The pandemic poses a number of obvious and well-discussed challenges to testing but, according to the Fordham Institute’s Michael Petrilli and the American Enterprise Institute’s Frederick Hess, it also presents “even bigger opportunities.” Petrilli and Hess take to an opinion piece in the Hill to...
New York and Michigan added their names to the list of states again requesting a waiver of annual assessments required by ESSA, citing continued disruption imposed by the pandemic. While the states join a few others in asking for the tests to be called off,...
HopSkipDrive, a Los Angeles-based transportation service originally started by a group of working mothers, has begun providing services to students in Spokane Public Schools to help meet the challenges of transportation during the pandemic. “This is part of an ongoing effort of being innovative and...
New analysis from CRPE shows declines in statewide enrollment at public schools in Washington state amid the pandemic, though charter schools saw a sharp 35% increase. The report explores enrollment trends for schools in the state, which were the first in the nation to close...
Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen announced a statewide dropout rate of less than 2%, a historic low and a possible indicator of coming increases to the graduation rate. Arntzen credited persistent actions taken under the state’s ESSA plan to increase graduation rates, engage...
Tennessee lawmakers are considering three education bills in a special legislative session this week to focus on addressing learning loss, particularly declines in literacy and math proficiency, amid the pandemic. The bills would temporarily suspend accountability requirements defined in the state’s ESSA plan, require interventions...
Despite a global pandemic that forced schools closed in the final months of the academic year, Idaho schools saw an increase in the statewide graduation rate in 2020, marking the first time the rate surpassed 82%. Though officials celebrated the gains, educators and advocates in...
Two reports released recently by the Education Law Center seek to provide further context for elected officials and policymakers about the dire stakes at hand as school districts brace for budget cuts. The first report provides an analysis of state and local education funding following...
Wyoming education officials officially announced their intent to request waivers of federal accountability requirements as outlined by ESSA amid the continued disruption of the pandemic. Wyoming joins a number of states making similar announcements while also indicating a desire or intent to administer statewide annual...
Tennessee will use flexibility granted by ESSA to use federal education funds, as well as a portion of the state’s COVID-19 recovery funds, to bolster resources and support aimed at improving literacy outcomes for Tennessee students. Noting that just above a third of third-graders in...
