UPDATED — Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states get to decide what goals to set for student achievement, how to gauge schools’ academic progress and quality, and more. (Explainer on the law here.)
But in some of the 12 plans that have already been submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, elements are still to be determined. Some states didn’t completely spell out their student achievement goals. Others didn’t say exactly how much each individual factor would count toward schools’ overall ratings. And others proposed school quality indicators they didn’t fully explain. (Much of the up-in-the-air information concerned student achievement goals….
One of the most closely watched issues in states’ Every Students Succeeds Act plans will be how they plan to assign ratings to schools. Thanks to several states that turned in their plans by the April 3 deadline, we have an early idea of where states on headed on this.
One important decision is whether to issue schools single, summative ratings (like an A-F school rating), or use a “dashboard” approach that displays how a school is doing on different indicators, but doesn’t give the school an ultimate rating.
You might remember that how to handle school ratings was one of the most contentious issues in the development of the now-discarded Obama ESSA accountability rules. The Obama Education Department initially wanted to require states to assign a single, summative rating to all schools. But Republicans in Congress and others objected, arguing that this was not a requirement in ESSA itself and was an unfair, onerous requirement…
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the previous version of the nation’s main K-12 law, states have a lot of leeway in deciding what their long-term academic goals will be. That means that, unlike with the No Child Left Behind Act, there’s no requirement that all states ensure that 100 percent of students are proficient on state English/language arts and math exams by a certain school year. In the ESSA plans submitted to the U.S. Department of Education that we’ve seen so far, states have laid out a variety of long-term as well as interim goals, and a vastly different set of timelines with key dates ranging from next year all the way to 2039.
Read on to see what some of these long-term goals are in eight states and the District of Columbia. We’ve included some information about goals for graduation rates as well, but we’ve put aside English-language proficiency goals for now. Want to jump to a particular state or the District of Columbia? Just click on one of the links below:
One important note about Massachusetts: The state did not set out any academic goals in its ESSA plan. Read on or click on Massachusetts above for more info about that…
One of the parts of the Every Student Succeeds Act that excited educators the most was the chance to look beyond test scores in gauging school performance, to factors like absenteeism, access to advanced coursework, and even grit.
There are some common themes, at least among this first batch. For instance, chronic absenteeism is super popular. In fact, five states Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Tennessee are all using it in some fashion. (We will be updating this post periodically as more plans come in.)…
The public comment period on Connecticut’s draft ESSA plan has ended. Thank you for your feedback. Our goal is to submit the final plan on April 3.
In the video below, Commissioner Wentzell discusses the plan and the survey Connecticut used to collect feedback on it.
About ESSA
In December of 2015, President Obama signed into law the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The title of the reauthorized legislation, which replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The passage of the ESSA provides a much anticipated opportunity to improve outcomes for all students.
ESSA requires that states develop plans that address standards, assessments, school and district accountability, and special help for struggling schools. The 2016-17 school year will be a transition period, with full implementation of Connecticut’s state plan under ESSA in the 2017-18 school year.
Webinar 4. Title II (Preparing, Training & Recruiting High-Quality Teachers, Principals, and Other School Leaders) and Title III (Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students) under ESSA.
These proposed rules are subject to a 60-day public comment period, with comments due by November 7, 2016. To submit comments to USED, please visit the Federal Register.
CSDE submitted comments on Title l – Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged-Supplement No Supplant
Title 1, Parts A and B: Academic Assessments and Innovative Assessments
USDoED released two sets of proposed ESSA regulations on Monday, July 11, 2016; one on academic assessments and one on innovative assessments. The proposed rules are available below along with a summary of what has been recommended and additional resources.
These proposed rules are subject to a 60-day public comment period, with comments due by September 9, 2016. To submit comments to USDoED, please visit the Federal Register:
Accountability, Consolidated State Plans, and Data Reporting
USED released proposed ESSA regulations on accountability, consolidated state plans, and data reporting on Tuesday, May 31, 2016. The proposed rules are available below along with a summary of what has been recommended and additional resources.
The Senate education committee is meeting Tuesday to vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, a billionaire school choice advocate, best known for her work chairing the American Federation for Children.
A broad contingent of civil rights organizations, educators, and advocates have come out against DeVos’ nomination.There’s a huge social media campaign to defeat her, and in-person protests across the country. At the same time, she has the support of Republican policymakers, like former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and even some Democrats and former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.
After a bumpy confirmation hearing, committee Democrats asked DeVos about 800 questions to flesh out her views on key K-12 issues. The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington, asked DeVos some 140 questions, and made the answers public. (You can read them here.)…
Betsy DeVos gave education policy and politics watchers lots to talk about after her confirmation hearing for education secretary on Tuesday. She provided detailed arguments about Michigan charter schools and school accountability in that state, and for how she’d be a “crusader” for parents and students rather than the education establishment. DeVos also made waves for her comments on special education law and states’ responsibilities in that area.
But there were also areas of K-12 policy where DeVos gave general or somewhat limited answers to senators’ question. Perhaps it’s not surprising that in several respects, DeVos didn’t want to spell out detailed views on every issue raised, in part because she might have worried that she would come across as prejudging certain situations. And sometimes, senators left notable issues out of their lines of questioning.
Still, DeVos’ comments at the hearing leave some interesting questions about her positions. Here are some areas where questions about DeVos might be lingering…
WASHINGTON — Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Education, sought to use her confirmation hearing to beat back the notion that she would undermine public education as head of the department, as Democrats pressed her on everything from her views on the civil rights of gay and lesbian students, to states’ responsibilities for students in special education, and guns in schools.
“If confirmed, I will be a strong advocate for great public schools,” DeVos said. “But, if a school is troubled, or unsafe, or not a good fit for a child—perhaps they have a special need that is going unmet—we should support a parent’s right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative.” She also noted that her mother, Elsa Prince, was a public school teacher.
But those assurances didn’t seem to quell the anxieties of Democrats on the committee, including Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking member. “I have major concerns with how you have spent your career and fortune fighting to privatize public education and gut investments in public schools,” she said.
In the early stages of a tense hearing that lasted three and a half hours, Murray asked DeVos if she would be willing to commit not to “cut a penny from public education” or use her perch at the department to privatize public schools. DeVos said she would seek to give parents and children the best educational options possible, which Murray essentially took as a no.
DeVos didn’t delve into the specifics on many of the big questions on the table, like whether she would rein in the department’s office of civil rights, or how she would handle key details of the federal student lending program. And at times she seemed unclear on key policy details, including during a pair of exchanges with Democratic senators on whether federal special education laws should apply to all schools. (More here.)…
Read the full story here. May require an Education Week subscription.
It’s finally happening: Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Education, is set to testify before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at her confirmation hearing Tuesday.
The Senate education committee is meeting Tuesday to vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, a billionaire school choice advocate, best known for her work chairing the American Federation for Children.
