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.)

The 74鈥檚 Carolyn Phenicie that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos strongly believes in state flexibility in education policy, and that states are responding positively to having such flexibility under ESSA 鈥� as evidenced by accountability plans states submitted to her department.

鈥淓nabling and encouraging creativity and innovation at a local level can help bubble up a lot of really effective solutions and outcomes for students,鈥� DeVos said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a wide variety in approaches to how individual states are proposing to look at things and meet the students鈥� needs. I think that鈥檚 laudable, and I think we should see a wide variety.鈥�

But not everybody agrees that this flexibility is producing positive results, with both Senate Democrats and civil rights groups claiming the agency has approved state plans that don鈥檛 comply with the law. Education Week鈥檚 Andrew Ujifusa , reporting that during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) 鈥� the Committee鈥檚 top Democrat 鈥� 鈥渢ook the opportunity in her opening remarks to say that not every state鈥檚 ESSA plan meets the law鈥檚 requirements for schools with struggling student subgroups.鈥�

More ESSA news below.

West Virginia drops grad rate accountability for subgroups

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that West Virginia has 鈥� regarding minority students鈥� graduation rates鈥� from its ESSA plan. The State Department of Education removed the words 鈥渁nd any subgroup of students鈥� from the end of the following statement: 鈥渨e propose to identify for comprehensive support and improvement any high school for which the 4-year cohort graduation rate falls below 67 percent for all students and any subgroup of students.鈥�

However, as the Gazette-Mail notes, state department of education official Andy Whisman said the change 鈥渨asn鈥檛 intended to reduce schools鈥� accountability for minority students鈥� and that 鈥渋t was removed because other accountability categories address minority students.鈥�

Minority graduation rate accountability provision cut from WV ESSA plan via

鈥� NASStoday (@NASStoday)

Two ways to look at Indiana鈥檚 grad rate problem

There鈥檚 been no shortage of coverage of the changes that Indiana will be making to its high school diploma. By doing away with its general diploma, according to , Indiana鈥檚 graduation rate could drop as much as 12 percent. But Civic Enterprises senior research and policy adviser Jennifer DePaoli notes that 鈥渢he majority of Indiana high school students already complete a diploma that meets the new requirements,鈥� arguing that that should be the focus, rather than a dip in graduation rates. The proposed changes were approved by Indiana鈥檚 State Board of Education yesterday, as by The Associated Press.

Peer reviewers weigh in

There are two new opportunities to see state ESSA plans through the eyes of the peer reviewers at this week, as they continue to share what they鈥檝e seen and what they wanted to see in second-round ESSA plans.

We asked three experts 鈥� The Lexington Institute鈥檚 Doug Mesecar, Education Strategy Group鈥檚 Ryan Reyna, and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights鈥� Liz King 鈥� what states are making in their ESSA accountability plans.

We also asked reviewers to identify the best new idea they鈥檝e seen in state plans so far. Diane Stark Rentner of the Center on Education Policy, Aaron Churchill of The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, former Georgia superintendent of public schools Kathy Cox, Paige Kowalski of the Data Quality Campaign, and David Dunn, a former Education Department official under President George W. Bush, all weighed in.

You can also read the analyses of the first 17 state plans that were submitted to the U.S. Department of Education .聽And don鈥檛 forget to keep an eye out for the聽聽of the analysis of the 34 remaining state plans (you can sign up to be notified聽).

.: States made three common flaws in their plans: misaligning aspirations, goals, and accountability measures.

鈥� 蜜桃影视 (@The74)

ExcelinEd looks at ESSA landscape

ExcelinEd has taken a hard look at ESSA accountability plans for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and a detailed analysis. The report鈥檚 author, Dr. Christy Hovanetz, said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 encouraging that in the majority of states, schools will earn summative ratings that are easily understandable for parents and can spur school improvement. However, there are some concerns with many states planning to measure achievement using index systems 鈥� and growth using peer comparisons 鈥� rather than grade level expectations. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the plans can help advocates and policymakers support effective implementation of state plans.鈥�

This week on the blog: 50-State Plan Landscape Analysis. What are they key trends across plans? Find out:

鈥� ExcelinEd (@ExcelinEd)

ESSA and social-emotional learning funding opportunities

According to 鈥檚 Kate Stringer, a new RAND Corporation report finds that 鈥渟chools looking to implement social-emotional learning programs have several funding options available to them鈥� under ESSA. RAND identified 鈥�60 evidence-based social-emotional learning interventions schools and districts can use that align with the ESSA requirements,鈥� many of which are at the elementary school level and in urban communities.

鈥淲e were pleasantly surprised that there are a pretty good number of options for states and districts to consider when they want to adopt evidence-based SEL instruction,鈥� said Laura Hamilton, associate director of RAND Education. 鈥淓SSA doesn鈥檛 explicitly use the phrase 鈥榮ocial and emotional learning,鈥� but there鈥檚 a lot of language in there that suggests opportunities to focus instructionally on students鈥� SEL skills that would be consistent with the goals of ESSA.鈥�

New report finds , evidence-based programs schools can use under to boost social-emotional learning.

鈥� 蜜桃影视 (@The74)

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