• 06 October 2024
Needs Improvement: Most States Fall Short in ESSA Review

Needs Improvement: Most States Fall Short in ESSA Review

Dec 12, 2017

Independent reviewers had some harsh words for states’ plans to improve their education systems, calling many of them “uncreative” and falling short of Every Student Succeeds Act benchmarks.

“Uncreative.” “Confusing.” “Incomplete.”

Ouch! Those are just a few of the tough comments an independent bipartisan panel of 45 experts had for states’ plans to improve their education systems.

Under the direction of the US Department of Education, each state and the District of Columbia submitted plans in one of two rounds for the experts to assess on a scale of 1 – 5 in nine categories: Goals, Standards and Assessments, Indicators, Academic Progress, All Students, Identifying Schools, Supporting Schools, Exiting Improvement Status (improving enough to no longer need state interventions), and Continuous Improvement (learning from implementation and modifying the plan going forward).

The results? Bad news for most states. In two rounds of reviews held in April and September 2017, only 11 states scored a 5 in at least one area, and worse yet, only 5 scored multiple 5’s across the nine areas. Rhode Island received the most praise from reviewers, with its plan for school improvement described as “a model for others.”

The US Department of Education will use the plans to identify schools needing federal support.

To see how your state’s plan fared, check out the review online at checkstateplans.org.

banner image from: https://www.the74million.org/article/opportunity-wasted-second-round-essa-plans-get-largely-lackluster-reviews-from-independent-experts/

Opportunity Wasted: Second-Round ESSA Plans Get Lackluster Reviews from Independent Experts https://www.the74million.org/article/opportunity-wasted-second-round-essa-plans-get-largely-lackluster-reviews-from-independent-experts/

Many State ESSA Plans Are ‘Uncreative, Unambitious,’ Analysis Finds http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/12/essa_bellwether_collaborative_plans.html

About The Author

Clark

Clark