蜜桃影视

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.)

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states must assign 7 percent of their federal funds toward improvement efforts for low-performing schools. Now, with almost all state accountability plans approved by the U.S. Department of Education, states should turn their attention to focus on not only what works when it comes to improving low-performing schools but also, and perhaps more importantly, on 鈥渉ow to implement strategies in the most effective way,鈥� at least .

Linda Jacobson reports in Education Dive that the panel shared advice, programs, and strategies that its members have found effective, along with some lessons learned from past school improvement efforts. Monique Chism of the American Institutes for Research pointed to an important lesson learned from federal School Improvement Grants: 鈥淪trategic leadership matters, not just leadership,鈥� she said, explaining that it is crucial that school leaders involved in these efforts are 鈥渟upporting and mentoring teachers, community engagement, and increasing opportunities and access for students.鈥�

See below for more ESSA news.

1 Smarter Balanced gets the federal thumbs-up

Stephen Sawchuk聽聽for聽Education Week聽that Nevada’s use of Smarter Balanced, 鈥渙ne of the major providers of tests measuring the Common Core State Standards,鈥� has 鈥渕et all of the U.S. Department of Education’s requirements for grades 3-8.鈥� This represents the first time that the Smarter Balanced exam has received the thumbs-up from the federal government. The approval, he writes, 鈥渋s part of the wonky 鈥榩eer review鈥� process, a requirement under the Every Student Succeeds Act聽meant to make sure the tests are technically sound.鈥� However, 鈥渕ost states are still in peer-review purgatory聽despite ESSA now coming up to its third anniversary.鈥澛燭he approval is 鈥渁n affirmation of the work that started over eight years ago among a group of states who were banded together to build an assessment system from the ground up to measure college and career readiness,” said Tony Alpert, executive director of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. “It’s a good bookend on a long process.”

2 Senator introduces bill to fix teacher and principal shortage

聽Andrew Ujifusa at聽Education Week, the teacher shortage issue 鈥渋s one of the more complicated problems facing public schools, and a 鈥淰irginia senator has a plan to address it鈥� 鈥� but 鈥渋s he on target or off base?鈥� Recently, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine introduced the聽, which 鈥渁ims to address both teacher and principal shortages by broadening the definition of a high-need district under the Every Student Succeeds Act to include rural districts with educator shortages, as well as districts lacking teachers in specific subject areas鈥� like teaching English learners, STEM subjects, and career and technical ed.聽“At the start of every school year we see the same headlines about exploding class sizes and districts facing unfillable openings,” Kaine said. “Teacher shortages plague the whole country and are worst in our rural communities, but it’s a problem we can solve.”

3 Utah survey to determine why students opt out of assessments

Internal auditors with Utah鈥檚 State School Board are planning to conduct a survey to 鈥渄etermine why growing numbers of Utah schoolchildren have opted out of standardized testing in recent years,鈥� Marjorie Cortez writes for . The state鈥檚 opt-out rate was a 鈥渟ticking point鈥� in winning federal approval of the state’s ESSA plan, as the law requires a minimum 95 percent participation rate. While 鈥渂oard member Kathleen Riebe said the audit would provide information needed to improve state testing and assessment procedures,鈥� Cortez reports that 鈥渂oard member Spencer Stokes urged state education administrators to tread carefully when asking parents why they allow their children to opt out of testing,鈥� as the inquiry 鈥渉as the potential of being a ginormous PR nightmare.鈥�

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