Analyst: Derek Kulnis
October 24, 2016
New York State has released what it describes as a list of “high-level concepts” available for public feedback on its implementation of the Every Child Succeeds Act (ESSA).
According to Daarel Burnette II in Education Week, both Pennsylvania and New York “announced that they were narrowing their focus for their ESSA plans after receiving feedback from the public.”
Burnette describes the feedback process as “an arduous weeks-long process that can involve thousands of educators, parents, politicians and business leaders” and explains that the challenge now “is taking that feedback and turning it into policy.”
The New York State Education Department released an outline of its progress on ESSA implementation and its development of the high-level concepts up for public review.
According to Secretary of Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, “ESSA Think Tank members from more than 100 groups – including school districts, unions, business groups, parent organizations, and many others – met over the summer to provide input on this important work. This effort will continue as we receive feedback and draft an ESSA plan for New York’s children.”
The press release explains that a total of 36 high-level concepts have been proposed, and that feedback will occur in two rounds, with the first round of comments being gathered from parents, educators and students at more than 45 Regional State Planning and Development meetings across New York in October and November.
Some of the 36 high-level concepts being considered by New York include some “rigorous action” for schools that do not provide accurate measurement of all students’ academic proficiencies by testing at least 95 percent of their students, the implementation of a Regents exam in mathematics in lieu of the grade-level math test, and increasing the minimum placement requirement of 100 hours for educators entering the field.
As Alyson Klein explains in Education Week, “instead of choosing from a list of federal options as they had to do under the previous version of the law, theNo Child Left Behind Act, districts and even schools will be able to cook up their own improvement strategies [under ESSA], as long as there is evidence to back up their approaches.”
Daarel Burnette notes that “state departments [of education] have more than an entire year to write their ESSA proposals, which will likely be due sometime next spring and implemented in the fall of 2017.”
Sources and Resources:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/state_edwatch/2016/10/new_york_pennsylvania_cite_essa_progress.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news3
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/09/28/essa-clears-out-underbrush-on-school-improvement.html?r=1039141895&cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2