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 2016 | Dallas, TX
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
2
Setting
the Context:
Unpacking ESSA
Workbook Materials
The Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA): Synopsis of features
pertaining to K-12 students with
disabilities
4
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
5
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
6
Resource
Recommendation
ESSA: Key Provisions
and Implications for
Students with
Disabilities
www.ccsso.org/ESSA
7
Aligning
ESSA & SSIP:
Leveraging Opportunities
to Close Achievement Gaps
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.
9
ESSA in the Context of the SSIP
10
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
11
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?)
12
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, …?
13
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?
14
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?
15
More to think about…
Describing ESSA and
Infrastructure Changes
in the Phase III Plan
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
17
THANK YOU!
http://ncsi.wested.org | @TheNCSI