Overview of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

What Has Occurred? Where Are We At? Where Are We Going? What Is Next?

What Has Occurred? Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Passed by Congress December 10, 2015 Reauthorizes ESEA and replaces NCLB Last revised 13 years earlier

Highlights of the New ESSA Law Greatly decreases the role of the federal government in K-12 education States have much more authority to make decisions, select standards and assessments, and determine means of accountability States are expected to set high standards and create a rigorous accountability system States are responsible for enforcing many requirements Increases state and local flexibility in the use of federal funds Provides limitations on authority of U.S. Department of Education (USDE) secretary

Since Enactment, NDDPI has: Created an ESSA Website www.nd.gov/dpi/SchoolStaff/SSI/ESSA/ Conducted Webinars Sponsored Regional Workshops Created the Statewide ESSA Planning Committee Created Three ESSA Planning Subcommittees

Where Are We At? Officially goes into effect July 1, 2017 The 2016-2017 school year is being referred to as the transition year USDE is creating federal guidance on implementation of ESSA North Dakota must create a comprehensive state plan that outlines how it will implement the law North Dakota will submit its state plan March 2017

ESSA Planning Committee Superintendent Baesler formed an ESSA Planning Committee in May 2016 The committee members represent a multitude of stakeholder groups The state ESSA Planning Committee has convened many times over the past six months In addition, three ESSA subcommittees have been created to work more in-depth on certain topics Continuous Improvement Standards, Assessment, Accountability & Reporting Teacher/Leader Effectiveness

ESSA State Plan We will continue to meet over the next several months to prepare the state’s comprehensive plan The USDE has provided a template for states to use in creating the state ESSA plan

Where Are We Going? North Dakota is writing a plan with continuous improvement for all schools as the base Dr. Mark Elgart from AdvancED is assisting NDDPI in developing a state accountability plan based on meeting schools where they are at and setting goals based on continuous school improvement

Creating a New Accountability System Vision: All students will graduate choice ready with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to be successful in whatever they choose to do, whether they pursue a post-secondary degree, enroll in a technical college, enter the workforce, or join the military. State Accountability Plan (communication & delivery strategy, cross-stakeholder buy-in) DRAFT Periodic check-in meetings (report status, gather feedback, etc.) Work Group 2: Standards & Assessment (English Learners) Work Group 1: Teacher/ Leader Effectiveness Resources/Funding & Alignment Continuous Improvement & Innovation Work Group 3: School Improvement ESSA Planning Committee

Accountability System What Stays... Annual State Assessment High School Graduation Rates 95% Assessment Participation Rate Subgroups Economically disadvantaged students Students from major racial and ethnic groups Children with disabilities English Learners (ELs) School Profile Report Long-term Goals What's Gone… AYP Burdensome Sanctions School Choice Supplemental Education Services 10% Professional Development What’s Added... Subgroups Homeless students Foster care students Military family students Advanced/gifted & talented

What New Requirements will be Included in the State Accountability System? A measure of student growth At least one “additional” indicator of school quality Use of school dashboard Summative school rating

Additional Indicators of School Quality ESSA law requires states to use at least one “indicator of school quality or student success” that “allows for meaningful differentiation in school performance” and “is valid, reliable, comparable, and statewide” along academic data in their accountability system

Additional Indicators of School Quality Three points to keep in mind: Must be able to disaggregate by subgroup Must be able to differentiate Must be evidence that it impacts student achievement

School Climate/Culture Top Two School Quality Factors Considered Student Engagement School Climate/Culture Plus Plus Driving factor of student success and school quality Actionable & meaningful data Directly aligned to North Dakota’s continuous improvement/accreditation Innovative use of ESSA flexibility Critical factor of school quality Actionable & meaningful data Surveys currently part of North Dakota’s continuous improvement/accreditation (frequency?) Cost effective

Dashboards and Report Cards Purpose of Each Required Elements ND Unique Indicators

Both must be publicly available and transparent Dashboard…REVEALS and REFLECTS the school/district/state progress toward the vision for the state education system Report Card…detailed information and data that serves as the compliance REPORTING INSTRUMENT in support of federal and state regulations Both must be publicly available and transparent Summary In Depth

Key Required Elements for Federal Reporting Dashboard Report Card  Achievement on State Assessment High School Graduation Rates Progress of English Learners in Achieving Proficiency Achievement by Subgroup 95% Participation Rate At least One Additional Measure of School Quality

School Dashboards and Overall Rating Under ESSA, AYP reports are gone and replaced with a dashboard for all schools which allows multiple factors to be used when summarizing a school’s measure of quality

Key Performance Indicators SAMPLE: VISION: All students will graduate choice ready with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to be successful in whatever they choose to do, whether they pursue a post-secondary degree, enroll in a technical college, enter the workforce, or join the military. Key Performance Indicators Learning Index Achievement/Growth English Learner Graduation Rate School Quality Factor Overall Rating State District High School Middle School Elementary School Incentives for Innovation CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM Clear Direction…Healthy Culture...High Expectation...Impact of Instruction Resource Management...Efficacy of Engagement...Implementation Capacity © 2016 AdvancED

Key Performance Indicators SAMPLE: VISION: All students will graduate choice ready with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to be successful in whatever they choose to do, whether they pursue a post-secondary degree, enroll in a technical college, enter the workforce, or join the military.   Key Performance Indicators Learning Index Achievement/Growth English Learner Graduation Rate School Quality Factor Overall Rating State APPROACHING District NEEDS IMPROVEMENT MEETS EXPECTATIONS High School Middle School Elementary School EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS Incentives for Innovation CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM Clear Direction…Healthy Culture...High Expectation...Impact of Instruction Resource Management...Efficacy of Engagement...Implementation Capacity © 2016 AdvancED

Key Performance Indicators SAMPLE: VISION: All students will graduate choice ready with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to be successful in whatever they choose to do, whether they pursue a post-secondary degree, enroll in a technical college, enter the workforce, or join the military. Key Performance Indicators Learning Index Achievement/Growth English Learner Graduation Rate School Quality Factor Overall Rating State 49.4% 47.2% 62.4% 70.3% 54.1% District 54.9% 57.1% 60.3% 71.2% 58.2% High School 41.2% 68.7% 66.8% 48.9% Middle School 33.1% 40.9% 54.3% 38.5% Elementary School 72.5% 68.9% 74.3% 71.4% Incentives for Innovation CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM Clear Direction…Healthy Culture...High Expectation...Impact of Instruction Resource Management...Efficacy of Engagement...Implementation Capacity © 2016 AdvancED

Key Performance Indicators SAMPLE: VISION: All students will graduate choice ready with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to be successful in whatever they choose to do, whether they pursue a post-secondary degree, enroll in a technical college, enter the workforce, or join the military. Key Performance Indicators Learning Index Achievement/Growth English Learner Graduation Rate School Quality Factor Overall Rating State C B District High School Middle School D Elementary School Incentives for Innovation CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM Clear Direction…Healthy Culture...High Expectation...Impact of Instruction Resource Management...Efficacy of Engagement...Implementation Capacity © 2016 AdvancED

School Dashboard and Rating System Produced for all schools Needs to be easy to understand and communicated about with parents Produce reusable, real-time data Spotlights/colors are good

ESSA Required Indicators Academic Achievement English language arts and mathematics, grades 3-8 and once in HS Science, once in 3-5, 6-9, 10-12 For Elementary and Middle Schools: Another Academic Indicator Another “valid and reliable statewide academic indicator” (could be growth measures) For High Schools: Graduation Rates Four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate English Language Proficiency Progress in achieving English proficiency, grades 3-8 and once in HS At Least One Other Indicator e.g., Student engagement, school climate, etc.

Weighting Multiple Factors Need to consider the weight that will be given to the additional factor(s) Greater weight must be given to academic factors, but this can be accomplished in various ways Weighting Multiple Factors 20   15 40

Other Key Components of Our State ESSA Plan Standards Assessment School Improvement Teacher/Leader Effectiveness English Learners Title Programs

ESSA Key Components - Standards States MUST adopt challenging standards in mathematics, English language arts (ELA)/reading, science, and MAY have standards in any other subject determined by the state State standards must apply to all public schools and all public school children ESSA reinforces state authority over standards North Dakota is currently in the process of reviewing our state ELA and mathematics standards and anticipates having a final product in early 2017

ESSA Key Components - Assessment States must: Align assessments to state standards Conduct statewide, annual assessments in ELA and mathematics in grades 3-8 and once in high school Must assess not less than 95% of all students and 95% for each subgroup Conduct statewide assessment in science once in grade span 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12

Assessment at the High School Level Flexibility exists allowing high schools to administer a locally-selected, nationally-recognized high school assessment in lieu of the North Dakota State Assessment

Assessment and Growth North Dakota intends to apply a growth model as one measurement within its accountability system

Student Learning Index Student Growth Student Learning Index High High Growth Low Achievement High Growth High Achievement Growth Low Growth Low Achievement Low Growth High Achievement High Low Achievement

ESSA Comprehensive School Improvement What does ESSA require? Identification of schools: Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, and at least once every three (3) years thereafter, states must identify schools for support and improvement

School Improvement Two levels of school intervention are required: Comprehensive Support and Improvement Targeted Support and Improvement No districts (K-12) are identified for program improvement in ESSA Law

School Improvement Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) include: Lowest-performing 5% of Title I schools High schools with <67% graduation rates

School Improvement Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) include: Schools with consistently under- performing subgroups, as defined by the state

School Improvement The mandatory sanctions under NCLB have been eliminated. State departments will provide funding and support to schools identified for improvement. Schools will need to develop evidence-based improvement plans. Evidence-based Intervention and Strategies: TSI and CSI plans must include “evidence- based” strategies and interventions, which provides increased flexibility from the NCLB requirement of “research-based” strategies.

Title Programs The ESSA law maintains the key Title programs from NCLB that districts are familiar with and count on to assist with academic improvement

ESSA – Teacher and Leader Effectiveness ESSA eliminates definitions related to highly qualified teachers Districts may use funds for professional development in multiple areas; expands allowability from:

Federal Programs: Title III English Learners There is a strong focus under ESSA on English Learners Replaces prior English Language Learners (ELLs) with English Learners (ELs) States must set entry and exit procedures Title III accountability measures are put under Title I Adds two additional reporting requirements ELs with disabilities Long-term ELs

Federal Programs: Title IV Title IV Part A: Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants Consolidates number of programs into new block grant Provides all students access to a well-rounded education Improves school conditions for student learning Improves the use of technology in order to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy Title IV Part B: 21st Century Community Learning Centers Preserves separate funding stream for afterschool, before school, and summer learning programs

October 2016 Subcommittee Meetings: Standards, Assessment, Accountability and Reporting October 5, 2016 Teacher Leader Effectiveness October 17, 2016 Continuous Improvement October, 2016 October 25, 2016 ESSA Planning Committee Meeting November 2016 Continuous Improvement November 3, 2016 Teacher Leader Effectiveness November 16, 2016 Standards, Assessment, Accountability and Reporting November 22, 2016 Initial Draft of State Plan Created November 30, 2016 ESSA Planning Committee Meeting – Review Draft Plan December 2016 Continuous Improvement December 20, 2016 Standards, Assessment, Accountability and Reporting December 21, 2016 Teacher Leader Effectiveness December, 2016 December 2016 ESSA Planning Committee – Review Final Regulations and ESSA Draft Plan January 2017 Public Comment Period February 2017 Address Feedback Final Draft and Proofing March 2017 Submission of Plan to USDE March-May 2017 Develop State Policy, Communications, Guidance, Training, etc. for Statewide Rollout April-August 2017 Statewide Communication, Training, Rollout

In Summary The ESSA law brings a new opportunity to states, districts, and schools for increased flexibility to promote innovation There is a strong focus on a well-rounded education, which opens up new possibilities for programming in the arts, CTE, civics, technology, and school climate Districts have significant leeway to make choices that fit their unique needs

Questions on ESSA can be directed to: Laurie Matzke Assistant Superintendent North Dakota Department of Public Instruction Phone: (701) 328-2284 Email: lmatzke@nd.gov