August 2017
Achieve Insights is a monthly briefing of newsworthy items from across
states related to ensuring that all students graduate from high school
prepared for college, careers, and life.
Alabamians show support for states standards
Alabamas state superintendent Michael Sentance introduced a
proposal at a state board of education meeting to no longer use
the Alabama College- and Career-Ready Standards in the state,
and instead develop a totally new set of academic standards.
State board members showed they had little interest in the
proposal and asked why it was necessary to make a major
change to the states standards at this time. The state already
has a process by which academic standards are set to be
reviewed every six years. Third-party coalition Alabama GRIT
(Graduate Ready, Impact Tomorrrow) rallied supporters of the
states current standards, making their voices heard at the
meeting. It is important that Alabama maintains college- and
career-ready standards to better prepare students for life after
high school. Efforts to scrap the states standards and start anew
would only cause confusion for teachers and leave students less
academically prepared.
The importance of transparent data for
California students and families
Stakeholders need accessible and transparent data about
college and career readiness among students in their states and
schools. With this data in hand, leaders, policymakers, and
advocates are better informed about what support schools and
students need. A recent commentary written by Lisa Gonzales
and Shelly Masur in EdSource discusses how important data
transparency is for California, and how the states new data
dashboard provides more, better information. They point to how
Achieves state-by-state reports on data transparency show
areas where California is succeeding in providing transparent
data as well as areas for improvement. Transparency reports on
all fifty states are available on Achieves website, including
comparisons across states on how transparently they report data.
Under ESSA, states will report graduation rates
among students completing more rigorous
courses
A recent Education Week article by Catherine Gewertz points to
a new requirement under ESSA that states report graduation
rates based on the diploma earned by a preponderance of
students, as well any students earning more rigorous diploma
options (if available), but not students earning diplomas with less
rigorous requirements than the diploma earned by a
preponderance of students. As quoted in the article, Achieves
President, Michael Cohen said, For a long time, federal officials
have been focusing on graduation rates without caring what a
diploma actually means. Achieve delves into this issue further
each year in its How the States Got Their Rates report, showing
which states offer college- and career-ready (CCR) diplomas
and of those states which report the CCR graduation rate, as well
as how the CCR graduation rate compares to the reported
graduation rate. Students need rigorous courses that prepare
them for college and careers.
Five State Updates
Nine states - Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee
- and the District of Columbia have received approval of
their ESSA state plans from the U.S. Department of Education
(ED).
Other states, including North Dakota and Vermont,
have received feedback from ED on their submitted
ESSA plans.
Pennsylvania officials announced the state would
reduce the length of its standardized tests by 20
percent in grades 3 through 8.
New York released a mock-up of its new online
dashboard for additional information about how well
schools are serving their students.
The Mississippi State Board of Education approved
changes to the states school grading plan that are
expected to result in more schools receiving higher
marks.
All students should graduate from high school
ready for college, careers, and citizenship.
