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ED Proposes New ESSA Accountability Rule: Here’s What You Should Know

By ASBO USA posted 06-14-2016 11:38

  

Late May, the Department of Education (ED) released a new draft accountability rule for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) regarding state accountability systems, state and local education agency (SEA/LEA) report cards, and the process by which states are expected to submit their accountability plans to ED, among other items. In particular, the rule establishes requirements for the following items: 

  • Accountability systems’ specific indicators to “annually meaningfully differentiate all public schools,” identify schools for support and interventions, develop and implement turnaround plans via evidence-based interventions, etc.

  • SEA/LEA report cards, including the timeliness and format of the report cards, specific elements that must be included in them under ESSA as opposed to under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), etc.

  • Consolidated state plans, including the format of the plans, timing for submissions, and the content to be included in them.

The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on May 31 and is open for public comment for 60 days until August 1. ED is particularly interested in hearing feedback that would help reduce regulatory burdens that could arise from this proposed rule, as well as other issues, including further defining “consistently underperforming” student subgroups, whether additional guidance is needed to help states meet the 95% student assessment threshold in the light of wide-scale opt-outs, how to better support English Language Learners, and more. See this fact sheet summary about the proposed rule, ED’s chart comparing accountability systems under NCLB versus ESSA if the rule is finalized as is, and ED’s press release to learn more.

An EdWeek analysis of the draft rule notes that under ESSA, states must, among other things, set goals to increase student graduation rates, meet certain benchmarks for student performance in math and reading, and account for disadvantaged student subgroups, then rate schools based on how well they are meeting those goals. The new draft rule “would require states to come up with a summative rating for schools, or some kind of concrete score or evaluation, rather than a dashboard of data on schools,” which some states had advocated for instead.

The draft rule no longer allows SEAs/LEAs to use “super subgroups” when it comes to tracking student subgroup performance, since super subgroups can still mask how certain groups of students are struggling. The rule doesn’t prescribe a specific maximum or minimum “n-size” (sample size) for student subgroups, but it does say that states with n-sizes larger than 30 students “must submit a justification for its n-size in its state plan.” The plan must include information about the number and percentage of schools that wouldn’t be held accountable for the results of students in each subgroup if the state adopted a larger sample size. The Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed) explains the proposed n-size provision in this short video and offers their thoughts on what the ideal sample size should be for state accountability systems in its latest report, “Ensuring Equity in ESSA: The Role of N-Size in Subgroup Accountability.”

Additionally, the proposed rule includes other provisions with significant ramifications that K–12 leaders will want to note. For instance, when a school is identified as needing targeted support for improvement, the school district must notify parents to get involved. ESSA pushes for more parental engagement, which means districts will have to review and improve communications with parents and their communities. Also, states must include public charter schools in their accountability systems, which may affect the specific indicators SEAs use in their accountability systems and the respective weights that are granted to each indicator. In general, ESSA’s accountability provisions reflect the most significant changes from the old NCLB framework, so K–12 leaders will want to stay abreast of any developments with this proposed rule, the final rule’s content once issued, and future regulations from ED about ESSA accountability as states and districts continue to transition to the new ESSA framework. EdWeek has compiled key provisions from the proposed rule to help you keep track here.

Public reaction to the proposed rule is more or less a mixed bag. The Washington Post reports that Democrats, including Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), one of ESSA’s key architects, “embraced” the draft rule. Civil rights advocates who’ve been calling on ED to issue more guidance to strengthen protections under the education law applauded the rule as well. However, Republican leaders including ESSA’s other major architect, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) were skeptical of the rule and believe it reflects another example of federal overreach in U.S. classrooms. Alexander indicated he would “conduct a thorough review to ensure that the Obama administration had honored the intent of Congress” with ESSA. He added, “If the final regulation does not implement the law the way Congress wrote it, I will introduce a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to overturn it.”

As a reminder, states must have their new ESSA accountability systems ready to go by the 2017–2018 school year (SY). They must also identify schools for targeted and comprehensive intervention and support by SY2017–2018, except for those with “consistently underperforming student subgroups” (which must be identified by SY2018–2019). Many K–12 stakeholders are concerned about the timeline, and believe it will be difficult for states to use SY2016–2017 data to identify low-performance schools for SY2017–2018 since states will still be finalizing their new accountability systems and collecting data at the same time. POLITICO reports that an ED official noted these concerns and said that while it will take time for states to gather data needed to formulate their accountability systems, ED wants “to ensure states are moving toward completing new systems as soon as possible.” The source added that state consolidated plans will be due in March 2017 (or by July 2017 if a state asks for an extension). Also, the official said that states will have “an opportunity to phase in additional accountability indicators after the 2017–2018 school year, which will account for the time needed to collect new data.” For more information about ESSA’s transition timeline, check out EdWeek’s blog here.

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