Your Partner in Preparing for ESSA
What’s In Your State’s ESSA Plan?
By Heath Morrison, McGraw-Hill Education Business Unit President, K-12
As the 2017–2018 school year approaches, it’s time to consider what we can expect under ESSA. While some of the ESSA regulations under the new administration remain at least partially unclear, that doesn’t mean planning stops. Some states have already released their ESSA plans, and many more will be releasing theirs in the coming months. Districts will have to adapt and adjust to effectively implement their state’s new standards and objectives into their individual plans.
The complexity of the law paired with the uncertainty of an administration transition can be overwhelming. At McGraw-Hill Education, we’re here to help. We’re not only your partner in understanding ESSA, but also your partner in planning for ESSA implementation. Every district should be able to make full use of state-issued support in such a way that drives outcomes and empowers learners. To start, we’ve broken down what you can expect to see, or may have already seen, in your state’s ESSA plan. Moving forward, it will be important to be extremely familiar with your state’s standards and objectives so you can efficiently and smoothly transition into ESSA as a district.
Here are some of the major elements your state is planning to address:
Standards
Your state will be detailing specific academic expectations to guide teaching and learning. These standards will also address special populations, such as developmentally disabled groups and English learners. As teachers, it will be important to note how your state plans to support educators in your efforts to reach these standards. Under ESSA, states have to set “challenging academic standards”, but it’s up to your state to specifically define “challenging”. However, ESSA does specify that these “challenging” standards must align with what students need to know in order to take credit-bearing courses in college, or technical school courses. It’s essentially an effort to promote college and career readiness.
Accountability
States have to outline how they plan to monitor and measure statewide and district progress towards meeting goals. Under ESSA, states have a lot of flexibility — each state develops their own accountability plan, and schools can no longer be considered failing just because of low test scores. So, states will be responsible for identifying schools that need help, and developing a plan to get them up to speed. States will also be responsible for coming up with an accountability plan for specific groups of students within a low performing district that are particularly struggling.
Reporting
Your state will need to decide how they plan to report student and district data. States have to create more holistic progress reports, and report on subgroups. Under ESSA, three new subgroups need to be added to the reporting plan: the homeless, children of the military, and children in the foster care system. In general, ESSA encourages more transparency from states — in addition to the three new subgroups, they will also have to report how many students are classified as “long term English-language learners”, or those within a district who have not been proficient in English for five or more years. For advocates of educational equity, this is good news — the special attention will hopefully help us reach conclusions on how to support these unique groups of learners.
Improvement and Support
Since states are developing their own accountability plans, they’re also going to be developing their own plans for support and improvement. Your state will need to describe how they will identify the lowest 5% of schools and interventions, as well as the Title I funds used to address and support those schools and interventions. States will be developing a comprehensive plan to improve struggling districts as a whole, and, if the district has a lot of at-risk schools, a targeted support plan that addresses the needs of specific subgroups of students. It’s important to note that under ESSA, the term Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) will no longer be used — your state will be developing their own monitoring and support measures.
Evidence-Based Programs
ESSA encourages states to be research-driven, and to use evidence-based strategies at the statewide and district level in pedagogy, professional development, and decision making. While it is non-regulatory, the Department of Education released this document: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments as guidance for state plans. Ultimately, this element of ESSA is intended to help educational leaders be purposeful and efficient in the way they utilize funding, and deliver maximum improvement results for all learners. Watch for how your state is implementing research-driven strategies under ESSA.
Fiscal Flexibility and Transparency
Even though ESSA grants states much more flexibility in standards, assessment, reporting, and spending, it requires a significant amount of transparency. Your state will need to detail how they plan to be transparent, and how they will be reporting their spending to the federal government. Accountability will need to be particularly transparent — including how a state determines when a school no longer needs improvement, and exactly how they measure a school’s performance. States will also need to report post-secondary enrollment rates, if available, and data on how much they are spending per student.
As states roll out their plans in the coming months, you’ll be able to get a better understanding of what’s expected of your district, and how your objectives, strategies, and reporting may have to adapt. Be sure to stay tuned with McGraw-Hill Education — we’ll be keeping tabs on ESSA updates, and will be publishing more supportive blogs to help you move forward into the 2017–2018 school year under the new law.
For more ESSA support, visit:
Heath Morrison serves as Business Unit President, K-12, for McGraw-Hill Education. Previously, Heath served as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for McGraw-Hill Education, and as an educator. In 2012, Heath was named AASA’s National Superintendent of the Year for his work in the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada. He was also named Nevada Superintendent of the Year in 2011. Heath most recently served as superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Heath began his career as a social studies teacher in Virginia and Maryland and quickly moved into administration, becoming principal of both a middle and high school as well as a community superintendent in Montgomery County, Maryland. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning and a Masters of Educational Administration from the University of Maryland. Heath graduated with a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary.
References:
Klein, Alyson. “Six New Transparency Requirements in the Every Student Succeeds Act.” EdWeek. Editorial Projects in Education, 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
