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.)

Alyson Klein 聽in聽Education Week how, in the wake of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos鈥� September decision to open ESSA鈥檚 Innovative Assessment Pilot to a second round of applications, four states 鈥� Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas and South Carolina 鈥� have 鈥渞aised their hands,鈥� indicating interest in participating.

Under ESSA, the department can give up to seven states (or consortia of states) permission to participate in the pilot program. Even though it 鈥渨as one of the most talked-about pieces鈥� of the law, Klein writes, the program has failed to gain much traction with state-level officials, primarily because of administrative overhead and a lack of additional funding.

If approved, the four states would 鈥渏oin Louisiana and New Hampshire in trying out new kinds of tests in a handful of districts, with the goal of eventually taking them statewide.鈥� States needed to inform federal officials of their interest in applying by Oct. 17, and applications are due by Dec. 17.

Not everyone is enthusiastic.Writing in the聽Atlanta Journal-Constitution, columnist Maureen Downey聽聽of the Georgia Board of Education鈥檚 recent approval of three pilot tests via the Innovative Assessments Pilot program. 鈥淭he danger here is that you dial back expectations,鈥� she quotes Fordham鈥檚 Amber Northern as saying. 鈥淚f you are going to have three different tests in Georgia, you have to make sure each is equally rigorous and equally valid.鈥�

When studies showed Georgia set a low for student proficiency, the state abandoned the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test and introduced the more demanding Milestones. Now, the state has approved three pilots of new tests, which could eventually…

鈥� Maureen Downey (@AJCGetSchooled)

See below for more ESSA news.

1 Making sure school performance data works for families

 

滨苍听, Data Quality Campaign鈥檚 Paige Kowalski and Brennan McMahon Parton discuss the importance of ensuring that families can easily access, understand and effectively use school performance data. This is of particular importance in the ESSA context, since under the law, 鈥渘early every state has made strong commitments to improving its school performance information systems.鈥� The 鈥渓aw also requires states to include multiple 聽on their school report cards.鈥� However, over the next year, 鈥渢hese paper commitments must translate into action, providing clear and useful resources for families.鈥� This is not as easy as it sounds, with states like California already experiencing pushback from the public. DQC provides several recommendations to help policymakers 鈥渆nsure that they are putting data to work for students and families.鈥�

The primary tool states use to share information about school quality is the state report card, which contains details like test scores, teacher qualifications, and attendance data. But report cards are often difficult to find and understand.

鈥� Education Next (@EducationNext)

2 ESSA and managing 鈥渄ata overload鈥�

 

Hisham Anwar of EdSurge聽聽the question of how to prepare for 鈥渆ducation鈥檚 data overload.鈥� While the accountability paradigm under No Child Left Behind focused on assessment rather than instructional practice and outcomes, under聽ESSA, school quality and success indicators are highlighted. Anwar notes that 鈥渁 growing number of school districts are beginning to flip the script鈥� by 鈥渂alancing proficiency scores with other metrics such as chronic absenteeism rates or success indicators鈥�that invite a richer reflection upon the components of a holistic education.鈥� Such districts are 鈥渟tarting not with the provisioning of data, but with defining the questions they are trying to answer.鈥� Throughout the process, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e learning that unlocking the potential of data-driven decisions requires not necessarily more data points, but rather a way to present relevant data to different roles in ways that are accessible and communicable.鈥�

“It鈥檚 as though we expect the mere presence of data to present solutions. When answers fail to materialize, we start off in search of more or better data, rather than clearly defining the question being asked.”

鈥� Corey Appelbaum, M.S.Ed (@CoreyAppelbaum)

3 Fostering real partnerships for family engagement

 

Vito Borrello and Reyna Hernandez of the National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement聽聽in 蜜桃影视 about the 鈥渋mportance of well-designed family, school and community engagement in supporting children鈥檚 learning.鈥� They also discuss how ESSA supports such efforts through its Statewide Family Engagement Centers, though they lament that these centers are 鈥渨oefully underfunded at $10 million.鈥� Additionally, ESSA 鈥渙pens the door for families to be more involved in shared decision-making within schools.鈥� Overall, there is 鈥減otential for modest progress in practice through ESSA.鈥� Borrello and Hernandez聽also note that organizations such as the Council of Chief State School Officers have joined the association 鈥渋n prioritizing advancement of engagement practice in states.鈥�

Great read from my colleagues & of on Making Family Engagement a Real Partnership for Boosting Student Achievement and Improving Schools

The momentum and around this work is truly exciting.

鈥� Thomas Capretta (@ThomasCapretta)

 

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