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.)

Utah schools are 鈥減oised to take a hit from parents who excuse their children from year-end tests,鈥� Benjamin Wood reports in the . That鈥檚 because the Utah Board of Education has 鈥渁greed to count opt-outs as students who took tests but failed in order to achieve a minimum participation rate of 95 percent鈥� in their recently approved ESSA plan.

The state had asked for, but did not get, flexibility in meeting the requirement that no more than 5 percent of students not sit for state tests in grades 3 through 8 annually or at least once in high school. In 2017, 5.9 percent of Utah students statewide opted out, 13 percent of charter schools students did, and in five charter schools, more than 50 percent of students did not take the tests, Wood reported.

Making the situation even trickier, Wood says, Utah law prohibits schools from encouraging participation in year-end tests, or from using test scores in calculating semester-end grades.

鈥淚t puts us in a tough spot,鈥� said Andrew Frink, technology director for the Park City Public Schools, which has the highest opt-out rate in the state and whose best students are among those declining the test. 鈥淯tah is a parents鈥�-rights state. It鈥檚 very clear in legislation; parents have the right to opt out if they choose.

Florida officials are also asking themselves, 鈥淲hat to do?鈥� as the Tampa Bay Times鈥檚 Jeffrey Solochek . Despite the fact that the Trump administration 鈥渉as in many ways held up Florida鈥檚 education system as a model for the nation鈥� and 鈥渉ired many former Florida education officials to top jobs in聽its own education department,鈥� Florida鈥檚 ESSA plan 鈥渋s now the only one that remains unapproved by Secretary Betsy DeVos.鈥�

Last week, DeVos but took no action on Florida鈥檚 plan, which the state submitted聽聽(this was the state鈥檚 鈥渟econd attempt to receive federal approval, after its initial proposal聽聽from the feds鈥�).

And Elizabeth Behrman 聽for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Pittsburgh鈥檚 鈥渓atest efforts to turn around its struggling schools are going to be a model for other Pennsylvania districts looking to boost their performance.鈥� The school district is one of three in Pennsylvania to participate in the state Department of Education鈥檚 school improvement pilot program, 鈥渁 new plan to more closely share state resources with districts that have the lowest-performing schools,鈥� a 鈥渕ajor piece of the state blueprint under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.鈥�

Check out below for more ESSA news.

1 The deal with 鈥渉ighly qualified teachers鈥� under ESSA

In the latest 聽of Education Week鈥檚 鈥渁nswering your ESSA questions鈥� series, Alyson Klein responds to an anonymous query from an educator who participated in the publication鈥檚 Every Student Succeeds Act summit back in May: 鈥淚s highly qualified teacher still [a requirement] under ESSA?鈥� The 鈥渟hort answer,鈥� she says, is: 鈥淣ope, you can toss the phrase 鈥榟ighly qualified teacher鈥� into the trash, as far as the law is concerned.鈥� ESSA 鈥済ot rid of the requirement in the law it replaced, No Child Left Behind Act, that teachers must be highly qualified, which typically meant they needed to have a bachelor鈥檚 degree in the subject they are teaching and state certification.鈥� Instead, 鈥渟tates must come up with their own definition of an 鈥榚ffective teacher,鈥� 鈥� and the 鈥渇eds are explicitly prohibited from telling states what that can be.鈥�

2 California district leveraging ESSA to help military children

Brennon Dixson at the reports that the Castaic Union School District in California is 鈥渞esponding to the challenges and unique circumstances military children face on a daily basis鈥� by implementing policies 鈥渢o lessen the children鈥檚 impediments to success鈥� through 鈥渁cademic resources, services, and opportunities for extracurricular and enrichment activities that are available to all district students.鈥�

The 鈥渘ewly adopted regulations reflect the Every Student Succeeds Act, which mandates that military-connected students will be assigned a national identification number to facilitate the monitoring of their academic progress.鈥� The regulations require 鈥渄istricts to issue an annual report card that includes state achievement results for such students,鈥� as well as 鈥渙ptional language that could require the district to provide professional development related to the educational rights of military-connected students.鈥�

3 Education funding inequity a persistent problem

Amelia Harper for Education Dive that 鈥渢hough federal funding has helped level the playing field in school spending over the years, a recently released report of school spending during the 2014-15 academic year reveals鈥� that 25 percent of the poorest schools in the nation received 3.4 percent less in per-pupil spending than 25 percent of the wealthiest school districts. That inequity created a national funding gap of $449 per student.

Harper notes that under ESSA, 鈥� in December 2019 that require more financial transparency at the school level,鈥� and a 鈥渓ook at that data should reveal more about where and why these inequities exist and may lead to a better solution.鈥�

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