On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) kicked off their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) public comment regional meetings at the Wilder Foundation in Saint Paul. Over 60 individuals gathered to hear Commissioner Cassellius and Michael Diedrich, MDE’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act Policy Specialist, share the state’s ESSA accountability plan, answer questions, and receive public input.
Change #1: From Proficiency Index Rate to Achievement Rates
Commissioner Cassellius indicated that one of the changes MDE has made is that they will use achievement rates instead of a proficiency index rate for the academic achievement indicator.
In the initial version of the plan, which used a proficiency index rate, schools were awarded 1.0 point for every student that either “meets standards” or “exceeds standards” and 0.5 points for every student that “partially meets standards” on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs). However, in the updated plan, schools will not be awarded any points for students who “partially meets standards.” Rather, schools will only be awarded 1.0 points for every student who either “meets standards” or “exceeds standards.”
According to Commissioner Cassellius, MDE decided to make this change because legislators and stakeholder groups had indicated that the previous system was “confusing.” However, public commentary has indicated that there is some dissatisfaction with that decision.
Change #2: Students Who Opt-Out of MCAs Will Not Be Described As Failing to Meet Standards
The draft state accountability plan, which MDE released on July 17th, indicated that students who opted out of the state’s MCAs would “functionally count the same as students at the ‘does not meet standards’ achievement level.” However, the state’s updated plan indicates that “Students who do not participate in the test will be identified in state records and in communications with families as not participating; they will not be described as failing to meet standards.”
With that said, students who opt-out or do not participate in the MCAs will still be included in the denominator used to calculate the school’s academic achievement rate and they will not be awarded any points.
Public Comments Indicates that Concerns Remain
So far, much of the public feedback submitted on the plan has lauded MDE’s focus on equity, inclusion of 7-year high school graduation rates, and the creation of a manual that standardizes the identification, entrance, and exit decisions for English language learners. However, some concerns remain.
One concern is the exclusion of some form of a summative rating. A ninth grade teacher at Hiawatha Collegiate High School urged MDE to include a summative rating because the “citizens of Minnesota deserve a clear, direct, and transparent system to see where we are and how we will grow.”
Another concern is the use of a funnel approach to identify schools for comprehensive support. A second grade teacher from Global Academy indicated his support for a weighted point system and provided an example as explanation, “Under the funnel system, a school could be in the 1st percentile of academic achievement, advance to the next level of the funnel, happen to be in the 26th percentile for academic progress and be deemed not in need of comprehensive support.”
What’s Next for Minnesota’s ESSA Plan?
MDE has to submit the state accountability plan to US Department of Education (USDE) on September 18, 2017. However, before MDE submits the plan they must also do the following:
Submit the plan to Governor Dayton for his signature. However, if Governor Dayton has not signed the plan within 30 days of delivery, MDE can submit the plan to USDE without it.
Submit the plan to legislature’s education policy and finance committees. Even though this is required by the state’s 2017 Education Omnibus Bill, it is more of a courtesy as the committees do not need to approve the plan in order for MDE to submit it to USDE.
MDE will also host a series of additional public commentary meetings from 6:00-7:30 PM at the following locations:
Mankato: Thursday, August 17th at West High School Auditorium
Moorhead: Monday, August 21 at Moorhead High School Auditorium
Sartell: Tuesday, August 22 at Resource Training and Education
Duluth: Wednesday, August 23 at Denfield High School Cafeteria
These meetings are open to the public and you can register to attend one of them here. If you are unable to attend one of the public commentary meetings, the state’s current accountability plan is also published to the MDE website and is available for public comment until August 31st.
Education Evolving will continue to follow and report on the development of Minnesota’s ESSA state accountability plan.
Add two more plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act to the “approved” pile: Connecticut and Louisiana. The states become the fifth and sixth to be approved by the U.S. Department of Education.
Connecticut’s plan was approved even though it didn’t make some big changes that the feds wanted to see, including when it comes to calculating student achievement and measuring the performance of English-language learners.
Instead of making the revisions the department suggested, Connecticut provided long explanations of why the state thought its approach was permissible under ESSA…
The Obama administration’s political appointees may have cleaned out their desks at the U.S. Department of Education and the White House six months ago or more. But that doesn’t mean that they have stopped working on K-12 policy.
Many of the folks who ran Race to the Top, oversaw waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act, or helped implement the School Improvement Grant program, are still at jobs inside the Beltway, working in state education agencies, or school districts. Many have ended up at the same think tanks, non-profits, and philanthropic organizations. (The Center for American Progress was a popular landing site.) They’ve even got an informal alumni network, and a website, Education 44.
And in general, they seem to be continuing to champion the same kinds of policies they worked on during the Obama years. Think college access, equity, and innovation, often with a technological twist…
When the Every Student Succeeds Act passed, one of the things that educators were most excited about was the chance to cut down on the number of tests kids have to take, Specifically, the law allows some districts to offer a nationally recognized college-entrance exam instead of the state test for accountability.
But that flexibility could be more complicated than it appears on paper.
Here’s a case in point: Oklahoma, which hasn’t finalized its ESSA application yet, has already gotten pushback from the feds for the way that it had planned to implement the locally selected high school test option in a draft ESSA plan posted on the state department’s website. In that plan, Oklahoma sought to offer its districts a choice of two nationally recognized tests, the ACT or the SAT. Importantly, the state’s draft plan didn’t endorse one test over the otherâboth were considered equally okay…
By Dr. Elizabeth Primas (Program Manager, NNPA/ESSA Public Awareness Campaign)
Standards have always been a part of society. From standards of measurement and time to driver’s licenses, food preparation in restaurants and language, standards keep us healthy and safe and help us communicate with each other.
In the 1980s, the United States began to expand and formalize public education standards. This process was the driving force behind the education reform movement. Standards in education were supposed to set clear guidelines for what all students were expected to learn and be able to do. The curriculum and assessments were supposed to be aligned with established standards.
In 2001, with the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) by President W. Bush, a significant emphasis on standards took on a life of its own. Under NCLB, all states were required to develop standards and assessments to measure student achievement. Problems occurred when states developed individual standards that measured knowledge and skill levels. There was no way to determine if a student passing one state’s standards was equivalent to a student’s level of accomplishment in another state. Test that were national, like the PSAT, SAT, ACT, and the National Educational Assessment of Progress (NAEP), all indicated that students with passing grades in high school, that met state standards, were not necessarily prepared to be successful in college and career.
In 2009, there was a state-led effort to develop the Common Core State Standards (CCSS); the effort was launched by state leaders, including governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states, two territories and the District of Columbia; CCSS was supposed to remedy the differentiation in state standards under NCLB. The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) worked with educational agencies to create one set of standards that would be uniform for the country. That same year, the Obama Administration developed the Race to the Top Fund, a $4.35 billion dollar competitive grant program designed to ensure that all students graduated high school prepared for college, career, and life. Race to the Top used financial incentives to encourage states to adopt CCSS.
Along with common standards, came high-stakes testing. Most states adopted one of two assessments: the Smarter Balance Assessment or the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Many stakeholders saw high-stakes assessments as unrealistic, because all children were required to perform at world-class levels, merely by raising expectations and imposing punishments and sanctions on schools and children who fell short of the standards. The standard implementation did not consider students with persistent challenges that could have impeded them from reaching high-levels of achievement. There was no flexibility in meeting these standards, regardless of socioeconomic status, age, race, gender, cultural or ethnic background, disabilities or family circumstances.
The discussions around the implementation of standards did acknowledge that student learning abilities were not homogeneous. Yet, schools seldom provided the range of training, personnel, and strategy needed to meet all students. Subsequently, when students didn’t meet the goals, they were retained and schools faced sanctions.
Research has indicated that minority students, including English Language Learners (ELL), students living in poverty, and students with disabilities are disproportionately represented in the group of students that do not make sufficient and significant growth to meet the standards and objectives promoted.
Under the “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA), states have been given the leeway to: continue using the Common Core State Standards and/or create and adopt their own rigorous standards. Along with the freedom to select standards best suited for specific state demographics, states can also select what assessments they administer. As states submit their ESSA plans, many states have steered away from the CCSS. Several states have indicated that they will not continue using Smarter Balance or PARCC to measure standard mastery.
The only way to be sure what standards your child must meet is for you, the parent, to get involved, and stay engaged at every level. Your child is our future, and we ask all parents to remain focused in the pursuit of their education.
Every meeting that involves your child’s education is important. Be there, be vigilante, stay persistent, have your voice heard.
Dr. Elizabeth Primas is an educator, who spent more than 40 years working towards improving education for children of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds. Dr. Primas is the program manager for the NNPA’s Every Student Succeeds Act Public Awareness Campaign. Follow Dr. Primas on Twitter @elizabethprimas.
The District of Columbia and Illinois received feedback from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on their plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act earlier this week.
The feds’ response to those two states represent the first time the U.S. Department of Education has provided feedback since it announced changes to the ESSA review process. The new process includes a phone call department officials will hold with states before finalizing formal feedback letters to states. This change has raised concerns about the transparency of ESSA review.
A department spokesman confirmed that this new process was used for D.C. and Illinois.Here are some highlights from the department’s new ESSA feedback…
Want to know how high U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her team will set the bar in approving Every Student Succeeds Act plans? How DeVos handles her home state may provide the answer.
That last move angered Brian Whiston, Michigan’s state chief, who said the feds were sending mixed messages when it comes to ESSA. DeVos, he said, stressed local control, and told state chiefs in a closed door meeting to hand in their plans even if they weren’t totally complete. But Botel, the acting assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, seemed to be working from a different playbook, Whiston said last month…
