The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that, while Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods is pushing to take advantage of testing flexibility under ESSA, Governor Nathan Deal “opposes a retreat from test scores as a critical determinant of school performance.” Governor Deal has refused to put his signature on Georgia’s ESSA...
In Pennsylvania, the Altoona Mirror reports that, after months of discussion and working together, the “chairmen of the state House and Senate Education committees were left unsatisfied” with the state’s most recent ESSA plan.
Stand for Children Illinois released a video that explains how ESSA “improves Illinois’ method for grading schools.”
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...
