1. Leveraging ESSA: Improving State Infrastructure to Support the SSIP and Close Equity Gaps
Rorie Fitzpatrick & Dona Meinders, WestEd
Part B Learning Collaboratives Convening
NCSI | November | Dallas, TX

2. Session Objectives Review the key components of ESSA
Explore connections between ESSA and SSIPs, toward the goal of closing equity gaps
Consider ways in which ESSA promotes opportunities to improve agency infrastructure
Apply the principles of continuous improvement to the subject at hand
Description: This session will explore the implications for children with disabilities that emerge from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and suggest strategies for how to capitalize on the law as a mechanism to analyze and improve your infrastructure to reach targeted results and close equity gaps. We will look at the components of improvement science and continuous improvement, and line those up with conceptual and specific examples of issues related to the performance of students with disabilities that emerge from the passage of ESSA.
Review OSEP’s Phase III guidance on infrastructure

3. Setting the Context: Unpacking ESSA

4. Workbook Materials
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Synopsis of features pertaining to K-12 students with disabilities

5. ESSA at a Glance Key components of ESSA
Maintains demand for challenging standards
Maintains annual assessments and authorizes innovative assessment pilots
Gives states increased flexibility to design school accountability systems, school interventions, and student supports
Gives states flexibility to work with local stakeholders to develop educator evaluation and support systems Increases state and local flexibility in the use of federal funds

6. NCLB vs. ESSA
ESSA preserves critical elements of No Child Left Behind…
Statewide standards and assessments
Disaggregation by race, low-income, English learners, students with disabilities
Accountability for school performance and improvement
… and supports increased flexibility for states and districts to better leverage federal funds to target student needs
Interventions in underperforming schools
Teacher and administrator support and evaluation

7. Resource Recommendation
ESSA: Key Provisions and Implications for Students with Disabilities

8. Aligning ESSA & SSIP: Leveraging Opportunities to Close Achievement Gaps

9. Applying the Lens of Continuous Improvement
Seeing the System
Improvement begins with understanding your current system and work processes, and thinking deeply about how you are currently organized to do the work.
ESSA creates an on-ramp for new conversations
Alignment that leads to improvement can come from shared vision, priorities, resource alignment, and approaches for measuring outcomes.

10. ESSA in the Context of the SSIP

11. Improving Systems to Close Equity Gaps: ESSA Action Steps for States
During transition, states may assess current policies and refine as needed to improve coherence and outcomes, by:
Engaging stakeholders
Establishing (or reasserting) the state vision for educating all students
Developing ESSA implementation strategies aligned with the state’s vision
Ensuring alignment across and between federal and state programs:
accountability – school interventions – teacher prep / support
IDEA – ESSA – Perkins – WIOA
Building state capacity to deliver on the vision and strategies

12. Improving the System to Close Equity Gaps: Aligning ESSA and the SSIP
Engaging stakeholders
Who are SSIP stakeholders?
Are the same stakeholders engaged in ESSA conversations?
Does the plan facilitate authentic engagement (vs input-only)?
State vision
To what extent is the vision articulated in the ESSA plan and the SSIP the same or different?
What about targets in SSIP and the new ESSA accountability plan?
Is there a compelling rationale for any differences? (And can you easily articulate it?)

13. Aligning ESSA and the SSIP (cont.)
Implementation strategies
Are the coherent improvement strategies for students with disabilities, as described in the SSIP, the same as or supportive of, the strategies in the ESSA plan?
In what ways do the SSIP strategies align with the required levels of evidence described in ESSA?
Alignment in programs
Are you identifying shared priorities and working to connect resources (time, money, talent) among efforts under Title I, Title II, Title III, CTE, …?

14. Aligning ESSA and the SSIP (cont.)
Capacity to achieve outcomes
Does the infrastructure in your SSIP promote and reinforce the same capacity-building approaches as what is being created for the ESSA plan?

15. Harnessing ESSA to Achieve the SSIP: Addressing Infrastructure
In planning for and transitioning to ESSA implementation, how is policy development being approached within your state?
Are colleagues within the agency collaborating to develop and deploy these decisions? Why or why not?
How about collaboration with external partners/stakeholders?
How are you influencing or can you influence change efforts within the agency? With partners/stakeholders?
What efforts are you taking to improve coherence and alignment in your state’s education system?
How are you aligning your SSIP with new ESSA requirements?
How is ESSA policy and practice being shaped by your SSIP?

16. More to think about… Describing ESSA and Infrastructure Changes in the Phase III Plan

17. OSEP SSIP Phase III Outline: Guidance Related to Infrastructure
A2. Summary of Phase III: The coherent improvement strategies or principle activities employed during the year, including infrastructure improvement strategies
Think/write about how ESSA efforts to date are boosting coordination of goals, priorities, resources
C2a. Data on Implementation and Outcomes: How the State has reviewed key data that provide evidence regarding progress toward achieving intended improvements to infrastructure and the SiMR.
Think/write about how ESSA efforts to date are encouraging coordination of data collection and use
E1a. Progress Toward Achieving Intended Improvements: Infrastructure changes that support SSIP initiatives, including how system changes support achievement of the SiMR, sustainability, and scale-up
Think/write about how ESSA efforts to date are reinforcing selection and implementation of evidence-based practices; and how ESSA efforts are (or aren’t) aligned with the SSIP to reinforce long-term implementation

18. THANK YOU! http://ncsi.wested.org | @TheNCSI