About the Accountability Review Council

In fall of 2001, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania asserted its intention to take control of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) to improve management and academic achievement. To avert the perception of a “hostile” takeover of the SDP, the Governor of Pennsylvania and the Mayor of Philadelphia entered into a unique partnership to jointly manage the SDP.

The reform legislation enacted by the Commonwealth created the five-member School Reform Commission (SRC) and also mandated the establishment of an “independent assessment and reporting center” to evaluate the outcomes of the District’s reform efforts.
The statutory obligation to establish an assessment and reporting center was fulfilled by the SRC when it created the Accountability Review Council (ARC), an independent entity composed of seven individuals charged with monitoring the District’s reform efforts.
 
The ARC reviews and validates SDP education reform initiatives and their impact on student achievement. Now beginning its eighth year, ARC brings a unique, institutional perspective on school reform in Philadelphia. The ARC summarizes its findings and recommendations in its annual report to the SRC. Since 2007, ARC also identifies a special topic for more in-depth research and reports this research in its annual report.
 
As the statutory group that is charged with assessing the progress of the District, the Accountability Review Council remains an unusually stable institutional entity. Since ARC’s creation in 2003, its chair, members, its executive advisor, and its assessment consultant have remained unchanged. It was not until March 2010 that one of its members retired from the ARC.

Accountability Review Council Reports

2011 Report from the Accountability Review Council (ARC) (link to PDF here)

 ARC has just issued its 2011 Report titled, “The Status of 2009-2010 Academic Performance in the School District of Philadelphia and Observations on the

Initial Implementation Stage of Renaissance Schools Report to the School Reform Commission.” The Report may be downloaded as a PDF using the link above.

 In addition, the form below may be used by the public to ask questions or make comments about the report.

• 2011 ARC Report
• 2010 ARC Report

• Mathematica Study on Alternative and Neighborhood Schools 

• 2009 Report and Appendices
• 2008 Report and Appendices
• 2007 Report
• 2006 Summary
• 2006 Report
• 2005 Report