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While researching ESSA in the Angelo State Library, I found an article from Education Week, "Districts Aim to Wield Evidence-Based Tools in Satisfying ESSA on School Turnarounds" by Alyson Klein. The article focuses on opportunities for states and districts to come up with their own school improvement strategies, backed by evidence, that can prove accountability that will someday take the place of standardized testing (Klein, 2018).

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The new Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law Dec. 10, 2015, rolls back much of the federal government's big footprint in education policy, on everything from testing and teacher quality to low-performing schools. And it gives new leeway to states in calling the shots.

That's a big change from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which ESSA replaced and updated.

The Every Student Succeeds Act takes full effect in the 2017-18 school year. Below are key elements of the law.

Accountability Plans

States still have to submit accountability plans to the Education Department. These new ESSA plans will start in the 2017-18 school year. The names of peer-reviewers have to be made public. A state can get a hearing if the department turns down its plan.

Accountability Goals

States can pick their own goals, both a big long-term goal, and smaller, interim goals. These goals must address: proficiency on tests, English-language proficiency, and graduation rates.

Goals have to set an expectation that all groups that are furthest behind close gaps in achievement and graduation rates.

Accountability Systems
Elementary and Middle Schools
States need to incorporate at least four indicators into their accountability systems. The menu includes three academic indicators: proficiency on state tests, English-language proficiency, plus some other academic factor that can be broken out by subgroup, which could be growth on state tests.

States are required to add at least one additional indicator of a very different kind. Possibilities include: student engagement, educator engagement, access to and completion of advanced coursework, postsecondary readiness, school climate/safety, or whatever else the state thinks makes sense.

States have to figure in participation rates on state tests. (Schools with less than 95 percent participation are supposed to have that included, somehow.) But participation rate is a stand-alone factor, not a separate indicator on its own.
High Schools
High schools will be judged by basically the same set of indicators, except that graduation rates will have to be part of the mix. They could take the place of a second academic indicator.
Weighing the Indicators
It will be up to the states to decide how much the individual indicators will count, although the academic factors (tests, graduation rates, etc.) will have to count "much" more as a group than the indicators that get at students' opportunity to learn and post-secondary readiness.

Low-Performing Schools

States have to identify and intervene in the bottom 5 percent of performers. These schools have to be identified at least once every three years.

States have to identify and intervene in high schools where the graduation rate is 67 percent or less.

States, with districts, have to identify schools where subgroups of students are struggling.

School Interventions

For the bottom 5 percent of schools and for high schools with high dropout rates:

Districts will work with teachers and school staff to come up with an evidence-based plan.

States will monitor the turnaround effort.

If schools continue to founder, after no more than four years the state will be required to step in with its own plan. A state could take over the school if it wanted, or fire the principal, or turn the school into a charter.

Districts could also allow for public school choice out of seriously low-performing schools, but they have to give priority to the students who need it most.

For schools where subgroup students are struggling:

Schools have to come up with an evidence-based plan to help the particular group of students who are falling behind, such as minority students or those in special education.

Districts must monitor these plans. If the school continues to fall short, the district would step in, though there's no specified timeline.

Importantly, there's also a provision calling for states and districts to come up with a "comprehensive improvement plan" in schools where subgroups are chronically underperforming, despite local interventions.

The School Improvement Grant program is consolidated into the bigger Title I pot, which helps districts educate students in poverty. States could set aside up to 7 percent of all their Title I funds for school improvement, up from 4 percent in current law.

Testing

States still have to test students in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, and break out the data for whole schools, plus different "subgroups" of students (English-learners, students in special education, racial minorities, those in poverty). ESSA maintains the federal requirement for 95 percent participation in tests.

States are prohibited from combining different sets of students into so-called "super subgroups" for accountability purposes.

Up to seven states can apply to try out local tests for a limited time, with the permission of the U.S. Department of Education.

Districts can use local, nationally recognized tests at the high school level, with state permission, such as the SAT or ACT.

States can create their own testing opt-out laws, and states decide what should happen in schools that miss targets.

Standards

States are required to adopt "challenging" academic standards. That could be the Common Core State Standards, but doesn't have to be.

The U.S. Secretary of Education is expressly prohibited from forcing or even encouraging states to pick a particular set of standards (including the common core).

Transition From the No Child Left Behind Act

Waivers from the NCLB law are null and void on Aug. 1, 2016, but states still have to continue supporting their lowest-performing schools ("priority schools") and schools with big achievement gaps ("focus schools") until their new ESSA plans kicked in.

In general, ESSA applies to any competitive federal grants given out after Oct. 1, 2016, so most grants are still under the NCLB version of the law for the rest of this school year.

English-Language Learners

Accountability for English-language learners moves from Title III (the English-language acquisition section of the ESEA) to Title I (where everyone else's accountability is). The idea is to make accountability for those students a priority.

States can include English-language learners' test scores after they have been in the country a year, as under current law.

During that first year, those students' test scores won't count toward a school's rating, but ELLs will need to take both of the assessments, and have the results publicly reported. In the second year, the state has to incorporate ELLs' results for both reading and math, using some measure of growth. And in their third year in the country, the proficiency scores of newly arrived ELLs will be treated just like any other students'.

Students in Special Education

Only 1 percent of students overall can be given alternative tests. (That's about 10 percent of students in special education.)

Programs
Block Grant
A new $1.6 billion block grant consolidates dozens of programs, including some involving physical education, Advanced Placement, school counseling, and education technology.

Districts that get more than $30,000 have to spend at least 20 percent of their funding on at least one activity that helps students become well-rounded, and another 20 percent on at least one activity that helps students be safe and healthy. And part of the money can be spent on technology.

Some programs live on as separate line items, including the 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
New or Existing
The ESSA enshrines the Preschool Development Grant program in law and focuses it on program coordination, quality, and broadening access to early-childhood education. But the program is housed at the Department of Health and Human Services, jointly administered by the Education Department.

A new, evidence-based research and innovation program is created, described by some as similar to the Obama administration's Investing in Innovation program.

Other highlights include a standalone program for parent engagement, along with reservations for arts education, gifted and talented education, and Ready to Learn television.

Weighted Student Funding

A pilot program will let 50 districts try out a weighted student-funding formula, combining state, local, and federal funds to better serve low-income students and those with special needs.

Teachers

States will no longer have to do teacher evaluation through student outcomes, as they did under NCLB waivers.

The NCLB law's "highly qualified teacher" requirement is officially a thing of the past.

The former Teacher Incentive Fund-now called the Teacher and School Leader Innovation Program-will provide grants to districts that want to try out performance pay and other teacher-quality improvement measures. ESSA also includes resources for helping train teachers on literacy and STEM.

Funding and Other Issues

The current Title I funding formula remains intact, but there are some changes to the Title II formula (which funds teacher quality) that will be a boon to rural states.

Maintenance of effort will remain in place, requiring states to keep up their own spending at a particular level in order to tap federal funds.

ESSA Resources

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The Every Student Succeeds Act: An ESSA Overview

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The new Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law Dec. 10, 2015, rolls back much of the federal government's big footprint in education policy, on everything from testing and teacher quality to low-performing schools. And it gives new leeway to states in calling the shots.

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According to the National Association of Secondary School Principals, there are 9 title associated with what states and districts can do with the ESSA.

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Download a pdf version of the fact sheet.
Signed into law December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the federal legislation that governs elementary and secondary education in America. ESSA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The measure passed with broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate and was influenced by a diverse set of lawmakers and stakeholders, who continue to monitor the regulatory process.

ESSA represents a major shift from the increased federal authority of NCLB and state waivers issued by the Department of Education to increased flexibility to states and school districts.

ESSA presents several changes from NCLB. ESSA now:

Eliminates Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT)

Eliminates the requirement for teacher/principal evaluation systems and/or linking results to student test scores

Eliminates prescribed interventions in identified schools

Eliminates School Improvement Grant funds and requirements

Migrates Title III language proficiency accountability requirements to Title I

Makes funds more flexible (e.g., Title II and Title IV transferable)

Reduces the authority of the U.S. secretary of education

ESSA puts states and school districts in charge by creating new opportunities and flexibility while also requiring states to balance many decisions.

State leaders can:

Design their own school ratings and decide how to determine the lowest performing 5 percent of Title I schools

Innovate with assessment options, such as using computer-adaptive assessments and interim assessments that roll up to a single score or performance assessments

Choose the ACT or SAT instead of a separate state high school assessment

Decide how to evaluate teachers

State leaders have to follow certain requirements:

Report results for more student subgroups

Continue to have 95 percent state test participation

Identify the lowest-performing schools, approve locally developed improvement plans, and monitor the schools' progress

Report data on the distribution of effective teachers

Consult a prescribed list of stakeholders when developing the state's plans

ESSA also requires states to engage with a multitude of stakeholders to inform decision making - NEW!

ESSA requires states to engage in and provide evidence of "meaningful consultation" with a variety of stakeholders in virtually every major state-level decision. This includes:

A variety of local education agencies (LEA)

Geographically diverse-suburban, rural, and urban

Serving a high percentage of schools identified for (and those implementing) Comprehensive Support and Improvement plan

Principals, teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, and other staff

School leader and teacher professional standards, certification, and licensing organizations

The governor, members of the state legislature, and state board of education

Parents and families of students of all ages

Individuals, organizations, or partners connected to related strategies, programs, and activities being conducted in the state

Implementation Timeline

States have just a year to set a strong vision, engage stakeholders, and design ESSA plans for implementation beginning in school year 2017-18.

* ED is under pressure to move start date from 2017-18 to 2018-19 school year

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Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Overview

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Download a pdf version of the fact sheet. Signed into law December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the federal legislation that governs elementary and secondary education in America. ESSA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

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My professional perspective after completion of my Masters in Educational Administration, is working as a district Instructional coach in the secondary campuses. I plan to increase professional learning and professional compliance across campuses in all classrooms, according to district professional goals.

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I interviewed a current Assistant Principal for Forbes Middle School, Tish Ptomey,  to gain insight on the current legal and ethical issues impacting her role as an administrator.
#1. The biggest legal issues administrators and teachers face are following 504 and IEP plans for each student. The appropriate accommodations are not always being met across all secondary courses.
#2. The policies and rules that are currently revisited by administrators, is training for new 504 coordinators to hold staff accountable throughout a school year.
#3. Mrs. Ptomey shared a student situation where she was worried about the legal or ethical implications. A Parent was under the impression their child would have oral testing for STAAR, but upon finding out they would not, the parent did not send kid to the STAAR test day or the makeup day. The parent requested a district meeting for the stress of not having her child's needs met which caused the child to engage in physically hurting herself, due to testing.
#4.  Due to all the issues that come up with mental stress in schools, the most recent training on legal issues tend to be on TTES and appraisals for teacher accountability; CPI training and how to restrain students; and bullying and procedures.
#5 It is too much to know individually what training is needed, so most training is decided on by the district, and the needs the district feels is necessary to keep moving in the direction they desire.

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After browsing through the NEA website, I saw many issues raised towards improving public education. The "Raise Your Hand" initiative is striving to build collaboration between community members, educators, and parents to provide for ALL students.

The NEA task force initiated three goals to improve public school classrooms. 1. Creating shared responsibility to promote opportunities for students. 2. Set new visions for educational accountability. 3. Come up with strategies to bridge the current status to the vision of where we want to be.

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At Education Summer 2014, NEA members learn to make "one small voice become thousands of voices." Read more "

It's never too early! Preparing now is key to your child's academic success. Read more "

A thousand educators gather to share the inspiring ways they use their power to make a difference for every child in the nation. Read more "

The National Education Association has issued a renewed call to action-Raise Your Hand-a national initiative to mobilize educators, parents, and community leaders who share our commitment to ensuring the success of all our students. By tapping into their commitment and leadership to serve America's students, we are uniting our members with parents, community leaders and elected officials across the country, to fulfill the promise of public education and prepare every student to succeed.

Watch How Educators, Parents, and Community Leaders are Raising Their Hands For Public Education

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At Education Summer 2014, NEA members learn to make "one small voice become thousands of voices." Read more " It's never too early! Preparing now is key to your child's academic success. Read more " A thousand educators gather to share the inspiring ways they use their power to make a difference for every child in the nation.

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Association for Supervision and Curriculum (ASCD)

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Association for Supervision and Curriculum (ASCD)

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In reviewing the ASCD website,  There are many issues in Transformational Leadership to provide for the Whole Child. There is focus on Professional Learning Communities to accomplish goals within a school year to meet needs of student achievement immediately.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was put in place to advocate for How teachers Assess students, how districts assess educator accountability, professional development; and target school improvement,  to meet the whole child success.

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Raise Your Hand for Public Education. (2017). Retrieved June 8, 2018, from http://www.nea.org/home/raiseyourhand.html

A. (n.d.). ESSA UPDATES. Retrieved from  http://www.ascd.org/public-policy/essa-updates.aspx#action

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(T. Ptomey, personal communication, June 8, 2018)

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(T. Ptomey, personal communication, June 8, 2018)

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ESSA will become the change we need to get away from standardized testing as the means for determining a student's success. Under the new framework of ESSA, districts can focus on accountability, resources, interventions and teacher evaluation systems to lead to personalized learning of students.

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Klein, A. (2018). Districts Aim to Wield Evidence-Based Tools in Satisfying ESSA on School Turnarounds. Education Week, 37(25), 9.

“Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Overview.” 2018. NASSP, www.nassp.org/policy-advocacy-center/resources/essa-toolkit/essa-fact-sheets/every-student-succeeds-act-essa-overview/.

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The Every Student Succeeds Act established in 2015, was to provide an opportunity for states and districts to design their own ratings and accountability systems to replace the "one size fits all' model of No child left behind (2018).  While this has given some freedom for districts, they were required to implement changes by 2017-2018.

This topic is important for educators to design goals around their student needs and create a more appropriate accountability measurement system, besides standardized testing. Districts and states still have to submit their plans for accountability, but it can be tailored to their populations. States can choose their own goals, and create their own success measurement ratings (Klein, 2018).  Teachers will now have a say in creating evidence based plans for students who are at risk of being successful. Teachers will no longer be evaluated based on student performance.

Some of the legal issues that arise from ESSA implementation, are that districts must submit results from subgroups, continue to have 95% participation in state testing,
Identify and monitor  low-performing schools, and report data on effective teachers (ESSA, 2018).
Some of the future issues related to my work as an instructional coach, would be to hold teachers accountable for accommodating personalized learning opportunities to increase student success. I can also see many seasoned teachers needing coaching on how to implement 21st century learning skills into their current assessment methods.