by NNPA ESSA | Jun 19, 2017 | Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, K12 Education, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, National, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, No Child Left Behind, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
By: Michelle Croft and Richard Lee
ACT Research and Policy
Despite (or because of) the federal requirement that all students in certain grades participate in statewide achievement testing, stories of parents opting their student out of the testing gained national attention in the media in the spring of 2015. Ultimately, twelve states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin—received a notice from the U.S. Department of Education that they needed to create a plan to reduce opt-outs due to low participation rates.
When statewide testing came in spring 2016, there were more stories of opt-outs, and information about districts failing to meet participation requirements will follow in the coming months.3 Early reports from New York indicate that 21% of students in grades 3–8 opted out in 2016, which was slightly more than the prior year. (See attached PDF below for reference information.)
Participation Rate Requirements
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (both the No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds authorizations) requires that all students annually participate in statewide achievement testing in mathematics and English in grades 3–8 and high school as well as science in certain grade spans. Ninety-five percent of students at the state, district, and school level must participate; otherwise there is a range of consequences.
Under the No Child Left Behind authorization, the school would automatically fail to meet Adequate Yearly Progress if the school—or subgroups of students within the school—did not meet the participation rate requirement. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides states with greater flexibility to determine how to incorporate the participation rate into the state’s accountability system. However, in proposed regulations, the state will need to take certain actions such as lowering the school’s rating in the state’s accountability system or identifying the school for targeted support or improvement, if all students or one or more student subgroups do not meet the 95% participation rate.
Michelle Croft is a principal research associate in Public Affairs at ACT. Richard Lee is a senior analyst in Public Affairs at ACT.
Email research.policy@act.org for more information. © 2016 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. MS489
http://www.org/policy-advocacy
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by NNPA ESSA | Jun 18, 2017 | Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, K12 Education, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, National, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Emily Parker, Bruce Atchison and Emily Workman
Education Commission of the States
This report highlights significant investments made by both Republican and Democratic policymakers in state-funded pre-k programs for the fourth year in a row. In the 2015-16 budget year, 32 states and the District of Columbia raised funding levels of pre-k programs. This increased support for preschool funding came from both sides of the aisle–22 states with Republican governors and 10 states with Democratic governors, plus the District of Columbia.
In contrast, only five states with Republican governors and three states with Democratic governors decreased their pre-k funding.
Overall, state funding of pre-k programs across the 50 states and the District of Columbia increased by nearly $755 million, or 12 percent over 2014-15. While this progress is promising, there is still work to be done to set children on the path to academic success early in life. Still, less than half of preschool-aged students have access to pre-k programs.
Increasing the number of students in high-quality preschool programs is broadly viewed as a way to set young learners on a path to a secure economic future and stable workforce. This report includes several state examples and an overview of the pre-k programs they have in place. Data tables on total state pre-K funding and state pre-kindergarten funding by program are appended. [Megan Carolan contributed to this publication.]
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Education Commission of the States. ECS Distribution Center, 700 Broadway Suite 1200, Denver, CO 80203-3460. Tel: 303-299-3692; Fax: 303-296-8332; e-mail: ecs@ecs.org; Web site: http://www.ecs.org
by Alyson Klein | Mar 31, 2017 | Betsy DeVos, Education Week, ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Missouri, National, Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump, Trump Administration
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget seeks to slash the biggest federal investment in after-school programs and summer learning-the $1.1 billion 21st Century Community Learning Center program. The Trump administration argues the program is not very effective, but some advocates and educators beg to differ.
So is the program working? What would happen if the money went away?
Here’s a look at the program and what it offers:
What is the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program?
The program, which has been around since the early 1990’s, distributes money by formula to states to cover the cost of after school…
Read the full article here. May require an Education Week subscription.
by Alyson Klein | Feb 14, 2017 | Arizona, Delaware, District of Columbia, Education Week, ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Trump Administration, US Department of Education, Vermont
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have told the U.S. Department of Education that they are aiming to file their plans for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act by early April, in time for the first deadline set by the Obama administration.
Those states are Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont, plus the District of Columbia.
States have spent the past year reaching out to educators and advocates to decide how to handle everything from teacher effectiveness to school ratings to that brand new indicator of student success and school quality…
Read the full article here. May require an Education Week subscription.
