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.)

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos approved state ESSA plans for Nebraska and North Carolina this week, bringing the total number of approved state plans to 46 (the District of Columbia鈥檚 and Puerto Rico鈥檚 plans have also been approved). The last states awaiting approval are California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Utah.

鈥淚 encourage education leaders in Nebraska and North Carolina to continue to embrace the flexibility afforded them in ESSA and to use their plans as a starting point, rather than a finish line, to improve outcomes for all students,鈥� .

DeVos spent some time on Capitol Hill last week, answering questions about ESSA plans and implementation (and other topics) before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate Education Committee, asked DeVos whether any of the state plans she has approved have violated ESSA. DeVos 鈥渢old him that all plans followed the law,鈥� Education Week鈥檚 Andrew Ujifusa. Regarding the effectiveness of ESSA, DeVos told the committee: 鈥淭he rubber will meet the road in the next year or so when they have it fully implemented 鈥� We have encouraged states to seize all the opportunity they have.鈥�

. is asking if she’s following the rules of in plan approval. & others have said she’s rubber-stamping plans that flout the law. Background here:

鈥� Politics K-12 (@PoliticsK12)

Check out below for more ESSA news:

1 New Mexico gets started on school turnarounds

鈥淩ecently, officials from Albuquerque Public Schools signed off on the nation鈥檚 first school turnaround plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act,鈥� Amanda Aragon, executive director of NewMexicoKidsCAN, here in 蜜桃影视. While questions remain about the extent of the state鈥檚 authority to hold districts accountable, Aragon says this is a strong step forward for the state and will set nationwide precedents for things like accountability, turnaround, and 鈥渢he limits of education reform within a new federal framework for public education.鈥� Aragon concludes that New Mexico 鈥渉as the leadership, the nationally regarded plan, and the urgent need for action,鈥� and now 鈥渨e鈥檒l see if state officials can make the plan a reality.鈥�

New Mexico is the first state to approve school turnaround plans under . Will they set a precedent for other states?

鈥� Javaid Siddiqi (@jsiddiqi7)

2 States and opt-outs under ESSA

In the latest 辞蹿听Education Week鈥檚 鈥淎nswering Your Every Student Succeeds Act questions鈥� series, a school-based leader asks: 鈥淲hat are the federal guidelines for 鈥榯esting transparency鈥�? Schools are mandated to get 95 percent participation, but how is that possible is [sic] we tell parents of their opt out rights?鈥� The answer? The law 鈥渟ays that states and schools must test all of their students, just like under No Child Left Behind.鈥� But under the previous law, if a school didn鈥檛 hit 95 percent participation, both for the entire student population and subgroups, it would have automatically been deemed a failure. But under ESSA, 鈥渟tates must figure low testing participation into school ratings, but just how to do that is totally up to them.鈥�

Another handy explainer on where states stand re: school accountability for 95% test participation rates…

鈥� Anne Hyslop (@afhyslop)

3 Reports: How to locate and leverage ELL data and states lowering ELL academic goals

A new from the Migration Policy Institute鈥檚 Julie Sugarman takes a look at how under ESSA 鈥� in which states must publish significant amounts of student data, including for English language learners 鈥� more data will be available than ever before. Sugarman explains that 鈥渒nowing where to find and how to use these statistics can be key for community stakeholders seeking to engage policymakers on critical questions of resource allocation, school accountability, and program effectiveness.鈥� Additionally, recent analyses by聽Achieve聽and聽UnidosUS find that many state ESSA plans are deficient when it comes to equity and educating ELLs, as Corey Mitchell for Education Week. The organizations find that more than 50 percent of these plans purposely apply lower achievement goals for ELLs, seven or more run afoul of ESSA provisions, and 1 in 5 allow schools to receive good ratings even if ELLs perform poorly.

Many state plans are deficient when it comes to equity and educating English-language learners: via and

鈥� ESSA Updates (@ESSA_Update)

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