School Improvement Principles for State ESSA Plans
June 21, 2017
The Council of Chief State School Officers released a “list of school improvement principles that states may want to use to guide their ESSA work.” CCSSO identified Massachusetts and Kentucky as states that have had the “most success at turning around their low-performing schools.” CCSSO also recommended that states:
- Make sure the state, district, and school each understand their turnaround responsibilities;
- Set high expectations for students;
- Reach out to the school and community to craft and implement any improvement plan;
- Pick improvement strategies that match schools’ needs;
- Focus the most attention on the highest-needs schools;
- Put in place clear expectations for school progress; and
- Think from the very beginning about how states will sustain their turnaround efforts.