The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Every Student Succeeds Act: Stakeholder Outreach, New Federal Regulations, and Next Steps

As we discussed at the March, June, and September 2016 meetings of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) establishes new requirements for school accountability and support, thus presenting us the opportunity to reconsider the design of our school and district accountability and assistance system. At the Board meeting on December 20, I will provide you an update on the Department's ongoing stakeholder outreach, final accountability regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education, and next steps.

Following our first round of stakeholder engagement in spring and summer, DESE staff members have been meeting this fall to discuss potential components of our ESSA state plan. We have continued our communication with the field and of particular note are the five public ESSA forums we have conducted in Boston, Brockton, Holyoke, Shrewsbury, and Salem. These sessions were designed to inform the development of our state plan on certain topics including possible accountability system indicators and how the Department can leverage resources to improve student access to a well-rounded curriculum, high quality educators and supportive learning environments.

Senior Associate Commissioner Russell Johnston and other staff will join me on December 20 in presenting information on our stakeholder engagement activities and what we have heard, aspects of the final accountability regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education in late November, and our anticipated next steps.