District Preparing for ESSA Changes
No Child Left Behind is a thing of the past and taking its place is the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Signed into law on December 10th the new law contains over 1,000 pages. Here are some highlights of what Woodward-Granger can expect from this new legislation:
State Authority: Under the new law, the job of holding schools accountable largely shifts from the federal government to the states. But the federal government still provides a broad framework. Each state must set goals for its schools and evaluate how they’re doing. States also have to create a plan for improving schools that are struggling or that have a specific group of students who are under performing. The job of setting these accountability standards will fall on the Iowa Department of Education.
Annual Testing: States still have to test students in reading and math once a year in grades 3 through 8, as well as once in high school. Students with IEPs and 504 plans will continue to get accommodations on those tests. And only 1 percent of all students can be given “alternate” tests. This provision takes away the concept of having multiple measures and multiple tests given to students.
Accountability: Under the new law, states may now consider more than just student test scores when evaluating schools. In fact, they must come up with at least one other measure. Other measures might include things like school safety and access to advanced coursework. But student performance is still the most important measure under the law. This additional school evaluation criteria will be spelled out and reported under the Iowa school report card.
Reporting: States have to continue to publicly report test results and other measures of student achievement and school success by “subgroups” of students. That includes students in special education, minorities, those in poverty and those learning English.
Proficiency Targets: From now on, states are required to set their own proficiency targets. They will also come up with a system of penalties for not meeting them. But the federal government will no longer require states to bring all kids to the proficient level on state tests. States also won’t have to meet federal targets for raising test scores. These changes will eliminate the harsh federal penalties schools faced under NCLB.
Comprehensive Literacy Center: The new law calls for the creation of a national center that focuses on reading issues for kids with disabilities. That includes dyslexia. The center will be a clearinghouse for information for parents and teachers.
Literacy Education Grant Program: The law authorizes Congress to give up to $160 million in literacy grants to states and schools. The grants will fund instruction on key reading skills, such as phonological awareness and decoding.
Opt-Out: Opt-out is when parents decide not to have their child take a standardized test. The new law doesn’t create a federal opt-out option for parents. But it also doesn’t stop states from having their own opt-out laws if parents don’t want their children to take state tests. (note: all the above information was provided by US Dept. of Education, 2016.)
Overall the change from NCLB to ESSA is a good thing as it shifts responsibilities from the federal level back to the state level giving states a bigger role in holding schools accountable. At Woodward-Granger CSD we will adapt to these changes and continue to challenge our students to live up to higher academic standards.
If you have further questions about ESSA please contact the Central Office at 515-999-8022 or email at bradanderson@wghawks.school.
Brad Anderson
Superintendent
