TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION Review of the Tennessee Draft ESSA Plan Gini Pupo-Walker, Senior Director of Education Policy Karla Coleman García, Policy Manager Conexión Américas
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION GOALS OF THE WEBINAR ▸ Review Coalition priorities and engagement to date on the plan ▸ Discuss key pieces of the ESSA plan and share observations and recommendations ▸ Discuss Coalition next steps
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION OUR COALITION AND PRIORITIES The Role of the Equity Coalition & ESSA Advocacy www.tnedequity.org Our Priorities: ▸ Strong Accountability Systems ▸ Excellent Teachers and Leaders for Every Student ▸ Equitable Allocation of Resources and Supports These were developed in March of 2016 at our first Education Summit.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION The TN DOE released a strategic plan, Tennessee Succeeds , in the fall of 2015. ▸ Five priorities ▸ Builds on new standards and assessments ▸ Sets ambitious goals ▸ The priorities of Tennessee Succeeds are the foundation for the state’s ESSA plan
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION The Equity Coalition provided input and feedback to the TN DOE over the summer and fall of 2016 ▸ We received support from local and national partners: SCORE, Education Trust, Leadership Conference, NCLR and the Migration Policy Institute ▸ We conducted EL parent focus groups for the TN DOE ▸ We commented on the US Department of Education’s draft regulations ▸ ESSA Working Group participation ▸ Op-eds, meetings with staff, letter to the Commissioner, feedback forums, Town Halls, etc.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - KEY SECTIONS ▸ Standards ▸ Assessments ▸ Accountability ▸ District Empowerment ▸ All Means All ▸ Educator Support ▸ Early Foundations and Literacy ▸ High School and Bridge to Postsecondary
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ASSESSMENTS ▸ 95% testing participation rate (p. 32) ‣ ESSA regulations § 1111(c)(4)(E) require states to use test participation as an indicator in accountability, and to also choose from one of three sanctions. ‣ Tennessee’s ESSA plan does not state what will happen when schools don't meet the 95% threshold. ‣ We would like to see stronger language around consequences for schools that do not meet the 95% participation rate. ‣ Will they be able to receive and A grade if they do not meet the 95% rate?
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ASSESSMENTS ▸ EL Testing - ACCESS Results We would like to see TDOE include baseline data on EL student enrollment, test-taking, and proficiency rates based on the 2015-16 ACCESS results. We would like to see this information included in either the appendix or under the EL assessment section. We would then have a better understanding of how other decisions were made (i.e. the growth standards and proficiency goals)
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY ▸ PERFORMANCE GOALS (p. 39-44) ▸ Tennessee Succeeds sets ambitious goals for academic proficiency, graduation rates, EL proficiency rates. ▸ Targets and goals are set for each subgroup with significant gap reduction as the goal by 2025.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY SUBGROUPS ‣ N-sizes are 30 for accountability and 10 for reporting. The TN ESSA plan has Super Subgrouping by race: ‣ The TN DOE draft ESSA plan super-subgroups Black, Hispanic and Native American (BHN) students into one group for accountability. ‣ This signals that these students are homogenous, and obscures differences in context, history, needs, and intervention strategies. ‣ This was allowed in waivers, but is contrary to the ESSA law: §1111(c)(4)(C)(i) ESSA forbids the removal of any subgroup from the accountability system and does not allow for super subgroups in accountability.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY SUBGROUPS (part 2) Historically Underperforming Subgroups (p. 47-48) Defined as Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged, ELs & BHN. ‣ We urge the department to use the term Historically Underserved Subgroups. Super Subgrouping ‣ The TN DOE super subgroups all of the Historically Underserved Subgroups into one group when one or more of them fall below the N-size of 30. ‣ TN must ensure that all groups of students remain visible by adopting the smallest possible N-size, which is 20 or less. ‣ The TN Department of Education must commit to disaggregating student data so that students, parents, schools and districts have an accurate understanding of how well the school is serving all of their students.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY English Learners The state defines a student as a Long Term English Learner at the end of their sixth year of schooling. ‣ We believe a Long Term EL should be identified at the end of their fifth year of schooling, if not earlier. The state will include students who have exited EL programs (i.e. reached full proficiency) for four years in the EL subgroup. ‣ We believe including exited English Learners will mask the performance of active English Learners and should not be included in accountability. The Accountability section for English Learners takes special note of the need for “acculturation” of ELs in instruction. ‣ We believe the emphasis here on “acculturation” implies that a students’ home culture has a negative impact on their learning. Research does not support this approach and we recommend that the TN DOE remove this language.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY These images are for school accountability. There is a similarly aligned district framework in the plan on p. 55. The Opportunity to Learn indicator measures Chronic Absenteeism. ‣ We recommend that the State lowers the percentage from 20% to 10% for K-8 schools in order to reduce the disproportionate impact on schools with high levels of poverty.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY Early Post-Secondary Opportunities (p.63-64) Readiness indicator: graduation rate (x) ▸ 21+ on the ACT OR ▸ 4 EPSOs OR ▸ 2 EPSOs & earning industry certification ▸ Recommendation: include quality of EPSOs and whether students are successful in these opportunities by 2020.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY Consistently Underperforming Subgroups Questions: 1. Should a school be able to get an A grade with a consistently underperforming subgroup? 2. Will the definition be based on achievement gaps between groups? ‣ We recommend that the State include a definition of consistently underperforming.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ACCOUNTABILITY ‣ Tennessee School Improvement Continuum ‣ Four tracks for intervention: Alpha 1, Alpha 2, Beta, & Delta ‣ Recommendation: Provide more clarity on exit criteria for each track.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - ALL MEANS ALL ▸ p. 111-179 ▸ TN DOE provides a comprehensive list of programs, policies, and services that schools and districts may access to support students. They include: health initiatives, family resource centers, family and community engagement, school climate, Response to Intervention, Restorative Practices, Bullying and Harassment, 21st Century Learning Centers, Migrant Education, Homeless Services, Foster Youth, chronic absenteeism, programs for rural education. Important to note that Tennessee will report per-pupil expenditures, and include all sources of funds. Statewide Family Engagement Centers: must help ensure information and resources are available in accessible formats and language
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN - EDUCATOR SUPPORT ▸ Tennessee created a Teacher Equity Plan in 2015 that included goals and a plan to reach those goals. This plan is referenced in the state ESSA plan on pp. 183-186. ▸ Under ESSA, states are barred from serving low-income students and students of color at disproportionately higher rates by out-of-field (or not trained in the subject they are teaching), ineffective, and inexperienced teachers. ▸ We recommend that the TN Department of Education provide more specific language, including goals and metrics, on how they will address inequities in the allocation of effective teachers. ▸ We also recommend that TN Department of Education consider align Title 2 funding to achieve those goals.
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN Next Steps ‣ Follow-up e-mail to Coalition members with next steps and request for signatures ‣ Coalition Letter to Commissioner McQueen with our recommendations ‣ Op-eds in regional papers with our recommendations ‣ Education Summit Mar 1-2, 2017
TENNESSEE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COALITION TENNESSEE’S DRAFT ESSA PLAN ▸ Questions?
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