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1 [1] (March 23, 2015)

handle is hein.crs/govcbzs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF. : riE -. 'r h ,i , March 23, 2015 Educational Accountability and Reauthorization of the ESEA Federal policies aiming to improve the effectiveness of schools have historically focused on inputs, such as supporting class-size reduction and compensatory programs or services for disadvantaged students. Over the last two decades, however, interest in developing federal policies that focus on student outcomes has increased. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB; P.L. 107-110), which comprehensively reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), included several such provisions. NCLB marked a dramatic expansion of the federal role in supporting standards-based instruction and test-based accountability. The 114th Congress is actively considering legislation that would reauthorize the ESEA. One of the most complex issues that Congress is considering during the reauthorization process is how, if at all, to modify existing accountability requirements and what the federal role in educational accountability should be. Requirements related to reading and mathematics standards and assessments were first included in Title I-A of the ESEA through amendments made by the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA; P.L. 103-382) of 1994. The NCLB expanded on these Title I-A provisions to require annual testing in several grades, include science as a tested subject, require accountability for subgroup performance, and add specific performance targets and consequences when targets are not met. Title I-A authorizes federal grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and is the largest source of federal support for public elementary and secondary education. The NCLB requires states participating in Title I-A to develop and adopt standards and assessments in mathematics and reading each year in grades 3-8 and once in high school, and in science once in grades 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12. The 17 required annual assessments must be aligned with the state's academic content and achievement standards and include at least three levels of performance (advanced, proficient, and basic). These standards generally apply to all students. State accountability plans were required to incorporate concrete movement toward meeting an ultimate goal of all students reaching a proficient or higher level of achievement in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. Under NCLB provisions, performance on assessments is one indicator used to determine whether schools and LEAs are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward meeting performance standards. The AYP requirements identify schools and LEAs where performance is inadequate so that these inadequacies may be addressed. AYP standards under the NCLB must be applied to all public schools, LEAs, and states that receive Title I-A grants. However, consequences for failing to meet AYP standards for two consecutive years or more need only be applied to schools and LEAs participating in Title I-A. Schools or LEAs meet AYP standards only if they meet the required threshold levels of performance on all indicators for the all students group and any subgroup for which data are disaggregated. When Title I-A schools do not make AYP for two or more consecutive years, they become subject to a range of increasingly severe performance-based accountability requirements. Since the ESEA was last comprehensively reauthorized by NCLB, recent developments have taken place that possibly played a role in changes made to state accountability systems: (1) the development and release of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS); (2) the Race to the Top (RTT) State Grant competition and RTT Assessment Grant competition; and (3) the ESEA flexibility package provided by the Department of Education (ED) to states with approved applications. Under the provisions of the ESEA, states have had the flexibility to select their own standards and assessments. This flexibility has led to the development of different accountability systems in each state. Concerns related to the diversity of accountability systems and consistent expectations for students, among other issues, spurred a movement led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop the CCSS. State adoption of the CCSS is voluntary. While the federal government did not have a role in developing the CCSS, the Administration has incentivized the adoption and implementation of the standards through RTT Grants, and the ESEA flexibility package. It is not possible to assess how many states would have adopted the CCSS in the absence of these incentives. RTT Grants were initially authorized under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA; P.L. 111-5). Under the RTT State Grant program, grantees agreed to implement reforms, including enhancing standards and assessments. ED specified that participating states had to adopt internationally-benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace. While they were still under development at the time the RTT State Grant competition was announced, the CCSS was one set of standards that states could use to meet this requirement. 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