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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.)

Accountability plans for every state have now been submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, but there鈥檚 still plenty of state-level ESSA activity to keep our eyes on.

ESSA was 鈥渄esigned to let states determine for themselves how to hold schools accountable,鈥� Jessica Towhey in the NH Journal, but it 鈥渕ay leave more children behind if states are allowed to skirt federal requirements through waivers.鈥� Reorienting responsibility for education from Washington, D.C., to states and districts was 鈥渁 major win for conservatives,鈥� but 鈥渃ivil rights groups and others have sounded alarms since the legislation was being drafted that too much flexibility could lead to states not devoting resources to historically underperforming students if it meant posting higher progress rates for schools.鈥�

As Towhey reports, New Hampshire and New York have submitted plans that include waiver requests, and Florida 鈥渨rote its accountability plan in such a way that critics say it skirts the law.鈥� In addition, policy experts 鈥渘ote that U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has approved two plans 鈥� Connecticut and Tennessee 鈥� that are out of compliance with federal law but were submitted without waiver requests.鈥�

Meanwhile, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, three state legislators in Minnesota to DeVos and state Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius arguing that the state鈥檚 ESSA plan 鈥渓acks transparency and clarity鈥� and 鈥渨ill not do enough for underperforming teachers and schools.鈥� They have asked the federal government to reject the plan and send it back to state officials for revisions.

And reports that in Arizona, the state may put the 鈥減romises of greater flexibility鈥� under ESSA to the test, as a result of a 2016 state law 鈥渢hat allows traditional and charter school leaders to choose the standardized test they think best fits each school鈥檚 teaching methods.鈥� In , KGOU reports that advocates for students with disabilities, students of color, and low-income students are concerned about the state鈥檚 ESSA plan, with some having had their 鈥渞ecommendations adopted in the final plan,鈥� while others 鈥渟ay their concerns were brushed aside.鈥�

More ESSA news below.

1 Idaho students make the grades

Starting next year, public school students in will be able to do a little grading of their own 鈥� of their teachers. As part of the state鈥檚 accountability plan, Idaho public school children will be able to grade their schools and teachers by using a student engagement survey. KREM reports that third- through 12th-graders 鈥渨ill be asked questions in three different categories: school climate, teacher-student relationships, and school safety,鈥� while ninth- through 12th-graders 鈥渨ill receive an additional category of questions on grit, or the ability to achieve a long-term goal despite setbacks.鈥�

2 Achieve tracks state plans

Achieve released a new that 鈥渟ummarizes states鈥� long-term goals for student achievement and graduation rates, along with the accountability indicators and weighting included in states鈥� plans submitted under ESSA.鈥� Have questions about state plans? Check out the tracker to view accountability indicators and compare states to each other.

3 How one teacher views professional learning under ESSA

Matt McCullough, director of innovation in teaching and learning at Schoolcraft Community Schools in Michigan, that his favorite task is 鈥減roviding innovative classroom strategies to my teachers and collaborating with them to lead to greater student success.鈥� After reading Educators for High Standards鈥� recent聽, McCullough is encouraged to see other educators around the country leading high-quality learning. He is also 鈥減assionate about improving the quality of professional learning for teachers鈥� and hopes ESSA 鈥渨ill be the lever that will create a large-scale change.鈥�

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