July 21, 2016 – The Georgia Department of Education has partnered with a broad group of education stakeholders to develop a state plan responsive to the Every Student Succeeds Act (gadoe.org/ESSA), the replacement for the federal law commonly known as No Child Left Behind.
A State Advisory Committee will bring together local superintendents, teachers, students, parents, state agency heads, and representatives of education organizations, advocacy groups and civil rights groups. Six Working Committees are charged with developing Georgia’s draft ESSA plan for submission to the Advisory Committee. During this process, GaDOE will also host public feedback sessions throughout the state, and the draft state plan will be posted for public review and comment. Full implementation of Georgia’s ESSA plan will take place during the 2017-18 school year.
“With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, we have an enormous opportunity to reshape Georgia education and get rid of the standardized, one-size-fits-all model that became prevalent under No Child Left Behind,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “The federal overreach has been dialed back and we can now create a system that offers a holistic, personalized educational pathway for each child, with a strong focus on foundational skills, social-emotional learning, responsible accountability and elevating the teaching profession. We’re inviting all interested stakeholders into this process and hope Georgia’s teachers, students, parents, and community members will participate as we lay the foundation for educational excellence in our state.”
ESSA was signed into law in December 2015, replacing the top-down federal government approach to education required by No Child Left Behind. The new law allows states and local schools/districts to make education decisions that are best for their students, and requires states to develop plans that address standards, assessments, school and district accountability, and special help for struggling schools and students.
The initial meetings of the Advisory Committee and six Working Committees were held on July 18 and 19 (presentations can be found at gadoe.org/ESSA.
Below are the committees responsible for gathering public feedback and developing Georgia’s plan (click the links to view members):
The ESSA State Advisory Committee will create a list of focus areas, as well as discussion points, for the various working committees. The working committees will then present their work to the Advisory Committee for feedback and refinements.
Chair: Allison Timberlake, Director of Accountability, Georgia Department of Education & Co-Chair: Molly Howard, Superintendent, Jefferson County Schools
This committee will examine Georgia’s current accountability platform, the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), and help make refinements to the model, taking a responsible approach to accountability and finding a way to represent school performance in a public-friendly manner. The goal is to develop a tool that is flexible enough to align with the individual strategic goals of schools and districts, capturing and encouraging innovation while also providing useful data to guide improvement. The end result should be less cumbersome and burdensome for districts and schools, while still providing an accurate assessment of student achievement and school quality.
Chair: Melissa Fincher, Deputy Superintendent for Assessment & Accountability, Georgia Department of Education & Co-Chair: Steve Barker, Superintendent, Coweta County Schools
This committee will review assessment requirements and needs, examining ways to take a more innovative approach to assessing students, strengthen formative tools, and make assessment data more timely and useful.
Chair: Matt Cardoza, Chief Communications Officer, Georgia Department of Education & Co-Chair: Stan DeJarnett, Executive Director, Georgia Vision Project
In order for Georgia to use the framework of ESSA to implement changes that will best serve students, teachers, and schools, extensive two-way communication with the public is essential – Georgia must engage with and seek continual feedback from all stakeholders. This committee will discuss ways to bring stakeholders to the table and facilitate effective communication related to Georgia’s ESSA plan.
Chair: Caitlin Dooley, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, Georgia Department of Education & Co-Chair: Susan Adams, Assistant Commissioner for Pre-K and Instructional Support, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
This committee will discuss physical, social, and emotional well-being, positive learning climate, experiential learning, and personalized education in Georgia’s pre-K through 12 education system. Members will examine ways to maximize opportunities using effective practices and innovation and provide an excellent, relevant, and meaningful education to all students, recognizing that all children learn at different rates and have individual needs.
Chair: Cindy Saxon, Associate Superintendent for Teacher and Leader Effectiveness, Georgia Department of Education & Co-Chair: Ernie Lee, 2016 Georgia Teacher of the Year and Savannah-Chatham County Schools social studies teacher
Teacher and leader quality has an enormous impact on student achievement. This committee will examine ways to strengthen the teaching profession and empower and support school leaders. Members will discuss teacher preparation, recruitment, retention, and development and personalized professional learning, and will help define supports on the teaching continuum from first-year teacher to teacher leader.
Chair: Debbie Gay, Director of Special Education Services and Supports, Georgia Department of Education & Co-Chair: Leigh-Ann Putman, Executive Director of Metro RESA and immediate past president of Georgia RESAs
This committee will address the various federal programs that support school improvement at the state level, examining the way Georgia identifies schools in need of assistance and the type and quality of assistance provided by the state. Members will provide suggestions on using federal programs/dollars to the maximum benefit of Georgia’s schools and students. The goal is to leverage state and community resources more effectively to support schools, streamlining the process for schools and districts and affording maximum flexibility while ensuring transparency. The state’s role should, ultimately, shift to service and support – in other words, the state’s efforts to support schools should complement local efforts.
A Delaware business’ $100,000 donation will allow 200 science teachers from across the state to continue in a leadership and professional learning program.
LabWare’s donation will allow the NextGen Teacher Leader project to extend into a third year.
Governor Jack Markell thanked Vance Kershner, president and CEO of LabWare, a Delaware-based laboratory informatics company, for his company’s continued support.
Under the NextGen Teacher Leader program, educators from across the state have developed and field tested units aligned to the new standards, sharing their knowledge and experiences with their colleagues in their buildings and across the state.
“The NextGen Teacher Leader project is not only an important initiative for supporting quality science education but also an opportunity for science educators to take on leadership responsibilities, one that allows them to do this without leaving the classroom for an administrative position,” Markell said.
This is the second gift LabWare has made to the program. Two years ago, LabWare donated $60,000 to help the state launch the program.
“LabWare is honored to be able to continue to support this very special initiative that will allow Delaware educators to continue their development and will allow students to understand core scientific concepts, to understand the scientific process of developing and testing ideas, and to have a greater ability to evaluate scientific evidence,” Kershner said.
Delaware was among 26 states that participated in the development of the Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize inquiry, engineering design and understanding the broad concepts common to all scientific disciplines. The State Board of Education unanimously adopted the standards in September 2013, and the state has spent the years since preparing for implementation.
“For more than 200 years, our state has had a tradition of innovation in the sciences and technology, and employers continue to seek employees skilled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. If we are going to ensure that Delaware students can meet that need, Delaware schools need to effectively prepare them for STEM careers,” Markell said. “That is why this investment means so much.”
Michelle Kutch, Brandywine School District’s director of STEM, science and social studies and co-chair of the Delaware Science Coalition, said that with the adoption of new standards comes the need for new curricula materials and a great deal of professional development for teachers.
“This is no easy feat and typically brings a large price tag that not one local education agency can carry on its own. The Science Coalition relies on the collaborative philosophy of sharing resources among member districts and charters, however new initiatives require monies above and beyond our budget. We are very thankful for the generosity of LabWare’s donation to our teacher leader program. We will be able to continue building our capacity in teacher leadership by providing quality professional development to our staff in supporting science education throughout the state,” she said.
Shelley Rouser, director of K12 initiatives and educator engagement at the Delaware Department of Education, said investments such as this in our teachers are so valuable.
“When it comes to ensuring the best education for our students – the best science education – we know it’s more about investing in people and less about purchasing programs. That is what is so significant about LabWare’s support,” she said. “Their trust in and support of teacher training and leadership development supported the launch of this teacher leader program two years ago, and we are thankful that they are committed to support sustaining it.”
Delaware Foundation for Science and Mathematics Education (DFSME) Executive Director Randy Guschl, Governor Jack Markell and LabWare President and CEO Vance Kershner
Senator Michelle Kidani (Dist. 18 – Mililani Town, portion of Waipi‘o Gentry, Waikele, Village Park, Royal Kunia), Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, will travel to three neighbor islands next week for a series of public Town Hall meetings to discuss new Federal education legislation.
Senator Michelle Kidani
When fully implemented, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) will affect the way teachers, students and campus leadership interact and conduct public school instruction.
“It’s important that the public understand and have some input about how schools are educating our youngsters,” Senator Kidani said. “I have invited education policy expert Lee Posey from the National Conference of State Legislatures to be a guest speaker at our Town Hall sessions. I’ve heard her presentations, and they provide an excellent overview of ESSA and how the new law can benefit the state.”
As Education Chair, Senator Kidani is a member of Governor David Ige’s ESSA Team that has scheduled a public forum this weekend at the Hawai‘i Convention Center. Lee Posey will also be a presenter at this Saturday’s forum before proceeding to the neighbor island venues next week. Posey is a Federal Affairs Counsel with the Education Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
She conducts NCSL lobbying activities on education, representing state positions and concerns to Congress and the Administration, and was NCSL’s chief lobbyist on Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization. Ms. Posey has been at NCSL since 1999 and her experience includes work on a wide variety of issues including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), federal childcare grants, child welfare, child support, food and nutrition programs, agriculture, and rural development.
The neighbor island Town Hall sessions are jointly sponsored by the Hawai‘i State Senate and the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association (HSTA). Senator Kidani’s colleagues from the respective Senate districts will join her for the presentations, including Senate President Ronald Kouchi from Kaua`i, Senator Lorraine Inouye from Hilo, and Senators Rosalyn Baker and Gilbert Keith-Agaran from Maui. Others may join the sessions as their schedules allow.
The Town Hall sessions are all open to the public at no charge at the following locations:
Monday, July 11 – Hawai‘i Island, Hilo High School, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, July 12 – Maui, Baldwin High School, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, July 13 – Kaua`i, Kapa`a High School, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the successor to No Child Left Behind (NCLB), must be fully implemented in school districts across the country in the 2017-18 school year. To assist states and districts in meeting that deadline, the U.S. Department of Education is engaged in developing regulations to clarify complex provisions of the law. States, in turn, are beginning to write their implementation plans and figure out the new state accountability requirements.
The Regulatory Process
The regulatory process began with several weeks of “negotiated rule making,” with a panel of stakeholders – administrators, teachers, parents, representatives of students with disabilities, and civil rights advocates, among others – debating the assessment provisions of the law. Unfortunately, all specialized instructional support personnel (SISP), including OT, were represented only by an alternate to the panel who was a speech-language pathologist. Considering SISP are included in ESSA in a more comprehensive way than under NCLB, AOTA felt SISP deserved a regular seat at the table and greater input overall into the discussions.
As a next step the Department of Education is now soliciting comments on the draft regulations on assessment, as well as on the new accountability provisions. AOTA will provide comments to the Department to ensure the OT perspective is considered. There is some urgency to get these regulations out for comment, since there are a number of steps after comments are submitted before the final regulations are issued. The presidential election increases that urgency, since a new administration can choose not to accept any pending regulations developed by its predecessor.
Earlier this year the Department of Education asked for input on what types of guidance they should provide to states on implementing ESSA. You can read AOTA’s letter suggestion that the the Department of Education address the critical roles of specialized instructional support personnel, including occupational therapy practitioners in ensuring student success. Furthermore we suggested the Dept. of Education highlight the role of OT in early learning, transitions, and multi-tier systems. That letter is attached below.
Title I State Plans
States are already in the process of developing their Title I state plan. Title I is the core of ESSA that includes instruction and assessment of and accountability for the four subgroups of students most affected by the law. Those subgroups – the same as under NCLB – are economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, children with disabilities, and English learners. State’s must develop a plan (in accordance with new ESSA requirements) to meet the needs of these subgroups.
So what can you do to affect this process? The law requires that SISP are one of the groups state departments of education must consult in developing their plans, as well as being part of the peer review process. This plan is critically important because it remains in effect for the duration of ESSA, unless the state needs to submit some amendments as situations may change.
AOTA members can find out immediately where their states are in this important process. More important, they should find out if OT is represented or if the state is still determining who will be consulted in the development and review of the plan. If they are not, you can work with AOTA and your state association to promote inclusion of occupational therapy practitioners in the plan development. The easiest way to get this information is to search the state department of education website for “ESSA implementation.” This is an opportunity to be at the table as the state decides how it will implement the law and what role various stakeholders will assume.
In future blog posts we will break down the different Titles and pieces of ESSA and how they relate to the role of occupational therapy in schools.
A Delaware business’ $100,000 donation will allow 200 science teachers from across the state to continue in a leadership and professional learning program.
