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.)

Proposed changes by the Department of Education to the the federal department collects from every public school in the nation are being lauded by 鈥渁dvocates concerned about anti-Semitism in schools鈥� while also prompting 鈥渃oncern from other civil rights groups and policymakers鈥� who believe the changes 鈥渨ill make it harder to weed out disparities, Education Week reports.

In public comments, school administrators also pointed to the difficulty in submitting mandatory data as well as collecting some of the new proposed data points as part of their current processes. To justify the biggest proposed change 鈥� eliminating school-level spending data 鈥� the DOE argues that the Every Student Succeeds Act already requires similar or identical data to be collected at the state level.

鈥淪ome commenters said the state-level data would be an adequate substitute, or even an improvement,鈥� writes Ed Week鈥檚 Evie Blad. 鈥淏ut others said removing those questions would eliminate a consistent national source of information that would allow for large-scale comparisons and analyses.鈥�

Georgia updates list of schools identified for targeted support

The Georgia Department of Education released an 聽of schools targeted to receive special academic support, with 鈥�47 Georgia schools roll[ing] off鈥� this year鈥檚 list. As mandated by the Every Student Succeeds Act, Georgia, like other states, keeps 鈥渢rack of high poverty schools or at-risk groups of students that struggle academically鈥� so they can know where to direct extra financial aid to help improve school and student performance. Most of the schools still on the list are 鈥渋n urban districts in Atlanta and 鈥� places like Augusta and Columbus,鈥� GPB Radio News reports. However, a 鈥渉andful of state-run charter schools are also of concern.鈥�

D.C. schools improving, but gaps persist

The , which were released in late November, show that D.C. schools are making 鈥渋mprovements across the city鈥� despite the continued 鈥渁chievement gap on standardized tests鈥� between low-income students and more-affluent ones. This is the second year D.C. schools have been ranked under the star ratings system, the 鈥渃ity鈥檚 answer to the Obama administration鈥檚 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, which mandated that states and the District develop uniform and easily accessible report cards for schools by the end of 2018,鈥� according to The Washington Post. This year, 76 schools received four or five stars, compared with 56 schools last year. Based on the results, the city plans to invest 鈥�$11 million over three years in schools that scored in the bottom 5 percent on the star ranking.鈥�

Florida lawmakers put forth bill to let ELL students test in native languages聽

While ESSA 鈥渢o 鈥榤ake every effort鈥� to provide required exams in languages other than English if needed,鈥� Florida鈥檚 Department of Education received an exemption in 2017, arguing that English is Florida鈥檚 official language. Now, a bipartisan group of state legislators is seeking to overturn this exemption by introducing legislation that 鈥渨ould grant students the opportunity to take their required assessments in their native language if they lack full command of the English language,鈥� the Orlando Sentinel reports. Given there are 鈥渙ver 300,000 English Language Learners in Florida public schools,鈥� such a move could have a dramatic impact on test scores and graduation rates in the state.

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