States continue to work to implement statewide accountability systems; publicly report extensive information on State and local report cards, as required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); and provide additional resources to schools designated for support and improvement. These systems are vital for improving outcomes…

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 provided states with increased flexibility to design school accountability systems. A core element of the law is the requirement that states develop statewide systems allowing for meaningful differentiation among schools, and use this information to identify schools that should be the focus of improvement…

Title I accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) represent the present-day instantiation of Lau, which requires schools to provide a program for English learners (ELs) that supports their meaningful engagement and to provide transparent information about EL program quality. This study uses critical policy analysis to…

The authors offer a set of recommendations for the next Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization. They recommend changes to the assessment, accountability and Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) as well as for a federally-supported research and evaluation…

The Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) was an exciting and innovative change under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). The CLNA was identified to support data-driven decision-making and more closely align planning, spending and accountability activities under Perkins V. After the…

Accountability mechanisms and processes have evolved with changes in statute. State Education Agency (SEA) accountability systems may exhibit characteristics of compliance- and/or improvement-focused systems in light of requirements under the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" (ESEA) and its reauthorizations under the…

The U.S. Bilingual Education Act (BEA) of 1968 was born of grassroots efforts by linguistically diverse communities and their allies. Advocates' goal was to achieve self-determination in the education system and beyond. However, the BEA was implemented as a title under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which mandated annual program…

The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center used a rigorous 2-year collaborative process to develop, test, and revise a conceptual framework for high-quality state early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) systems. The framework identifies six critical components of a state system and what constitutes quality in each…

Postsecondary education in the United States has played an increasingly more important role over time. In fact, in just a few decades, the share of recent high school completers who enroll in college each year has grown from 51% in 1975 to 70% in 2016 (Snyder, de Brey, & Dillow, 2019, p. 395). However, only 58% of entering college students…

The Language and Culture Division (LCD) provides accountability with support to districts that serve students participating in Bilingual Multicultural Education Programs (BMEPs) so that all participating students achieve the program goals as outlined by New Mexico statute and administrative code, which are: (1) students become bilingual and…

Developing and releasing a user-friendly school report card site is a process for ongoing engagement and improvement. This report describes the continuous improvement efforts of three states--Georgia, Illinois, and Virginia--to make their school and district report cards more user-friendly. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has…

Most states have developed or revised school accountability systems in response to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). While these systems include multiple indicators, to many stakeholders the outcome of central interest is the overall rating or classification produced for each school. These ratings are often used to identify schools that merit…

The objective of the audit presented in this report was to evaluate the Office of Special Education Programs' (OSEP) implementation of its differentiated monitoring and support component under the results driven accountability initiative. The audit covered differentiated monitoring and support (DMS) that OSEP conducted under Part B of the…

Teacher preparation programmes (TPPs) find many ways to shape the development of their teacher candidates while bridging the research to practice gap in university and school partnerships. Recently, accountability models built on high-stakes standardised student assessments (Value-Added Models [VAM]) have been mandated as a way to evaluate the…

The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) marked the beginning of a new development cycle for accountability systems. State leaders once again have an opportunity to redesign their accountability systems based on the provisions included in ESSA and to ensure that systems improve outcomes for all students. The correct identification of…