社区黑料

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.)

Virginia Democrat Rep. Bobby Scott told state school chiefs at the CCSSO Legislative Conference this month that while the Every Student Succeeds Act gives states 鈥渕ore flexibility on setting policy and complying with federal law,聽it is not 鈥榓 blank check,鈥欌�滱lyson Klein 聽for聽Education Week. (社区黑料鈥檚 Carolyn Phenicie also reported from the event: 鈥淪cott again raises 鈥榙isheartening鈥� issue of subgroup performance in ESSA implementation鈥�)

Scott said he remains 鈥渃oncerned that many state [ESSA] plans fall short and risk continuing or even exacerbating inequalities for disadvantaged students” and 鈥渢hat the Department of Education is not requiring [states] to implement the law with fidelity.鈥�

Scott also expressed disappointment 鈥渢hat many states are still ignoring subgroup performance,鈥� noting that 鈥渟ome state accountability systems allow schools to receive 鈥榯op rankings鈥� even though vulnerable students such as minority students, English-learners, and those with disabilities聽may be falling behind.鈥�

According to Scott, these kinds of systems “do not live up to the promise of ESSA … The Department’s approval of state plans continues to be cause for concern.”

Klein reports that 鈥淪cott’s rhetoric was nothing new. He and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., have long taken issue with state plans on their handling of vulnerable groups of students, as well as U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ plan-approval process.鈥�

See below for more ESSA news:

Promoting principal talent using Title I funds

鈥淒istricts and states looking to invest in principals and school leaders, particularly as a strategy to improve schools, may be able to tap into federal Title I funds to help foot the bill,鈥澛犅燚enisa R. Superville in聽Education Week. A new RAND Corporation report took a look at the Wallace Foundation鈥檚 Principal Pipeline Initiative and found improvements in student achievement, which 鈥渂olsters the argument that Title I funds could be used for additional school leadership programs that are generally considered part of the pipeline, including selection, training, and mentoring of new principals.鈥�

National Urban League publishes ESSA equity ratings

Earlier this month, the National Urban League released a new聽equity review report which rates 36 states鈥� and DC鈥檚 ESSA plans based on a dozen equity metrics,聽Education Dive鈥檚 Jessica Campisi .

The report looks at 鈥渞esource equity, educator equity, and supports and interventions for struggling schools,鈥� and states were assigned a rating of 鈥減oor,鈥� 鈥渟ufficient鈥� or 鈥渆xcellent鈥� on each metric. NUL notes that 鈥渢hese evaluations serve as a 鈥榩reliminary indicator鈥� of how states plan to implement the policy.鈥� Overall, the report found nine states to be 鈥渆xcellent,鈥� 20 to be 鈥渟ufficient鈥� and eight to be 鈥減oor.鈥�

Indiana publishes foster-care student data

According to聽Kate Stringer here at 社区黑料, Indiana recently 鈥渙ne of the most detailed reports聽to date regarding how foster youth are doing in school.鈥� This positions the state as a leader on the topic, as ESSA 鈥渘ow requires all states to report academic data for these students, and many have yet to comply.鈥� While the law requires聽states to publicly report聽鈥渢he graduation rates and test scores of students in foster care,鈥� Indiana 鈥渢ried to go a step beyond with its data collection, requiring schools to share grade retention, suspensions and whether these students attended failing schools.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.