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This update on the Every Student Succeeds Act and the education plans now being refined by state legislatures is produced in partnership with ESSA Essentials, a new series from the Collaborative for Student Success. It鈥檚 an offshoot of their聽聽newsletter, which you can聽! (See our recent ESSA updates聽from previous weeks right here.)

For those of us monitoring the states鈥� ESSA process, Monday is the big day. On Sept. 18, 32 states must submit their ESSA plans to the U.S. Department of Education. (Because of recent hurricanes, and have been given more time to complete theirs.) While we await reviews of those plans, including a second round of led by Bellwether Education Partners and the Collaborative for Student Success, it鈥檚 worth taking a look back at the four biggest takeaways from the first state plans to receive approvals.

Thanks to 贰诲奥别别办鈥檚 Alyson Klein, we :

1. States didn鈥檛 make big revisions to areas flagged by the department;
2. States fixed areas where the department pushed the most;
3. Some state plans aren鈥檛 as ambitious as some experts would have liked; and
4. Some states need to work out details, even though their plans have been approved.

Check out the rest of our ESSA updates below:

1. It wouldn鈥檛 be a big deadline without a few curveballs, right?

• In Florida, , the state Department of Education may not request a waiver from the federal government after all. You might remember that in June, Florida released a draft letter requesting a waiver from the requirement that states must factor in the performance of all groups of students when grading schools.聽As 麻豆精品 reported exclusively, the letter 鈥渃laimed that factoring in each specific group of students didn鈥檛 work the last time the state tried it; it made the system too complicated and caused student performance to stagnate.鈥� But that letter hasn鈥檛 been sent, and with only a few days left before the Sept. 18 deadline, Florida must come up with a revised ESSA plan and won鈥檛 have time to present these changes to the public 鈥� including the many parents, teachers, and local school leaders who had shared their opinions during the plan development process.

• Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker refused to sign the state鈥檚 ESSA plan. In a , Walker and his administration cited concerns: 鈥淵our bureaucratic proposal does little to challenge the status quo for the benefit of Wisconsin鈥檚 students. For example, under the law, a 鈥榬igorous intervention鈥� is required for low-performing schools. In your plan, schools may simply implement an improvement plan created under the supervision of the Department of Public Instruction. I hope you will agree that adding layers of bureaucratic paperwork does little to help low-performing schools.鈥� While we know that alignment between the governor鈥檚 office and the state education agency is a critical part of implementing a strong plan, ESSA doesn鈥檛 actually require a gubernatorial signature 鈥� so Walker鈥檚 dissent doesn鈥檛 mean that State Superintendent Tony Evers can鈥檛 submit the plan anyway.

2.听West Virginia submits its plan, which includes weakened efforts to reduce student suspensions.

Getting ahead of the game, West Virginia its ESSA plan early this week. According to the , the plan 鈥� what a document submitted to state Board of Education members suggested last week: the government has weakened the previously proposed efforts to reduce student suspensions.鈥�

The of the state鈥檚 plan defined its behavior performance measure as 鈥渁 school鈥檚 percentage of students with no out-of-school suspensions, while the planned attendance measure was a school鈥檚 percentage of students who were in attendance for at least 90 percent of school days,鈥� the newspaper reported. But the 鈥渟ubmitted version鈥檚 section on the attendance measure now says, 鈥楨xemptions will be made for absences resulting from out-of-school suspensions.鈥� 鈥�

3.听State boards in New York and Utah approve their plans.

The New York State Board of Regents its state鈥檚 ESSA plan. In the plan, , 鈥渆lementary and middle schools would continue to be evaluated on English and math test scores and high schools on graduation rates,鈥� but 鈥渢he plan would also hold schools accountable for other measures, such as performance on science and social studies exams, the number of students making progress in achieving English language proficiency, college and career readiness, chronic absenteeism, and, eventually, out-of-school suspensions.鈥�

Following a of New York鈥檚 draft plan, the paper reported, Chad Aldeman of Bellwether Education Partners 鈥減raised the academic standards and assessments on which New York鈥檚 plan is based, as well as its blueprint for helping schools in need of improvement,鈥� but said 鈥渢he very complicated system by which the state will identify the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools鈥� could be problematic. Aldeman identified the biggest challenge as 鈥渢ranslating this system for teachers and parents and educators.鈥� He continued, 鈥淚f someone doesn鈥檛 understand what they鈥檙e being held accountable for, there鈥檚 a risk that they can鈥檛 change their behavior.鈥�

The Utah Board of Education the state鈥檚 ESSA plan, which 鈥渋ncludes the state strategic plan, , as well as the public school accountability plan outlined in SB220 passed by the Utah Legislature earlier this year.鈥�

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson said the plan 鈥� which was the 鈥渢he product of some 25 meetings and participation of some 500 stakeholders鈥� 鈥� was developed 鈥渋n a thoughtful, deliberative process that included revisions resulting from extensive public input.鈥�

4.听Indiana鈥檚 ESSA plan is on the governor鈥檚 desk, awaiting signature before being sent off to the feds.

The 鈥渨ould keep student assessment in place under a new statewide test, take on chronic absenteeism, and eventually assess a school’s climate for student achievement,鈥� according to a .

Additionally, the statewide ISTEP+ testing system is being replaced by the Indiana Learning Evaluation Assessment Readiness Network (ILEARN), which, unlike ISTEP+, will be offered in Spanish. ILEARN, the report said, will 鈥渕easure student achievement in English/language arts and mathematics in Grades 3鈥�8, as well as science for Grades 4 and 6 and social studies in Grade 5.鈥� Students will 鈥渨ork through ILEARN’s computer-adaptive test based on how they answered previous questions.鈥�

5.听Education experts remind states to look to best practices before submitting their plans.

Dr. Tony Bennett, former Indiana superintendent of public instruction and former Florida commissioner of education, that he strongly urges 鈥渟tate education officials to look to the best practices identified in existing state plans as they create the Sunshine State鈥檚 plan 鈥� to make sure that Florida鈥檚 system of education benefits all students.鈥�

Another former Florida commissioner of education, Gerard Robinson, has similar advice for Wisconsin. Robinson, who also served as secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Virginia and is currently a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, encourages education leaders in Wisconsin to take advantage of this important information as they finalize the state鈥檚 education plan: 鈥淚 urge everyone who is concerned about Wisconsin鈥檚 education system to get involved by asking policymakers to implement the best practices and push to provide a plan to the department that leads to a better education for all of our kids.鈥�

And Whitney Chapa, vice president of education policy and budget at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, recently Mississippi education leaders that 鈥渁nyone with a vested interest in the quality of education here should make sure that policymakers invoke the best practices鈥� laid out in the study 鈥渟o that Mississippi鈥檚 ESSA plan gives students the best shot at success.鈥�

https://twitter.com/AforArizona/status/908020531173064704

Best practices from the first 17 states to submit their ESSA plans can be found at .

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