Week in ESSA: Feds Pick Up the Approval Pace, Michigan Tries Again, New America Studies ELLs
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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.)
After facing significant criticism for, as Education Week鈥檚 Alyson Klein , 鈥渂eing too heavy-handed, confusing, or inconsistent in responding to states鈥� plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act,鈥� the Department of Education is picking up the pace of approvals.
A total of six states 鈥� including Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, and New Mexico 鈥� 聽 the 鈥溾�� on their plans as of the middle of this month. The other 11 states that have submitted plans to date have 鈥渞eceived .鈥�
But even though they鈥檙e speeding up their process, it鈥檚 not clear just how much of a role the federal feedback is having in shaping states鈥� final products. Thus far, of the six states that have seen their plans approved, some have done so without taking much meaningful action in response to the Education Department鈥檚 assessments and recommendations.
Lots more ESSA activity this week 鈥斅爀specially as the Sept. 18 deadline approaches for 34 states to submit their final plans to federal officials.
Here are the week鈥檚 other top ESSA developments:
- How do draft plans from California and New York measure up?
- Bellwether Education Partners, in partnership with the Collaborative for Student Success, convened a small group of peer reviewers to study draft plans from California and New York. These , which mirror the conducted by more than 30 education experts in June, encourage California and New York, as well as other states submitting in September, to put forth accountability plans that go beyond mere compliance with federal law.
California: The reviewers found the state鈥檚 plan is rooted in strong academic standards and a solid way to measure success against those goals in the aligned, California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) system. While the California State Board of Education is considering adopting an individual growth model in the future, it currently does not have in place a plan to actually measure and track student-level progress over time. The state proposes to weight each of its indicators equally, which they argue will emphasize the academic indicators since there are more of them, but the state does not clearly articulate how it will combine all of a school鈥檚 various scores across multiple indicators. Additionally, California does not appear to include subgroup performance in its school grading system. The only way that a school will be identified for low subgroup performance is if a subgroup performs as poorly as the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state.
New York: Reviewers felt the state鈥檚 academic performance index created a strong incentive for helping students meet their grade level standards each year, and the state earned high marks for measuring student achievement and growth in a relatively simple way. The state also put in place a solid process to ensure schools and districts are equipped to take on school improvement efforts, by requiring that all schools identified for support complete a comprehensive, diagnostic needs assessment. Unfortunately, the plan lacks clarity on how all students and subgroup populations will be included in the accountability system. Moreover, its minimum group size of 30 students for measuring performance is likely to omit many students. Since the accountability system, and many of the indicators that will go into it are normative in nature 鈥� comparing schools to one another as opposed to overall goals 鈥� schools labeled as needing support, won鈥檛 know what they would need to accomplish year to year to show sufficient progress.
- Michigan resubmits its plan to the feds
- As we earlier this month, the Department of Education told Michigan officials that it couldn鈥檛 provide feedback on the state鈥檚 ESSA plan because it lacked adequate information, especially regarding accountability, for the federal agency to review. Michigan is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos鈥檚 homestate.
In the past week, the state聽聽its ESSA plan, which, according to UPMatters.com, 鈥渋ncludes requested technical detail and clarifications to the first submitted plan, as well as better defined information on a school accountability system.鈥�
鈥淲hen the plan first was submitted, it contained three options for school accountability,鈥� said state Superintendent Brian Whiston. 鈥淎fter the legislature adjourned for the summer, it became clear that we would be going forward with a Transparency Dashboard.鈥� Whiston says his staff has been working hard to 鈥渇ully develop鈥� this dashboard, as well as 鈥渁n index from which to identify the state鈥檚 most struggling schools.鈥�
- Wyoming files its plan early
- The Wyoming Department of Education has released the state’s ESSA plan ahead of the Sept. 18 deadline. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow signed off on the plan before submitting it to the federal agency. 鈥淭he law, the ESSA law, states over and over again that our state plan must be stakeholder driven,鈥� said Balow. 鈥淎nd it must include meaningful and continuous consultation with a diverse set of stakeholders.鈥�
The state鈥檚 education department held 14 public meetings and received more than 500 survey responses and public comments on the plan as part of its ESSA development process. Balow also stated the 鈥減lan moves away from the more standardized approach, which characterized No Child Left Behind, and is rooted in what鈥檚 best for Wyoming 鈥� like including more opportunities for career and technical training.鈥�
- Five governors gets plans for review
- Over the last week, five states have moved forward with their ESSA plan development by submitting finalized plans to their governors for review and approval prior to submission to the U.S. Department of Education.
Alaska: The Alaska Department of Education its final draft of the state鈥檚 ESSA plan to Gov. Bill Walker, who has 30 days to review and approve it. The plan keeps the state鈥檚 Performance Evaluation for Alaska鈥檚 Schools (PEAKS) exams for 3rd- through 10th-graders in place, cuts in half the rate of students who lack proficiency in both math and English by the 2026-27 academic year, and tracks 鈥渃hronic absenteeism, and other factors, when determining a school鈥檚 success.鈥�
Kentucky: Kentucky鈥檚 plan, which evaluates schools and districts on six indicators 鈥� 鈥減roficiency in reading/writing and mathematics; proficiency in science and social studies, growth for only elementary and middle schools; transition readiness; graduation rate for only high schools; achievement gap closure; and opportunity and access鈥� 鈥� for review. And in order to close achievement gaps, 鈥淪chools and districts with a significant achievement gap will receive a three-star rating at the most.鈥�
Maryland: The Maryland State Board of Education has its plan, which now goes to Gov. Larry Hogan for approval before submission to federal education officials. Maryland鈥檚 plan sets a goal to cut the number of non-proficient students in half by 2030, and implements a five-star rating system for school accountability (though the board 鈥渟till has not determined the criteria for the star rating, as it was not obligated to do so before submitting the plan鈥�).
Missouri: The Missouri Board of Education has the final draft of the state鈥檚 ESSA plan. The plan has been sent to Gov. Eric Greitens for his signature. The Missouri plan includes a goal of 82 percent student proficiency in English and 74 percent proficiency in math by 2026, seeks to reduce the rate of students not graduating by 50 percent over a decade, and identifies low-performing schools based on four factors: academic proficiency, academic growth, English language learning for non-English speakers, and attendance.
Montana: In Montana鈥檚 plan, which Office of Public Instruction staff will before Sept. 5, 鈥渟chools are required to decrease the number of students who are not proficient as determined by state exams by 4 percent a year through the 2022-2023 school year.鈥�
- Iowa, Pennsylvania plans open for public comment
- Last week, Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise that the third draft of Iowa鈥檚 ESSA plan is available for public review and comment. This is the final chance Iowans will have to weigh in on the state鈥檚 proposed education plan. Take a look at of the proposal for more information.Pennsylvania also its draft plan, and Pennsylvanians have until the end of the month to provide comments. The public can access the plan on the and provide comments via an online survey or by email.
- New America Foundation Releases English Learners Policy Papers
- The New America Foundation released two policy papers that explore the use of data on English Learners (EL) 鈥渋n light of new flexibilities for setting EL outcomes, goals, and accountability metrics under鈥� ESSA. 鈥溾�� presents 鈥渃orrective lenses that are critical for seeing this population accurately,鈥� and 鈥溾�� uses Oregon鈥檚 signing of House Bill 3499 into law in 2015 as an 鈥渋llustration of what it can look like to apply key principles related to EL data to concrete policy reforms.鈥� 聽鈥═he law provides $12.5 million every two years to English Language Learner programs and advisers, in the hopes of improving graduation rates, particularly for Latino students, .
Andy Rotherham co-founded Bellwether Education Partners. He sits on 麻豆精品鈥檚 board of directors and serves as one of the site鈥檚 senior editors.
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