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.)…
WASHINGTON — President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act into law Thursday, largely replacing the No Child Left Behind Act that was a hallmark of his predecessor’s domestic agenda.
Lawmakers have touted the new law as a more flexible approach to student testing and school accountability, once again making states responsible for fixing under-performing schools.
Here’s what’s changed in the two laws:
The Problem
No Child Left Behind:
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, was a civil rights law that provided education funding to states and attempted to ensure that every student had access to an education. The law would expire every three to five years, requiring Congress to reauthorize it. In 2001, Democrats and Republicans in Congress became increasingly concerned by the growing achievement gaps that left poor and minority students in failing schools, and devised a system of testing and accountability to fix it. “The fundamental principle of this bill is that every child can learn, we expect every child to learn, and you must show us whether or not every child is learning,” President George W. Bush said in the Jan. 8, 2002, signing ceremony.
Every Student Succeeds Act: The new law tries to preserve the spirit of No Child Left Behind, while fixing what were widely perceived as its one-size-fits-all approach.”The goals of No Child Left Behind, the predecessor of this law, were the right ones: High standards. Accountability. Closing the achievement gap,” Obama said Thursday. “But in practice, it often fell short. It didn’t always consider the specific needs of each community. It led to too much testing during classroom time. It often forced schools and school districts into cookie-cutter reforms that didn’t always produce the kinds of results that we wanted to see.”
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was first passed in 1965 by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. In December 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a new law to replace the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). President Obama subsequently signed ESSA into law on December 10, 2015.
With a new ESEA/ESSA, focus for advocacy now turns to effective implementation of the law to ensure every child has the ability to reach their full potential. While this new law provides a great opportunity for states to tailor their education systems to meet the needs of their students—including students with disabilities—this new level of authority will also require an increased amount of responsibility for states to ensure they close achievement gaps.
National PTA, our constituent associations, and advocates across the country will seek to support and empower all families to be active participants in the state and local implementation of ESSA to ensure equity and opportunity for all students.
The U.S. Department of Education is currently in the implementation phase of ESSA. The Department will provide guidance and clarification to states on how best to carry out the new law. You can get involved in the implementation process by signing up for emails from the Department of Education on ESSA implementation.
The Delaware Department of Education released the first draft of the Delaware Every Student Succeeds Act this evening. I have read about 90% of it and I have many thoughts on it. Some I loathe just seeing them in writing, some I actually like, and some need to marinate for a day or two. There are a lot of variables with this: final regulations from the United State Dept. of Education, stakeholder group conversations in the next couple of months, and the usual big one: state funding.
In my opinion, it is going to be very hard to get accurate feedback until the regulations from the U.S. Department of Education have been finalized. Will this plan be a trick or a treat? Happy Halloween! Here is the plan. It begins with Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Steven Godowsky’s letter, followed by the six sections, and some items from the appendices. I will have much, much more to say on this in the coming days.
Clarke moved to Delaware from New York a few years ago, and says she had a hard time finding information about daycare and preschool programs for her two young children.
“It’s just a lot of having to ask people and rely on people,” Clarke said. “And my concern there is, I’m an educated person working in the field of education and these are the hoops I have to go through, so I can imagine what it’s like for somebody who doesn’t have this much experience or doesn’t have the right resources.”
She’s now paying for her son to attend preschool at the Goddard School in Wilmington, but says she has just as many unanswered questions about kindergarten options now.
Delaware’s second draft ESSA plan states a commitment to strategies shifting to a pre-K through 12 model – instead of just K-12.
But it’s still unclear how the state plans to incorporate pre-K data into its accountability model.
“When you go into kindergarten, you’re expected to be able to write your letters: A, B, and C,” Clarke said. “But if you went to a daycare where you just sat and watched TV all day, and scribbled on paper, now you’re in kindergarten with 15 other students who do know their A,B,Cs and 5 students don’t – that’s an issue, that’s an issue for the teacher.”
Education advocates like Atnre Alleyne are happy the state’s plans are also adding factors like chronic absenteeism, but says the goal of cutting the achievement gap in half by 2030 isn’t ambitious enough.
“But what are the interim benchmarks that will let us know that students are actually getting towards their goals so that we don’t get to 2020, 2025 and 2030 and then once again it’s another reset?” Alleyne said.
The final draft plan will be released next Tuesday. That draft will be provided to the Governor and available for public comment for 30 days.
The Department of Education has said there could still be changes to the plan before it’s submitted to the US Department of Education on April 3rd.
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
![[ESSA] State Plan Versions That Have Been Released So Far](https://nnpa.org/essa/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/essa-posts-featured_0060_iStock-460421987-1-1080x600.png)
A Delaware business’ $100,000 donation will allow 200 science teachers from across the state to continue in a leadership and professional learning program.