Every Student Succeeds Act
The Every Student Succeeds Act, signed in 2015, replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. It maintains a focus on equity for all students, while giving states and local school districts much more ownership over systems of school accountability and support. In Iowa, ESSA has been a great opportunity to build on bold education improvements under way that align with ESSA requirements, including clear and rigorous standards for what students should know and be able to do, a school accountability system that targets support where and when schools need it most, and a structure for professional learning that emphasizes teacher leadership and evidence-based practices.
ESSA Accountability/ISPP
ESSA requires an accountability index to identify schools for comprehensive assistance and targeted assistance. Schools who need comprehensive assistance are the lowest 5 percent of Title I schools as identified by the index. Schools identified for targeted assistance have one or more student groups who perform at or below the benchmark for the lowest 5 percent of Title I schools. Once identified, the schools would be offered help and planning with the goal of increasing student performance.
Multiple indicators will be used in the ESSA accountability index to determine building-level performance. For the Iowa School Performance Profile (required by 2013 Iowa state legislation), the state chooses to use the same indicators:
- Student Participation on State Assessments: Requires a minimum of 95 percent of a school’s enrollment participate in annual state assessments.
- Academic Achievement (measures the following):
Proficiency: Percentage of students in a school who are proficient in math and reading based on assessment results.
Average Scale Score: Information about the average performance of students in reading and mathematics in a school. - Student Growth: Measures overall student growth by looking at student percentiles and determining whether the student is meeting or exceeding growth targets.
- Graduation Rate (high schools): Determines percentage of students who graduate from high school in four or five years.
- Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency: Measures a student’s progress in obtaining English language proficiency across the domains of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
- Conditions for Learning: Measures a school’s safety, engagement and environment based on a survey of students in grades 6 through 12.
- Postsecondary Readiness (high schools): Includes student participation and scores on college entrance exams, participation in postsecondary or advanced coursework, and percentage of students who are CTE concentrators.
You may access the Iowa School Perfomance Profiles site here
Iowa School Performance Profile Fact Sheet