natasha ushomirsky · 2016-10-03 · education act, originally passed in 1965. • it replaces the...

© 2016 THE EDUCATION TRUST

Copyright 2015 The Education Trust

Natasha Ushomirsky

September 9,

2016


About Ed Trust

Who We Are What We do

The Education Trust works for the

high academic achievement of all

students at all levels, pre-

kindergarten through college, and

forever closing the gaps in

opportunity and achievement that

separate low-income students and

students of color from other youth.

Research and policy analysis on patterns

and practices that both cause and can

eliminate these inequities.

Advocacy to share that knowledge and

push for policies and practices that help to

close gaps.

Technical assistance to states, districts,

institutions of higher education and

community-based organizations.


Goals for our time together

Set the national context with data on achievement and attainment

for low-income students and students of color

Share key provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act that

advocates and legislators can use to fight for a more equitable

education system

Highlight key questions to ask as your state works to comply with

the new law


Let’s start with some good news.

After more than a decade of fairly flat achievement and stagnant or growing gaps in K-12, we appear to be turning

the corner with our elementary students.


Source:

Since 1999, large gains for all groups of students,

especially students of color

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1971* 1975* 1980* 1984* 1988* 1990* 1992* 1994* 1996* 1999* 2004 2008 2012

Ave

rage

Sca

le S

core

9 Year Olds – NAEP Reading

African American Latino White

National Center for Education Statistics, “The Nation's Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress 2012”

*Denotes previous assessment format


Middle grades are up, too.


Source:


Math: More improvement and gap narrowing.

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1990* 1992* 1996 2000 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Ave

rage

Sca

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core

National Public – Grade 8 NAEP Math


NAEP Data Explorer, NCES (Proficient Scale Score = 299)

*Accommodations not permitted


These national trends are the result of the hard work

and success of states, districts, and especially

schools…

© 2016 THE EDUCATION TRUST© 2016 THE EDUCATION TRUST

Source: California Department of Education

Laurel Street ElementaryCompton, CA

• 497 students in grades K-5

• 78% Latino

• 16% African American

• 87% Low Income

• 61% English Learners

Note: Enrollment data are for 2011-12 school year.


666

715

756

794

834

888

927

738752 763 774

788 800 808

500

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

900

950

1000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Ba

se

AP

I

Students Overall - Academic Performance Index

Laurel Street California


Note: Base API incorporates student performance in English language arts, math, and science. The index ranges from 0-1000, with 800 serving as the statewide benchmark. California Base API includes Grades 2-6.

Improvement Over Time

at Laurel Street Elementary


927

881

941 929 938

854

808

739763 759 756

662

500

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

900

950

1000

All Students African-AmericanStudents

Latino Students Low-IncomeStudents

English Learners Students withDisabilities

20

11

Ba

se

AP

I

Academic Performance Index

Laurel Street California


All Groups Outperforming the State

at Laurel Street Elementary

Note: Base API incorporates student performance in English language arts, math, and science. The index ranges from 0-1000, with 800 serving as the statewide benchmark. California Base API includes Grades 2-6.


Halle Hewetson Elementary SchoolLas Vegas, NV

• 962 students in grades PK – 5

– 85% Latino

– 7% African American

• 100% Low Income

• 71% English Learners

Source: Nevada Department of Education

Note: Data are for 2010-2011 school year



7%

78%

26%

50%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2004 2010

Perc

enta

ge M

eets

Sta

nd

ard

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d A

bo

ve

Latino Students – Grade 3 Reading

Hewetson

Nevada

Big Improvement

at Halle Hewetson Elementary



91%95%

91%95%

69%63% 61% 61%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

All Latino Low Income Englishlearners

Perc

enta

ge M

eets

Sta

nd

ard

s o

r A

dva

nce

d

Grade 3 Math (2011)

Halle Hewetson

Nevada

High Performance Across Groups

at Halle Hewetson Elementary


But despite these gains, we’ve still far from where we

need to be, especially for our low-income students and

students of color.


Source:


32%

33%

35%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Per

cen

tage

of

Stu

den

ts

Students Overall - National Public

Proficient/Advanced

Basic

Below Basic

National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/

2015 NAEP Grade 4 Reading


Source:

49% 46%

21%

47%

19%

33%33%

33%

31%

28%

18% 21%

46%

22%

53%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

African American Latino White American Indian/AlaskaNative

Asian/Pacific Islander

Perc

enta

ge o

f St

ud

ents

By Race/Ethnicity – National Public

Proficient/Advanced

Basic

Below Basic

2015 NAEP Grade 4 Reading



Source:


30%

38%

32%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Per

cen

tage

of

Stu

den

ts

Students Overall - National Public

Proficient/Advanced

Basic

Below Basic

2015 NAEP Grade 8 Math



Source:


69%

27%

26%

39%

5%

34%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

English Language Learner Non-English Language Learner

Per

cen

tage

of

Stu

den

ts

By English Learner Status – National Public

Proficient/Advanced

Basic

Below Basic

2015 NAEP Grade 8 Math



At the high school level, the picture is even more sobering.


Source:

Achievement is flat in reading for students overall.

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340

1984 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1999 2004 2008 2012

Ave

rage

Sca

le S

core

17-Year-Olds Overall - NAEP

NAEP Long-Term Trends, NCES (2004)


And despite earlier improvements, gaps

between groups haven’t narrowed much

since the late 80s and early 90s.


Source:

Math: Not much gap closing since 1990.

240

250

260

270

280

290

300

310

320

330

340

1973* 1978* 1982* 1986* 1990* 1992* 1994* 1996* 1999* 2004 2008 2012

Ave

rage

Sca

le S

core

17 Year Olds – NAEP Math


National Center for Education Statistics, “The Nation's Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress 2012”

*Denotes previous assessment format


Source:

Despite progress in recent years, too many students

are still not graduating on time

National Center for Education Statistics, 2014, http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/ACGR_RE_and_characteristics_2013-14.asp

82

70

89

7673

87

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

All Students American Indian / Alaska Native Asian / Pacific Islander Hispanic Black White

Pe

rce

nt

of

stu

de

nts

gra

du

atin

g in

fo

ur

years

2014 Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rates by Race/Ethnicity


Clearly, there’s a lot of work to do.


So, what is the Every Student Succeeds Act,

and how does it fit in?


The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the new

federal education law

• ESSA is the latest iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, originally passed in 1965.

• It replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, and the Obama Administration’s ESEA Flexibility program, or waivers.

• Title I of ESSA provides states with about $14 billion in funding to support the education of disadvantaged students. The law also indicates what states have to do as a condition of receiving these dollars.


While it is far from perfect, ESSA contains a number of

meaningful levers that equity-minded legislators and

advocates can use to push for needed improvement in

their schools.


To be clear, none of these levers will guarantee gap-closing and

improved achievement for all. No law, no matter how strong, could

ever do that.

But taken together, they represent key building blocks for an equity-

focused school system — one that sets high expectations for all

students, provides resources necessary for meeting those

expectations, measures and reports progress toward them, and

ensures action when any school — or any group of students — falls off

track.


Standards


Why are standards important for equity?

• Standards are statements of what students should know and be able

to do at each grade level.

• Consistent, high expectations are critical for ensuring that all

students — not just some — get access to meaningful learning

opportunities that prepare them for success after high school.


What does ESSA require?

• Statewide standards that apply to all students in at least math, English

language arts, and science

• Standards must be aligned to

a) Entrance requirements for credit-bearing courses in the state’s system of

public higher education; and

b) Relevant career and technical education standards


What decisions will states need to make? What questions

should you ask?

• Whose entrance requirements for credit-bearing coursework will

states align standards to? Community colleges? Four-year

institutions?

• How will states and districts ensure that educators have the

supports and instructional resources they need to teach all

students to college- and career-ready standards?


Assessments


Why are assessments important for equity?

• Statewide, annual assessments aligned with state standards are an important way of measuring student progress consistently across classrooms, schools, and districts.

– They provide parents with objective information about whether their children are academically on track.

– They help educators benchmark the performance of their students against those across the state.

– And they give parents and the public an objective measure of how schools are doing at improving learning for all groups of students.



• Annual statewide assessments in reading and math in 3rd – 8th grade and once in high school;

science assessments once each in elementary, middle, and high school.

• Assessments must be aligned with state standards and provide information on whether a

student is performing at grade level.

• No more than 1 percent of all students in the state can take an alternate assessments for

students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

• States or localities may create their own laws on assessment participation, and districts are

required to notify parents about those, but participation requirements still exist (more on opt-

out later).

• Grants for states to support audits of district assessment systems to eliminate duplicative or

unaligned tests.


Assessment Options:

What does ESSA require?• High School Assessment: An option for states or districts to use a nationally-recognized assessment (e.g. SAT or

ACT) at the high school level in place of the state test.

– These assessments must be aligned to the state standards, provide results that can be used for accountability,

and meet all the technical requirements that apply to statewide tests. They also have to be peer reviewed. District-

selected assessments must be approved by the state.

• Innovative Assessment Pilot: Allows the Secretary to set up a pilot for states that want to experiment with other

assessment formats, such as competency-based, or performance-based assessments.

– States may pilot new assessments in a subset of districts, but must scale up to statewide implementation if pilot is

successful, or discontinue if it is not.

– Pilot includes extensive quality criteria and safeguards, such as alignment requirements, and eventual statewide

implementation.

– Option to expand to more states over time.


What decisions will states need to make? What

questions should you ask?

• Will a state allow locally-selected high school assessments?

• Will a state apply for the innovative assessment system pilot?

• What safeguards need to be in place to ensure that these assessments

are rigorous and truly comparable to statewide tests?


Accountability


Why is accountability important for equity?

• Well-designed accountability systems:

– Set a clear expectation that schools must raise the achievement of all of

their students, not just some

– Focus attention and resources on all groups of students, including those

who are sometimes ignored

– Prompt action when schools don’t meet expectations for any group of

students.


School Ratings:

What does ESSA require?States must annually rate schools based on the following indicators, all of which (except #3) have to

be disaggregated by student group:

1. Academic Achievement

a. Proficiency on annual assessments, as measured against state-set gap-closing goals

b. May include growth for high schools

2. Other Academic Indicator

a. For high schools – graduation rate, as measured against state-set gap-closing goals

b. For non-high schools – growth or another valid, reliable, statewide academic indicator

3. Progress toward English language proficiency for English learners

4. Other valid, reliable, comparable and statewide measure of school quality

If a school is consistently underperforming for any group of students, that has to be reflected in the

ratings.


Accountability for Assessment Participation

Two provisions aimed at curbing opt-out, regardless of state laws on

participation:

• States have to explain how they will factor the 95 percent participation

requirement, overall and for each group, into their systems; and

• Most students who are not tested will automatically count as not proficient.


Action: What does ESSA require?

Action/intervention is required in at least the following types of schools:

• Comprehensive Support and Improvement:

– The lowest performing 5 percent of Title I schools and all high schools with graduation rates below 67 percent.

Districts have the initial responsibility for improvement activity. If schools don’t meet state-set exit criteria within

four years, states have to intervene.

• Targeted Support and Improvement:

– Schools where any group of students is consistently underperforming. Schools work with districts on

improvement activity. If schools don’t improve, the district has to ensure more rigorous intervention.

• Additional Targeted Support and Improvement:

– Schools that are performing as badly for one or more groups of students as the bottom 5 percent of schools are

for students overall. Schools work with districts on improvement activity. If schools don’t meet state-set exit

criteria in a state-determined number of years, they become comprehensive support and improvement schools.


What decisions will need to be made at the state and local

levels? What questions should you ask in your state?• What goals will the state set for schools? How will the state know that these goals are both

ambitious, and achievable?

• Beyond tests and grad rates, what indicators will add to the picture of school performance

as opposed to masking outcomes?

• What is a rigorous definition of “consistently underperforming” for groups?

• What are appropriate supports and interventions for the lowest performers? Schools with

underperforming groups?

• What are the right timelines for these support and interventions? They need time to take

hold, but we can’t let students languish.


Data Transparency and Public

Reporting


Why is data transparency and public reporting

important for equity?

• Parents, community members and the public need to know how schools

are doing at preparing all students for post-high school success and

whether all students have access to key resources for learning.

• Without robust, transparent information, it’s far too easy to sweep gaps

in opportunity and achievement under the rug.

• Public reporting of key, actionable data, enables stakeholders to identify

inequities and ask the right questions to bring about change



State and local report cards that include the following information:

• Details of state accountability system, including schools identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement and

Targeted Support and Improvement

• Disaggregated results on all accountability indicators

• Disaggregated assessment participation rates

• Disaggregated results from Civil Rights Data Collection, including discipline rates and access to advanced

coursework

• Professional qualifications of educators, comparing high income to low income schools

• Actual per-pupil expenditures, disaggregated by funding source at state, district, and school level

• Number and percentage of students with most significant cognitive disabilities taking the alternative assessment

• Results of NAEP, compared to national results

• If available, rate at which high school cohorts matriculate to higher education (disaggregated by subgroup)


What decisions will need to be made

at the state and local levels?

• How can states present all of these data in a way that is

understandable to parents, community leaders and the general public?

Will states make these report cards available in languages other than

English?

• What kinds of tools, training, or accompanying materials would help

parents and advocates use this information to fight for stronger

opportunities to learn for all children?


Helpful Resources


Helpful Resources

1. The Every Student Succeeds Act: What’s in it? What does it mean for equity?

– A set of seven factsheets about key provisions of ESSA (developed by Ed Trust)

– https://edtrust.org/resource/the-every-student-succeeds-act-whats-in-it-what-does-it-mean-for-equity/

2. Students Can’t Wait Resources

– Factsheets related to what to measure for school accountability developed by the Students Can’t Wait workgroup.

– Includes: Overview of school accountability under ESSA, introduction to what accountability indicators are, and factsheets on specific indicators, like discipline and chronic absenteeism.

– https://edtrust.org/students-cant-wait/

https://edtrust.org/resource/the-every-student-succeeds-act-whats-in-it-what-does-it-mean-for-equity/

https://edtrust.org/students-cant-wait/

natasha ushomirsky · 2016-10-03 · education act, originally passed in 1965. • it replaces the...

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