Every Student Succeeds Act 101

1. Every Student Succeeds Act 101 Developed by PSEA ESSA Workgroup for PSEA Local Presidents December 2018

2. What is ESSA? ESSA = The Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA at its core is a civil rights law. • ESSA is the 2015 reauthorization of the ESEA = Elementary and Secondary Education Act • ESEA is the 1965 landmark civil rights law enacted by President Johnson seeking to ensure equitable educational opportunities for all students.

3. What are the main purposes of ESSA? • Title IIdentifies lowest performing schools in poverty to support improvement • Title IIProvides funding and criteria for educator professional learning • Title IIIProvides funding for language Instruction for English Learners • Title IVProvides funding and criteria for well-rounded education • Other Titles • Title V  Rural education • Title VI  Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education​ • Title VII  Funding for schools impacted by Federal lands (and hence limited property tax base)​ • Title VIII General Provisions​ • Title IX   Education for the Homeless and Other Laws

4. What does ESSA do? • Focuses on: • Equity • Transparency • Stakeholder engagement • Multiple measures of accountability • Accountability for schools, not districts • Moving control back to the states and away from the federal government

5. What does ESSA require? Every state must: • Have college and career ready standards • Assess students for math, language arts, and science • Disaggregate student data by subgroup • Report data with transparency • Identify lower-performing schools in need of support and improvement (comprehensive; targeted)

6. What’s in PA’s ESSA Plan? • Assessments • PSSAs, Keystone Exams • Supporting Effective Educators • Title II professional learning; clinical residency • Supporting All Students (Equity) • School climate; well-rounded education • Accountability, Support, School Improvement

7. Accountability under ESSA States must use Academic Indicators and at least one School Quality indicator to identify schools in need of Comprehensive or Targeted supports and improvement: • Lowest performing 5% of Title I schools • Any high school with graduation rate at or below 67% • Title I schools with chronically low-performing student group/s PA indicators: • Academic: Growth; Proficiency; Graduation rates; English Language Proficiency • School Quality: Career readiness; Chronic absenteeism

8. PA Process to Identify Schools Step 1: Preliminary identification based on low academic achievement and low growth Step 2: Evaluation of performance for following indicators: • Substantially Weighted Indicators (1 or both) • High school graduation rate; Progress in ELP • School Quality Indicators(both) Step 3: ID additional high schools with graduation rate at or below 67 percent (all high schools, not just Title I)

9. 4-year Cycle of Improvement To exit CSI, A-TSI identification and not be identified for “more rigorous interventions” after 4 years, schools must: • Show continued progress on the academic achievement indicator and on the school quality indicator(s) • Exceed the identification standards for CSI that were applied the year of initial identification • Submit an updated improvement plan • Participate in PDE-sponsored technical assistance activities

10. ESSA in PA: Timeline