Dr. Tony Marchese of ICF interviews Dr. Caitlin Howley and Dr. Jobi Lawrence of the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center to establish a basic understanding of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This is the first of a three-part series based upon the following objectives:
1. Inform citizens in region about federal education law
2. Explore how the new law might affect states, local districts and schools
3. Provide information about how to provide input to the law as a public education stakeholder
Overview of Programs in Series
Program One: Introduce public to how each state in the Appalachian Region is transitioning to the new law
Program Two: Highlight thoughtful approaches to ESSA planning
Program Three: Examine challenges related to planning for ESSA implementation
Caitlin Howley directs the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center, which provides technical assistance to state education agencies in four states. She also conducts research and evaluation of school, college, and professional development programs across the Appalachian region. Previously, Howley was Associate Director of the ARCC, provided evaluation for several Comprehensive Centers, and served as a Research and Evaluation Specialist with the Appalachia Regional Education Laboratory.
Jobi Lawrence serves as a consultant of the ARCC as well as the Title III Director in a State Education Agency. Over the course of her career in education, Lawrence has served as an ESL and Bilingual Co-Teacher, a faculty member in higher education and an administrator in higher education and a state government agency.
Dr. Tony Marchese of ICF interviews Dr. Caitlin Howley and Dr. Jobi Lawrence of the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) to establish a basic understanding of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This is the first of a three-part series based upon the following objectives:
1. Inform citizens in region about federal education law
2. Explore how the new law might affect states, local districts and schools
3. Provide information about how to provide input to the law as a public education stakeholder
Overview of Programs in Series
Program One: Introduce public to how each state in the Appalachian Region is transitioning to the new law
Program Two: Highlight thoughtful approaches to ESSA planning
Program Three: Examine challenges related to planning for ESSA implementation
Caitlin Howley directs the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center, which provides technical assistance to state education agencies in four states. She also conducts research and evaluation of school, college, and professional development programs across the Appalachian region. Previously, Howley was Associate Director of the ARCC, provided evaluation for several Comprehensive Centers, and served as a Research and Evaluation Specialist with the Appalachia Regional Education Laboratory.
Jobi Lawrence serves as a consultant of the ARCC as well as the Title III Director in a State Education Agency. Over the course of her career in education, Lawrence has served as an ESL and Bilingual Co-Teacher, a faculty member in higher education and an administrator in higher education and a state government agency.
The National Parent Teacher Association has created a parent factsheet to help answer questions and concerns over the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The two-page guide helps parents navigate ESSA’s impact on classroom instruction, standards, accountability and how to get involved in the implementation process, among other topics.
Decisions that need to be made regarding the requirements of ESSA are being identified by the West Virginia Department of Education. This decision point identification process will not be completed until the United States Department of Education releases the final regulations (expected in October or November of 2016). The draft ESSA Decision Point Matrix provides an overview of the decision points that are provided through the flexibility that ESSA offers. The Matrix outlines West Virginia’s context for each decision point with respect to existing law/policy and the statutory body delegated decision making authority. This document will be updated as the federal government completes the final ESSA regulations.
It is important to note that many aspects of the ESSA requirements were in place prior to the reauthorization of ESEA. Within the last two years, stakeholder groups have been engaged in revising academic standards, assessments and accountability. While ESSA may allow for flexibility in some areas, many of the decision points are already codified in WV law and policy. The ESSA Decision Point Matrix indicates the statutory entity with the authority to make each decision along with a citation of current regulations.
The West Virginia Department of Education is charged with the development of an ESSA State Plan with a submission deadline of March 2017. The ESSA State Plan will articulate how West Virginia’s schools will implement the various requirements of the legislation. Major component sections of the Plan will include:
Academic Standards and Assessment: states must describe challenging academic standards and assessments that are consistent with the regulations in Section 1111(b)(1) of ESSA.
School Accountability and Support for Improvement: states must describe their school accountability system which must include various indicators of student achievement and outcomes. States must also describe its system of support for improving schools that are underperforming and identified by the accountability system to require differentiated supports for improvement.
Support for Excellent Educators: states must describe their strategies for recruiting and retaining highly effective educators, providing supports to improve educator effectiveness and assuring that all student have access to highly effective teachers.
Support for All Students: states must describe how it will ensure that all students receive a fair, equitable and high quality education with a focus on specific subgroup interventions.
Through this website, stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide input to decision making processes around a variety of issues that will be addressed in each of the Plan components listed above. Please register to become an ESSA Stakeholder.
Thousands of educators and students across the country demonstrated how technology can improve student learning as part of the sixth annual national Digital Learning Day on February 23, 2017.
Digital Learning Day (DLDay) provides a powerful venue for education leaders to highlight great teaching practice and showcase innovative teachers, leaders, and instructional technology programs that are improving student outcomes. DLDay is not just about technology, it’s about learning and enhancing the role of the teacher in America’s classrooms.
This year, nearly 2,000 local celebrations decorated the Digital Learning Day map, providing a window into how education technology is incorporated into daily student learning. Students collaborated on projects, engaged with each other and their devices to solve problems, invented songs and videos, and discovered new worlds and communities all within the walls of their classrooms.
Click on the map above to view details on local Digital Learning Day events.
If you missed out on the DLDay action, fear not, Twitter was ablaze with photos and videos of students in action. We’ve highlighted several activities on the @OfficialDLDay Twitter feed. You can also check out the Storify below to get a glimpse of DLDay highlights and check out #DLDay on Twitter.
As part of the DLDay celebrations, the Alliance hosted a webinar on the value of a connected classroom, providing important and practical information for superintendents, principals, and teachers. During the webinar, panelists discussed the challenges and solutions to building out a school district’s technology infrastructure to provide high-speed internet connections, including how to take advantage of the federal Lifeline and E-rate programs.
Christian Johnson, a fifth-grade teacher at Hawthorne Elementary School in Maryland, explained that access to the internet is “the only way to level the playing field” for students. “The internet is as vital as having running water in your home,” said Johnson.
But access is not enough unless it is accompanied by a plan. Harrison Goodwin, EdD, superintendent of Chesterfield County Schools, a rural South Carolina district, discussed the importance of having a strategic plan for technology in place during the broadcast. “Technology is another tool we must master and then use to enhance instruction,” he said.
In the webinar, Alliance President and former Governor of West Virginia Bob Wise shared some thoughts on the digital learning landscape in schools.
“When the Alliance started Digital Learning Day in 2012, the idea of technology in the classroom was just beginning to gain ground. While there were a handful of digital innovators in many schools and districts, there were far more that asked students to check their devices at the classroom door or power them down when they got to their seats,” said Wise.
“Today, the situation is reversed. Increasingly, the norm for schools is to provide students with devices and explore ways to power up and personalize student learning,” said Wise. “Although we celebrate Digital Learning Day, we want every day to be a digital learning day for our nation’s students.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) is accepting applications for a new state superintendent of schools. The deadline for receipt of applications is by 4 p.m. eastern standard time on March 10, 2017. A full job description can be found by visiting: http://wvde.state.wv.us/wvde-vacancies/index.html?vac_id=1732
WVBE President Thomas Campbell appointed the following board members as part of the superintendent search subcommittee: Miller Hall, Chuck Hatfield, David Perry and Scott Rotruck.
West Virginia’s current superintendent, Dr. Michael Martirano, announced his resignation effective June 30, 2017 in order to move closer to his family in Maryland.
Applications can be mailed to: Thomas W. Campbell, President, West Virginia Board of Education, Capitol Building 6, Room 617, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, West Virginia 25305. Applications may also be emailed to West Virginia Board of Education Secretary, Virginia Harris: vharris@k12.wv.us.
For more information, contact Mary Catherine Tuckwiller at the West Virginia Board of Education at (304) 558-3660 or mctuckwiller@k12.wv.us.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) took several actions regarding statewide testing at its meeting today. The WVBE voted to eliminate English language arts and mathematics statewide assessments in grades 9 and 10. Beginning during the spring 2017 testing window, high school students will only be tested in grade 11. The change puts West Virginia in line with federal requirements to test at least once at the high school level. The WVBE also voted to move away from the Smarter Balanced assessment beginning with the 2017-18 school year and directed the West Virginia Department of Education to explore options to adopt another statewide assessment.
In response to comments received during a 30-day public comment period on assessment policy 2340, the WVBE voted to remove policy language which would have utilized end-of-course exams in selected high school courses. The public overwhelmingly did not support the use of end-of-course exams within comments received.
The WVBE also approved a change in grade levels for the statewide science assessment from grade 4 to 5 in elementary school and grade 6 to 8 in middle school. Mountain State students will now be tested at the end of each programmatic level in science, resulting in a more accurate depiction of how well students master science skills.
“As a board, we are committed to finding the best assessment solution for the students in West Virginia,” said State Board of Education President Tom Campbell. “With that goal in mind, our board will listen to the public and our state’s educators who always have students’ best interest at heart.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) announced that for the third year in a row, West Virginia is ranked first in the nation in school breakfast participation. The School Breakfast Scorecard released today ranks states on participation of low-income children in the national School Breakfast Program.
“Children perform at their best when they receive proper nutrition,” said West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano. “We must continue to ensure our children are well fed and ready to learn. Part of our success is that our school breakfast and lunch programs are not viewed as an interruption to the school day, but rather, an integral part of the education process.”
Nationally, on an average school day, 56 low-income children participated in the School Breakfast Program for every 100 participating in the National School Lunch Program, up from 54.3 the previous school year and 50.4 percent in the 2011–12 school year. The report finds that 83.9 low-income children in West Virginia ate school breakfast for every 100 that received free or reduced-price school lunch during the 2015-16 school year. That exceeded FRAC’s goal of reaching 70 low-income children with school breakfast for every 100 who ate school lunch.
“The West Virginia Department of Education has partnered with legislators, community members and schools to ensure that every child receives the nutrition they need to succeed in school,” said Amanda Harrison, the West Virginia Department of Education’s Executive Director of the Office of Child Nutrition. “Better nutrition for West Virginia’s children doesn’t just impact their school performance; it impacts their overall health and wellbeing. We will continue to work closely with schools to remain leaders in breakfast participation, and help our state’s children thrive.”
During the past several years, the West Virginia Department of Education Office of Child Nutrition has focused on increasing school breakfast participation. West Virginia schools provide students with a minimum of two nutritious meals per day and, where feasible, at no cost to the student. As a result of the efforts of Office of Child Nutrition, the federal revenue for the School Breakfast Program in West Virginia has increased by over $6.4 million. Schools have implemented innovative breakfast delivery strategies such as Grab-N-Go Breakfast, Breakfast in the Classroom and Breakfast After First Period. Many schools have doubled their breakfast participation rates, dramatically increasing federal reimbursements and improving food service operations.
About the School Breakfast Scorecard
The School Breakfast Scorecard measures the reach of the School Breakfast Program in the 2015–16 school year — nationally and in each state — based on a variety of metrics, and examines the impact of select trends and policies on program participation. On an average school day, 12.1 million low-income children participated in the School Breakfast Program in school year 2015–16. Participation among low-income children increased by just over 433,000 students, or 3.7 percent, over the previous school year.
