Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced a new, $3 million grant program that “gives districts flexibility to combine federal, state and local funding streams to educate disadvantaged students.” The grants are authorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act and are aimed at supporting...
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced “$123 million in new grant awards to 41 school districts, nonprofit organizations and state educational agencies across the United States as part of the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program.” EIR grants—which are authorized under the...
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced the release of “important information on how local education leaders can make sure parents and caregivers have accurate and accessible information on how schools are performing in their state.” This new guide, entitled Opportunities and Responsibilities for State...
According to KUAC, last week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was in Alaska, where she discussed ESSA (among other topics) with state education stakeholders. Hosted by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, the round-table discussion focused on workforce development. At the event, participants “talked about the...
“Federal civil rights data on schools can be messy, incomplete, and at times difficult to believe. But the data are also critical to understanding how different groups of students experience and achieve in school,” writes Sarah D. Sparks. Last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy...
As we’ve reported previously, Georgia and North Carolina have been approved by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in ESSA’s Innovative Assessment Pilot program. Details of these plans are as follows (according to AllOnGeorgia): Georgia “will pilot two different innovative assessments: one based on...
“The number of states that can try out new ways to test students under the Every Student Succeeds Act just doubled,” reports Andrew Ujifusa in Education Week. “U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Wednesday that she had approved Georgia and North Carolina to try...
In Education Week, Megan Duff and Priscilla Wohlstetter provide an overview of a recent study conducted by them and their colleagues regarding the ESSA planning process, which concludes that the process has “veered off course.” How so? ESSA, contrary to NCLB, reverts much of the...
Peter Christian reports for KGVO Radio that the U.S. Department of Education has given the official nod to the Montana State Office of Public Instruction’s definition of “ineffective teacher” under its ESSA plan. “We submitted an amendment to the Department of Education, as we said...
The U.S. Department of Education has approved New Mexico’s changes to its school accountability plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Federal approval was necessary for state education officials to move forward with the planned changes. “Following the PED’s initial request from early March, a...
