Since April 3, a number of states have submitted their ESSA implementation plans to the U.S. Dept. of Education. Here’s a compiled list of the state plan submissions and the most recent draft versions states have released so far. Approved Plans Arizona: Final Plan Approved (9/6/17) Connecticut:...
Scott Sargrad, managing director of the K-12 Education Policy team at the Center for American Progress, writes about his participation in Bellwether and the Collaborative’s independent peer review, and offered guidance for New Hampshire’s education leaders as they finalize their ESSA accountability plans. Sargrad says the states “have...
The U.S. Dept. of Education approved Massachusetts’ ESSA plan. Secretary Betsy DeVos “praised the plan’s details on turning around low-performing schools and for emphasizing the share of high school students who complete accelerated courses.” She also said, “I continue to be heartened by the ways...
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts says he won’t sign the state’s ESSA plan “because of concerns about how it addresses accountability.” The plan was approved by the Nebraska State Board of Education on September 8 and subsequently sent to the U.S. Dept. of Education for review...
Dale Chu, former vice president of Policy and Operations at America Succeeds and a former assistant superintendent for Innovation and Improvement at the Indiana Department of Education, discusses his role as an independent peer reviewer and provided guidance for Indiana education officials as they finalized...
Under Iowa’s state ESSA plan, minority and low-income students “will have different—sometimes lower—goals than their white, affluent peers under.” These “higher growth targets are an effort to decease the state’s proficiency gap and gradually bringing low-income and minority students up to the same level as their peers.”
Governor Eric Holcomb “has given his stamp of approval” to Indiana’s ESSA plan. The state’s top education officials seem to have, at least thus far, “reached some level of consensus on how to move forward.”
The Ohio Department of Education sent its ESSA plan to the U.S. Dept. of Education “after delaying the submission by months to consider feedback from educators and community members.” State officials “will begin working with area districts to implement the ESSA plan once it’s approved...
Oklahoma has sent its ESSA plan to the U.S. Dept. of Education. Referred to as “Oklahoma Edge,” the plan “takes a more student-by-student approach to public education, including a goal of developing an individualized career academic plan for every student by 2025.”
Governor Tom Wolf signed off on Pennsylvania’s ESSA plan and “submitted it to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for her approval.” The plan establishes “ambitious yet attainable” goals of “raising student performance, increasing graduation rates and having English learners move toward achieving English language proficiency.”
