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Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015: Highlights and Implementation Updates

Virginia Board of Education Committee on School and Division Accountability

November 16, 2016

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

• Signed into law on December 15, 2015

• Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 (ESEA)

• Replaces the most recent ESEA amendment, the No

Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)

“ . . . to ensure that every child achieves”

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ESSA – General Information

Continued requirement to:

• Assess reading/language arts and mathematics annually in grades 3-8 and once in high school

• Assess science once in grades 3-5, once in grades 6-9, and once in grades 10-12

• Disaggregate results of accountability indicators for all students and reporting groups

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ESSA Accountability Indicators

State accountability systems must address:

Academic achievement;

Academic progress;

Graduation rates;

Progress in English Learners gaining proficiency in English; and

School quality*.

Virginia’s state plan will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by March 2017.

*Academic indicators must carry much greater weight than the school quality indicator.

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Comprehensive Support and Improvement

• ESSA requires identification of the lowest 5% of

Title I schools based on performance for all

students, and all high schools with a federal four-

year cohort graduation rate below 67%, for

comprehensive support and improvement.

• Schools identified for targeted support and

improvement due to low-performing reporting

groups may also be identified for comprehensive

support if they fail to improve over time.

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ESSA requires the identification of schools for targeted support and improvement that have low performing reporting groups.

• Consistently underperforming – any school with one or more low performing reporting groups over two years

• Low-performing – any school in which one or more reporting groups is performing at a very low level when compared with comprehensive schools

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Targeted Support and Improvement

Report Card Requirements

• Reporting on academic achievement levels on state assessments will include:

o Children of military parents

o Children in foster care

o Children experiencing homelessness

o Migrant students

o Gender categories

• Reporting must also include school quality, climate, and safety data; teacher equity data; and per pupil expenditure information.

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VDOE ESSA Website

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ESSA Stakeholder Survey

• 15,708 responses

• Collection occurred for three weeks

• October 18, 2016 – November 9, 2016

• Key questions:

• Who responded to the survey?

• What factors do stakeholders feel are important to know about schools?

Who responded?

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57.8%

47.5%

11.5%

4.6% 3.2% 2.6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Educator,

School

Administrator,

School Board

Member

Parent Community

Member

Other Advocate Business

Professional

Types of Stakeholders

*Note: Respondents were allowed to select multiple identifiers,

therefore percentages do not sum to 100.

Perc

en

tage

of

Res

pon

den

ts

Respondent Location

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25.5%

23.9%

18.3%

11.2%

9.4%

6.4%

3.8%

0.7% 0.9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Region of Virginia

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Central Virginia

Northern Virginia

Southwest Virginia

Hampton Roads/Tidewater

Shenandoah Valley/Blue Ridge

Southside Virginia

Northern Neck/Middle Peninsula

Western Virginia

I am not a Virginia resident

Most Important Indicators to Stakeholders*

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76.9% 76.3% 75.2% 74.6% 73.8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

High school

graduation rate

Teacher

qualifications

College and

career readiness

Student, parent

and teacher

satisfaction with

the quality and

character of

school life (e.g.,

school learning

environment and

safety)

High school

dropout rate

Perc

en

tage

of

Res

pon

den

ts

Potential ESSA Indicators

*As indicated by stakeholder selection of “Important” or “Extremely

Important” for each indicator.

Additional Opportunities for Stakeholder Involvement

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• The ESSA Stakeholder Engagement Webpage provides the following announcements and resources:

– Public Hearings

– English Learner Roundtable

– Teacher Effectiveness Roundtable

– Accountability Roundtable

www.doe.virginia.gov/federal_programs/esea/essa/stakeholder-engagement/