Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Negotiated

ESSA: Basic Elements of Proposed Regulations The draft regulations fall in one of three categories:
Closely adhere to the statute;
Operationalize the law; or
Go beyond the law. 4<br>

Overview of ESSA: Transition and Implementation States and districts are required to continue to implement the activities and programs they have in place now through the end of the 2015-16 school year.

The majority of funds in the 2016-17 school year will be administered in accordance with NCLB.

Transition FAQs and additional resources are available on USDE’s ESSA webpage at www.ed.gov/ESSA. 5<br>

ESSA Proposed USDE Regulations: Indicators 6 Note: all indicators must include at least 3 levels of performance<br>

ESSA Proposed USDE Regulations: Indicators (cont.) 7<br>

ESSA Proposed USDE Regulations: Student Subgroups “Super subgroups” are not permitted in place of individual subgroups, but may supplement them.
N-size must be less than 30 or must be approved by USDE; lower N-sizes are permitted for reporting purposes.
Former EL students may continue to be counted for up to 4 years in the EL subgroup count; these students would continue to count towards the EL subgroup N-size. 8<br>

ESSA Statutory Accountability Provisions: Participation Rate The law requires that each state must:
“Calculate any measure in the Academic Achievement indicator under 200.14(b)(1) so that the denominator of such measures for all students and all students in each subgroup includes the greater of –
(i) 95 percent of all students in the grades assessed who are enrolled in the school; or
(ii) The number of all such students enrolled in the school who are participating in the assessments required under section 111(b)(2)(B)(v)(I) of the Act.”

Note: According to USDE draft rulemaking on reports cards, when reporting students at each level of achievement, the state must report both the results using the methodology above and one in which the denominator is the number of students with a valid test score. 9<br>

ESSA Statutory Accountability Provisions: Participation Rate What this means:
School A has 100 students who are required to participate in State assessments. Of these, 97 participate and 97 achieve a score of proficiency. For accountability purposes, proficiency will be calculated as 97/97 or 100%.
School B has 100 students who are required to participate in State assessments. Of these, 80 participate and 80 achieve a score of proficiency. For accountability purposes, proficiency will be calculated as 80/95 or 84%. 10<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Test Participation States must use one of four methods to respond to participation rates that fall below the 95 percent threshold (all students or subgroup):
Lower summative performance rating,
Lowest performance level on academic proficiency indicator,
Identification for targeted support and improvement, or
State-determined action that is rigorous and approved by USDE.
Schools not meeting the 95 percent participation requirement must develop an improvement plan that is approved and monitored by the local educational agency.
LEAs with significant number of schools must implement improvement plans reviewed and approved by the state. 11<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: School Identification Identification for Comprehensive Support under new accountability structure must take place for the 2017-18 school year, based on data available in the 2016-17 school year.

Identification of schools with consistently underperforming subgroups for Targeted Support does not have to take place until the 2018-19 school year.

All schools must receive a single summative rating, from at least 3 rating categories. 12<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Identification for Comprehensive Support and Improvement Data can be averaged over a period of up to 3 years.
Identification must take place at least once every 3 years.
Would require that states use four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (excludes use of extended year graduation rate). 13<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Identification for Targeted Support and Improvement Requires the establishment of a uniform, statewide definition of consistently underperforming subgroups that allows for the identification of subgroups, based on at least one of the following factors:
Whether a subgroup is on track to meet state’s long-term goals
Whether a subgroup is at or below a state-determined threshold
Whether a subgroup is performing at the lowest performance level on one of the State’s annual indicators
Whether a subgroup is performing significantly below the state average for all students
Another, state-determined factor
Schools with one or more subgroups performing at or below the level of Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools (bottom 5%) must also be identified. 14<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Interventions for School Improvement Interventions must be supported “to the extent practicable” by the strongest level of evidence.

States may provide an exhaustive or non-exhaustive state-approved list of intervention strategies.

The implementation of school improvement plans may provide for a planning year. 15<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: School Improvement Plans All identified schools must develop a comprehensive or targeted support and improvement plan.

In order to ensure that stakeholders, including parents, teachers, principals, and other school leaders are engaged:
Parents must be notified if their student attends an identified school and told how they can engage in developing the plan.
The plans must be publically available.
The plans must describe how stakeholder input was received and any changes that were made as a result.

Districts must review and approve targeted support plans.

States and districts must review and approve comprehensive support plans. 16<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: School Interventions Allows schools, districts, and states to select evidence-based intervention or strategy tailored to local needs.
Each plan must include at least one evidence-based strategy, and the regulations do not prescribe a specific level of evidence, but refer to the definition under Title VIII.
States may establish a list of approved interventions.
Comprehensive and additional targeted support school plans must also review resource inequities, including per-pupil expenditures and access to ineffective, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers.
States and districts must set meaningful exit criteria that expect improved student outcomes, and require additional actions in schools where initial interventions do not improve those outcomes.
The implementation of school improvement plans may include a planning year. 17<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations – Funding Under Section 1003 States must direct funds set aside for school improvement (i.e., funds under section 1003) to districts with schools most in need of support:
States may distribute funds by formula or competitively, but must consider schools with the “greatest need” and “strongest commitment” via a district application.
Districts that receive funds for school improvement must receive a minimum of $500,000 for each comprehensive support school it serves and $50,000 for each targeted support school, unless the state determines that a smaller amount is sufficient.
States must provide technical assistance, as well as monitoring, to districts to oversee and improve the use of funds for evidence-based interventions.
States must also engage in ongoing efforts to evaluate the use of these funds for evidence-based interventions to improve student outcomes. 18<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Consolidated State Plans 19 Components
Consultation and Coordination
Challenging Academic Standards and Aligned Assessments
Accountability, Support, and Improvement for Schools
Supporting Excellent Educators
Supporting All Students Submission and Review
States have the option to submit by either March 6 or July 5, 2017
Review (and any necessary revision) of state plan is required to take place at least every four years<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Consolidated State Plans (cont.) 20 Description of state strategies for supporting:
• The continuum of a child’s education from
preschool through grade 12
• Equitable access to a well-rounded
education and rigorous coursework
• School conditions for learning
• The effective use of technology Description of the entrance and exit criteria for EL students. Description of the process a state will use to waive the 40 percent schoolwide program threshold. Description of state strategies for ensuring that low-income and minority children are not taught. disproportionately by ineffective, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers. Key Content<br>

Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Proposed Comments CCSSO will request that USDE strongly consider revisions, prior to finalization of the regulations, in the following areas:
Timeline for Implementation of New Accountability Systems
Performance Levels for Indicators and Summative Ratings
High School Graduation Rate Used to Identify Schools for Comprehensive Support and Improvement
Contents of the Consolidated State Plan
Funding to LEAs for School Improvement 21<br>

ESEA Proposed Regulations: Assessments On July 6, USDE released two sets of draft regulations pertaining to assessments.
The first addresses Title I, Part A assessment requirements in the areas of language arts/reading, mathematics, science, and acquisition of English proficiency by English language learners.
The second addresses the Title, Part B innovative approaches to statewide assessments pilot program.
SED staff are in the process of reviewing the draft to determine its implications for NY.<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Academic Assessments Exceptions to requirement that same assessment be used for all students include:
Locally selected, nationally recognized high school assessments
Eighth grade students taking advanced mathematics courses
Alternate assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities
Demonstration of innovative assessment systems
Standards must be aligned with New York public higher education entrance requirements
State Report Card must include subgroups for highly mobile students
Accommodations must be provided as appropriate to Students with Disabilities, English Language Learners, recently arrived English Language Learners, and students in Native American language schools or programs 23<br>

ESSA Proposed Regulations: Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority States must apply for Demonstration Authority to support any locally implemented innovative assessment
Districts or schools that use innovative assessment must measure at least 95% of local students and provide accommodations for all students (except those with significant cognitive disabilities)
State must provide plan for transition to state-wide implementation of innovative assessment by the end of the five year demonstration period 24<br>

Next Steps The Department will:

Host the ESSA Think Tank Meeting on Thursday, July 14, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the New York State Convention Center in Albany, New York.
Submit official comments and questions through the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/31/2016-12451/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965-as-amended-by-the-every-student-succeeds.
With Regents approval, share the draft characteristics of highly effective schools and guiding principles with the field for public comment.
Following public comment ask the Regents to approve the characteristics and guiding principles as the basis for development of a draft state plan.
Seek permission from the Regents to release the draft plan for formal public comment.
Revise the draft plan based on public comment and submit to the Board of Regents for approval.
Submit to United States Department of Education after approval by the Board of Regents. 25<br>