Writer and mom to a student who happens to have Down’s Syndrome, Vicki Vila discusses how accountability measures put into place by ESSA have helped and motivated schools to ensure a proper learning environment for students who receive special education services at a greater rate...
Discussions around the release of Ohio’s annual state school report card paint a picture of how some district and schools officials are balking at accountability measures required by ESSA. Citing the cancellation of spring standardized testing, this year’s state report cards include only a fraction...
An update to Maryland’s ESSA accountability plan would amend how schools in the state’s 24 districts would identify and create instructional programs for children found to be “talented or gifted,” shifting the screening bar from the sixth to the third grade. In addition, the plan...
Changes to New Jersey’s graduation requirements have resulted in an almost five percent increase in the preliminary graduation rate for schools in Newark. State officials scrapped a rule requiring high school graduates to pass state standardized tests after state tests were cancelled in the spring...
This in-depth look at the progression of attendance policies in recent times details how, following the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, 36 states and the District of Columbia chose to use attendance as non-academic measures of success in their state accountability...
In response to the decision by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to not grant additional testing waivers to states for the 2020-21 school year, Georgia State Superintendent Richard Woods announced how the state will rethink their approach to administering assessments in the winter and spring. Citing...
The Virginia Department of Education is accepting feedback on three proposed changes to it’s ESSA state plan, all of which were introduced prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes would clarify requirements for students who take advanced math courses prior to the...
After months of uncertainty, education leaders, teachers, researchers, and advocates received an answer to whether state annual assessments would resume this school year following an abrupt cancellation this past spring due to the coronavirus. In a letter to all state superintendents – not just the...
New Jersey has released new ratings of its more than 2,100 schools, as required by ESSA. The ratings are based on multiple factors, including data from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment. Though they are the most recent available, the ratings were determined prior to...
Two researchers at the University of Kansas have released their analysis of state “personalized learning” policies, as demonstrated by each state’s ESSA accountability plan. The authors found little consensus on conceptual frameworks or definitions for how personalized learning models ought to be utilized in schools,...
