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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.)

鈥淟ouisiana is informing parents about school performance better than other states are,鈥� according to the results of a review by the . These results highlight how local schools are responding since the Every Student Succeeds Act was enacted. However, there remain a number of issues, particularly 鈥渢he disparity in high- and low-performing schools.鈥�

Only 鈥�22 percent of black students are in an A-rated Louisiana public school鈥� despite making up 47 percent of the student body, according to the review. Of schools with an F grade, 鈥�83 percent of students are black,鈥� it noted, pointing to major obstacles that educators must work to overcome in creating a truly equitable school system.

The Alliance鈥檚 Anne Hyslop said, 鈥淚f we have a school system that is truly equitable, we would expect the typical student body of an A school to be very similar to the student body of an F school.” Additionally, Louisiana was the only state reviewed 鈥渢o mention a possible 鈥榩roblem with excessive [discipline] rates,鈥� according to Hyslop. The 鈥渟tate Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will host a forum 鈥� to talk about the effectiveness of the changes associated with the Every Student Succeeds Act.鈥�

Here are the week鈥檚 other top headlines for how states are continuing to implement the nation鈥檚 new education law:

Heartland Institute proposes child safety accounts

A new report by the underscores the myriad school safety risks facing students today and proposes that states 鈥渃reate a Child Safety Account (CSA) program, which would allow parents to immediately have their child moved to a safe school 鈥� as soon as parents think the public school their child is currently attending is too dangerous to their child鈥檚 physical or emotional health.鈥� Under ESSA, students are permitted to transfer to another government-run school under the law鈥檚 Unsafe School Choice Option provision, 鈥渂ut only if their current public school meets the state definition of a 鈥榩ersistently dangerous school.鈥欌��

New Jersey district expands ESSA program to high school

In , education officials are expanding a federally funded program that has demonstrated success among younger students to its JFK High School. The goal is to help overcome barriers to education by offering students 鈥渁 host of support services, ranging from tutoring and other forms of academic support to health services.鈥� It also gives students a way to meet basic needs by offering a 鈥渄iscreetly placed laundry room 鈥� on the theory that not having clean clothes can lead to chronic absenteeism.鈥� Paterson is one of just 15 school systems nationwide to 鈥渨in grants of just under $500,000 from the federal Full-Service Community Schools program,鈥� funded by the Every Student Succeeds Act. The grants are meant to foster 鈥渇ull-service community schools that improve the coordination, integration, accessibility, and effectiveness of services for children and families.鈥�

Arizona educators want to leverage ESSA to advance equity聽

As reported in , at the recent Engaging Arizona in Advancing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) event in Phoenix, education officials called on policymakers to focus on student equity when working on the state鈥檚 K-12 education budget. As Teniqua Broughton, executive director of The State of Black Arizona, says, 鈥淓quality is giving every student the same resources, but equity is giving each student the resources they need to reach the same goal.鈥� The event focused on how effectively Arizona is 鈥渁dvancing equity for all students鈥� through its ESSA state plan and new partnership opportunities that could improve matters. The National Urban League鈥檚 recently released ESSA State Plan Equity Report Card gave Arizona 鈥渁n overall poor rating on 12 equity indicators.鈥�

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