蜜桃影视

This update on the Every Student Succeeds Act and the education plans now being implemented by states and school districts is produced in partnership with ESSA Essentials, an ongoing 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.)

鈥泪magine how it might feel to be an educator at a school deemed 鈥榝ailing,鈥� despite raising students鈥� performance dramatically,鈥� Chris Minnich, CEO of NWEA, an Oregon-based not-for-profit provider of assessment solutions,聽聽in聽Education Next. 鈥淯nfortunately, that鈥檚 a reality for some of the nation鈥檚 most dedicated educators, especially those serving in historically marginalized communities.鈥� This is because a significant number of both states and districts base school ratings on the numbers of students deemed proficient based on assessment results instead of the growth in proficiency demonstrated by students.

In this piece, Minnich argues that it is vitally important to factor in both student growth and proficiency when determining school ratings. Proficiency is important, he says, because it indicates 鈥渋f students are meeting grade-level expectations, if they should be considered for enrichment programs, and if they are prepared for college.鈥� But rating systems that include both achievement and growth are fairer because they 鈥渄ifferentiate between a school with low achievement scores but high rates of growth and a school with low achievement and little growth.鈥� We can and must 鈥渄ifferentiate between a school with low achievement scores but high rates of growth and a school with low achievement and little growth.鈥�

While ESSA 鈥渆nables states to include growth in new school rating systems 鈥� and all 50 states and the District of Columbia have pledged to do so,鈥� to 鈥渢ruly serve students and close opportunity gaps, growth can鈥檛 just be added to the mix鈥�; it must also carry significant weight, writes Minnich. 鈥泪llinois, where growth accounts for two-thirds of core academic indicators, has pointed the way. So has Georgia, where growth is weighted at 50 percent, including 15 percent focused on narrowing achievement gaps.鈥�

When it comes to making sense of standardized test results, growth metrics more closely reflect educators鈥� true contributions without introducing much bias based on the poverty-level of the students they serve, notes . (via )

鈥� Education Next (@EducationNext)

See below for more ESSA news.

1 Why measuring subgroups under ESSA matters

The Alliance for Excellent Education鈥檚 Anne Hyslop聽聽to a聽聽by Mike Petrilli about the alliance鈥檚聽聽of ESSA accountability plans, which identified a dozen states that fail to ensure that subgroups are 鈥渦niversally included in school ratings.鈥� Petrilli argues, 鈥泪ncluding subgroups in school ratings doesn鈥檛 matter because subgroup performance is almost always reflected in schoolwide averages, at least when using value-added measures.鈥� Hyslop responds that advocates for underserved students cannot and should not 鈥渟top worrying about the inclusion, or lack thereof, of subgroups in school ratings.鈥� While Petrilli is right, she says, that we don鈥檛 have an idea how many schools will get high ratings while also having low-performing subgroups under ESSA, we 鈥渄o know that states can take simple steps to make sure the number is zero and reinforce their commitment to equity at the same time.鈥� Until that happens, Hyslop reserves 鈥渢he right to keep worrying.鈥�

We measure what matters, which is why subgroups in systems are important, writes via

鈥� MDRC (@MDRC_News)

2 How ESSA can help military families deal with beginning-of-school-year challenges

Kiera Gallagher, a teacher at Albritton Middle School at North Carolina鈥檚 Fort Bragg and an Army spouse,聽聽on the struggles military families like hers face and how they 鈥渃ross their fingers鈥� during the聽聽every year. She writes that each time, such families hope 鈥渢hat the transition out of one school system and into another goes smoothly and doesn鈥檛 get in the way of their child鈥檚聽.鈥� While Gallagher thinks ESSA鈥檚 Military Student Identifier 鈥渂y itself is helpful,鈥� she adds that 鈥渢o provide the greatest value for military families, it needs to be linked to programs with a proven track record of helping military-connected children and addressing their unique educational needs.鈥�

Schools w/ Education Coalition’s Student2Student program’s active on their campus can mitigate these issues for . For military kids, the autumn brings trepidation and anxiety

鈥� Jack Ballantyne (@johnballantyne6)

3 States waiting too long to intervene in struggling schools?

Jayme Kennedy聽聽at a recent聽聽by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, which found that, under their ESSA accountability plans, 鈥�29 states don’t report underperforming schools until three years of low performance are recorded.鈥� Additionally, 鈥渢hose same states don’t ask for assistance or transition those low-performing schools to Comprehensive Support and Intervention (CSI) until they have at least four years of low performance recorded.鈥� These states, writes Kennedy, may be sticking to the letter of the law, but they are not honoring ESSA鈥檚 spirit 鈥� and this will聽. While ESSA gives states some flexibility in terms of intervention time frames, such interventions must take place every three years at a minimum under the law. But according to the center, 鈥渓ow-performing schools should be identified and states should intervene at least every two years,鈥� and 鈥渟tates should also not wait more than three years to transition schools to a CSI plan.鈥�

Do states 鈥渨ait too long to intervene鈥� in their lowest performing schools? Recent report from suggests they do. -via

鈥� ESSA Updates (@ESSA_Update)

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