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.)

Education Week鈥檚 Alyson Klein聽聽at staff downsizing at the U.S. Department of Education under Secretary Betsy DeVos and the effect it鈥檚 having on states working to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The department streamlining includes the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, which oversees K-12 policy 鈥斅爄ncluding ESSA implementation 鈥斅燼nd funding.

The office, which has lost almost 14 percent of its staff since the end of the Obama administration, has also 鈥済one through a top-to-bottom reorganization that consolidated some smaller offices within the agency and merged K-12 with the office of innovation and improvement, which oversaw charter school grants and other programs,鈥� Klein reports.

The goal is to make the office 鈥渕ore efficient and to enable its staffers to look at the various grant programs it handles more holistically.鈥� The approach represents the Trump administration鈥檚 鈥渟tep toward shrinking the federal footprint on K-12 and allowing states and districts to take the lead, since they are closer to the students and, in the administration’s view, can best serve their needs.鈥�

However, civil rights groups are worried that a smaller Office of Elementary and Secondary Education will not be able to make sure states are adhering to federal statutes regarding vulnerable student populations.

Additionally, Klein writes there are 鈥渂ig questions鈥� about the impact these changes could have on state officials, who 鈥渙ften look to the federal government for technical assistance and to explain ESSA, a relatively new and often murky federal law.鈥�

While some state officials say they haven鈥檛 really noticed much of a difference, others 鈥渄escribe long waits for answers to technical questions, harried staffers, and a lack of overall support and technical know-how, including when it comes to improving the lowest-performing schools.鈥�

See below for more ESSA news.

Delaware districts awarded funds to support homeless students

Delaware has chosen which districts are to receive additional federal funds under ESSA to support homeless students, Delaware Public Media聽.听鈥�The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is part of the Obama-era Every Student Succeeds Act鈥� and 鈥渁llows districts to apply for these competitive grants every three years.鈥� Most of the funds will be used to help identify 鈥渟tudents experiencing homelessness and connecting them with the available services鈥� and helping them access personal and school supplies, but 鈥渆ach school district also has its own creative programs.鈥� According to Delaware Public Media, 鈥渕ore than 2,100 students statewide have been identified as experiencing homelessness in 2019.鈥� In the spirit of ESSA, which gives states and districts the flexibility to try new things, Delaware school districts are getting creative in how they support homeless students. One district, for example, is providing vouchers for sneakers, which homeless students can redeem at local shoe stores.

Helping military-connected students and families

Kiera Gallagher, a teacher at Albritton Middle School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and an Army spouse, 聽military students and families now have 鈥減owerful resources to help them navigate the shoals of transitioning their children to new schools.鈥� One resource highlighted was a聽聽by the Collaborative for Student Success and the Lexington Institute, which 鈥減rovides parents with insights on what specific types of programs work best for military-connected students as they transition into a new school district,鈥� and as states and districts implement the Military Student Identifier under ESSA.

鈥淓SSA requires all states to collect 鈥� and report 鈥� assessment data on military-connected students, defined to include students with a parent who is a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard on active duty, including full-time National Guard duty,鈥� the guide states. 鈥淕auging the performance of the nation鈥檚 1.2 million military-connected children is vital because they move many times during their K鈥�12 years, far more than typical American children. As a result, they are at much greater risk for uneven and inconsistent education.鈥�

Gallagher also discusses the collaborative鈥檚 effort, which 鈥減rovides a macro picture of how select states, many with sizeable military populations, are addressing education quality issues in their public schools鈥� through their ESSA plans.

The arts and ESSA accountability

Linda Jacobson聽聽for Education Dive that while ESSA 鈥渄efines student success as more than just achievement in core academic subjects鈥� 鈥� and also names the arts and music as examples of a 鈥渨ell-rounded education鈥� 鈥� few states are formally incorporating the arts into their accountability plans. However, three states (Illinois, Connecticut, and Kentucky) are 鈥渦sing the law’s broader definition of student success to emphasize the arts.鈥� Thus far, however, Illinois is the only state to specifically include the arts 鈥渁s a distinct indicator in measuring school quality鈥� for pre-K through high school, with fine arts counting 鈥渁s a 鈥澛爐hat 鈥渨ill be given 鈥榚qual footing鈥� with measures such as school climate surveys.鈥�

https://twitter.com/DaringToTeach/status/1102968975229480960

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