency gap in achievement by 50 percent over a period of five years.  For example, if students are only 60 percent proficient in 2011, the school will have to improve proficiency by 20 percent by 2016.  City officials support this change, citing that it will provide teachers with more information while also maintaining more realistic benchmarks for progress.

What do you think?  For those familiar with the changes in the accountability system developed alongside the Common Core Standards, are they an improvement?