1. National PTA ESSA Update
West Virginia PTA Annual Convention
March 24, 2017
Jacki Ball, Director of Government Affairs
National PTA
Topics covered –
PTA & ESSA
PTA Priorities in ESSA
Stakeholder Engagement
Current Status of ESSA Implementation

2. PTA & ESSA
PTA’s priority is to educate and empower parents and families to be active participants in implementation at all levels
Parents are important consumers and stakeholders
National PTA resources
Roadmaps for stakeholder engagement

3. PTA Priorites Effective Stakeholder Engagement
Family Engagement in Education
Standards & Assessments
Accountability Systems
Report Cards
School Improvement
Priorities are centered on those areas in ESSA that either statutorily require parents to be engaged or “meaningfully consulted”
1. Stakeholder Engagement
National PTA’s one number priority is to educate and empower parents and families to be active participants in ESSA implementation at the federal, state and local levels
Under ESSA, parents are required to be “meaningfully consulted” and involved in:
State and local education plans
State report cards
School improvement plans
2. Family Engagement in Education
Title I, Sec. 1116: Local family engagement policy and reservation of at least 1% of funds for family engagement
Title IV, Part E: Statewide Family Engagement Centers
3. Standards & Assessment
State must adopt challenging state academic standards
Challenging academic standards aligned with entry in state’s institutions of higher education
Annual assessments required in mathematics and reading/language arts in grades 3-8 and once in grades 9-12
Science assessment required once in grades 3-5, 6-9 and 10-12
Annual assessments required in reading and math
Grade span assessments in science
4. Accountability Systems
States are required to develop accountability systems that feature multiple measures or indicators of student growth and achievement
State accountability systems must include multiple measures of student achievement, but at minimum they must consist of:
Student achievement on annual assessments
Another academic indicator
English language proficiency
At least one additional indicator of school quality or student success
School quality and student success indicators can include (but not limited to):
Student and educator engagement
Student access to and completion of advanced course work
School climate and safety
Attendance
States can have more than one additional indicator of school quality or student success
5. State and Local Report Cards
ESSA requires state and local report cards to be publicly available and written in a uniform and understandable format
State report cards must be developed in consultation with parents
6. School Improvement
States have to identify and provide support to schools that are not meeting the state-determined goals for student and school performance
States must include stakeholders, including parents, in the development of their plans to improve student and school performance

4. Effective Parent Stakeholder Engagement
Dedicated parent representatives
Transparency
Inclusion
High-quality information
Multiple means of input
Ongoing opportunities for engagement

5. Status of ESSA Implementation
Congress passed a joint resolution of disapproval of the ESSA state plan & accountability regulations under the Congressional Review Act (CRA)
ESSA is still the law of the land

6. Status of ESSA Implementation
ESSA State Plans are due to the U.S. Department of Education for peer review by either April 3 or September 18
Importance of Stakeholder Engagement
Revised ESSA state plan template
National PTA Statement & advocacy