Guidance
IMPLEMENTING THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT: GUIDANCE AND REGULATIONS FOR BIRTH TO THIRD GRADE Danielle Ewen, EducationCounsel
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Federal Regulations and Guidance
• Regulations: According to the Administrative Procedure Act, a “rule” is the whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency. When agencies adopt rules,36 they must publish a notice of proposed rule making and give interested parties an opportunity to comment. • Guidance: The requirements don’t apply “to interpretative rules, general statements of policy, or rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice.”38 And that exception can be enormous. Some Guidance about Federal Agencies and Guidance at http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Publications/llj/LLJ-Archives/Vol-105/no-3/2013-19.pdf
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Much Guidance, Few Regulations Proposed Regulations • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Supplement, Not Supplant under Title I • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Title I, Part A • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Title I, Part B • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Accountability, State Plans, and Data Reporting Guidance and Regulatory Information • ESSA Title IV, Part A Guidance – Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program (October 21, 2016) • ESSA Early Learning Guidance (October 20, 2016) • ESSA Schoolwide Guidance (September 29, 2016) • Evidence Guidance (September 16, 2016) • ESSA Transition FAQs (June 29, 2016) • ESSA Title II, Part A Guidance – Supporting Educators (September 27, 2016) • ESSA Title III Guidance – English Learners (September 23, 2016) • Foster Care Guidance (June 23, 2016) • Homeless Student Guidance (July 27, 2016)
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Overarching Messages for Early Childhood
• Early childhood programs from birth to school entry are an important intervention for students. • Special populations should receive early childhood services. • Early childhood programs are an important part of creating continuum of services for students to be college and career ready. • All parts of the system (assessment, accountability, school improvement, educator effectiveness, student supports and stakeholder engagement) should be inclusive of early childhood programs.
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Overarching Messages for Early Childhood
“Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their health, development, and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Indeed, the science of child development and of how best to support learning from birth through age 8 makes clear what an important, complex, dynamic, and challenging job it is for an adult to work with young children in each of the many professional roles and settings where this work takes place.”
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Guidance for Early Childhood
• Three sections: • Expanding Access to HighQuality Early Learning
• Ensuring Alignment, Collaboration, and Coordination • Supporting Educators 7
Expanding Access to Early Childhood • Builds on 2012 nonregulatory guidance and highlights new requirements in law and opportunities to leverage ESSA language • Discusses need for improved coordination at local level through MOUs • Clarifies alignment with Head Start standards to the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework Birth to Five • Encourages charter schools to include early childhood programming • Discusses potential of Preschool Development Grants to support birth to five systems • Emphasizes role of early childhood programs for special populations • Clarifies school of origin requirements for children who are in foster care or homeless 8
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Early Childhood Supports for Special Populations
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Alignment and Collaboration • Emphasizes vertical and horizontal alignment • Focuses on LEA and SEA actions • Reminds state leaders of need to coordinate with other programs (CCDBG, HS, IDEA) • Makes suggestions on how the MOU at the LEA level can support data sharing, aligning standards, transition to public school • Highlights other opportunities to promote alignment and collaboration such as alignment of standards, curriculum and instructional practices and role of early learning programming in struggling schools • Recommends LEAs look at policies and practices to create inclusive preschool settings for students with disabilities
• Highlights opportunities to promote early learning in various grant programs such as Promise Neighborhoods and other grants in Title IV 11
Alignment and Collaboration
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Supporting Educators •
Title II, Part A funds may be used to support the professional development of early educators. SEAs and LEAs may use Title II, Part A funds to support early learning. • For the first time, allowing LEAs to support joint professional learning and planned activities designed to increase the ability of principals or other school leaders to support teachers, teacher leaders, early childhood educators, and other professionals to meet the needs of students through age 8 • Supporting LEAs to increase teachers’, principals’, or other school leaders’ knowledge base regarding instruction in the early grades and strategies to measure whether young children are progressing • Providing LEA training to support the identification of students who are gifted and talented, and implementing instructional practices that support the education of such students, including early entrance to kindergarten • Allowing SEAs to support opportunities for principals, other school leaders, teachers, paraprofessionals, early childhood education program directors, and other early childhood education program providers to participate in joint efforts to address the transition to elementary school, including issues related to school readiness • The Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) includes the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grants program which will provide competitive awards to SEAs to support comprehensive literacy instruction . • SEAs that receive grants must spend 15 percent of the funds on early learning (defined as birth to kindergarten entry). Funds must be used for high-quality professional development; training to administer evidence-based early childhood education literacy initiatives; and coordination of families, early childhood staff, principals, and other school leaders in addressing children’s literacy development. • The overall purpose of the program is to improve student academic achievement in reading and writing for children from birth to grade 12 by providing subgrants to LEAs, early childhood education programs, and their partners to implement evidence-based programs that ensure high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction for students most in need.
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ESSA implementation Sprint (2016-17)
Marathon (2017-18+)
Federal: Regulations, initial guidance, TA, congressional oversight, transition to new Administration
Federal: Ongoing monitoring, guidance, TA, competitive grant applications, Assessment Pilot application, congressional oversight
State/local: State plans, LEA plans, new assessment/ accountability systems, school improvement plans
State/Local: Building/improving school improvement systems , continuous improvement of plans, systems, activities 17
Next Steps
• Final regulations will be issued on accountability systems and consolidated state plans. • States are writing state plans now, districts will start soon. • Need to understand:
• • • •
Vision for state education system Vision for birth to third grade system Gaps in systems for young children Opportunities to leverage ESSA to address needs of children from birth to third grade 18
1
2
Federal Regulations and Guidance
• Regulations: According to the Administrative Procedure Act, a “rule” is the whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency. When agencies adopt rules,36 they must publish a notice of proposed rule making and give interested parties an opportunity to comment. • Guidance: The requirements don’t apply “to interpretative rules, general statements of policy, or rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice.”38 And that exception can be enormous. Some Guidance about Federal Agencies and Guidance at http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Publications/llj/LLJ-Archives/Vol-105/no-3/2013-19.pdf
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Much Guidance, Few Regulations Proposed Regulations • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Supplement, Not Supplant under Title I • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Title I, Part A • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Title I, Part B • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Accountability, State Plans, and Data Reporting Guidance and Regulatory Information • ESSA Title IV, Part A Guidance – Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program (October 21, 2016) • ESSA Early Learning Guidance (October 20, 2016) • ESSA Schoolwide Guidance (September 29, 2016) • Evidence Guidance (September 16, 2016) • ESSA Transition FAQs (June 29, 2016) • ESSA Title II, Part A Guidance – Supporting Educators (September 27, 2016) • ESSA Title III Guidance – English Learners (September 23, 2016) • Foster Care Guidance (June 23, 2016) • Homeless Student Guidance (July 27, 2016)
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Overarching Messages for Early Childhood
• Early childhood programs from birth to school entry are an important intervention for students. • Special populations should receive early childhood services. • Early childhood programs are an important part of creating continuum of services for students to be college and career ready. • All parts of the system (assessment, accountability, school improvement, educator effectiveness, student supports and stakeholder engagement) should be inclusive of early childhood programs.
5
Overarching Messages for Early Childhood
“Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their health, development, and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Indeed, the science of child development and of how best to support learning from birth through age 8 makes clear what an important, complex, dynamic, and challenging job it is for an adult to work with young children in each of the many professional roles and settings where this work takes place.”
6
Guidance for Early Childhood
• Three sections: • Expanding Access to HighQuality Early Learning
• Ensuring Alignment, Collaboration, and Coordination • Supporting Educators 7
Expanding Access to Early Childhood • Builds on 2012 nonregulatory guidance and highlights new requirements in law and opportunities to leverage ESSA language • Discusses need for improved coordination at local level through MOUs • Clarifies alignment with Head Start standards to the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework Birth to Five • Encourages charter schools to include early childhood programming • Discusses potential of Preschool Development Grants to support birth to five systems • Emphasizes role of early childhood programs for special populations • Clarifies school of origin requirements for children who are in foster care or homeless 8
9
Early Childhood Supports for Special Populations
10
Alignment and Collaboration • Emphasizes vertical and horizontal alignment • Focuses on LEA and SEA actions • Reminds state leaders of need to coordinate with other programs (CCDBG, HS, IDEA) • Makes suggestions on how the MOU at the LEA level can support data sharing, aligning standards, transition to public school • Highlights other opportunities to promote alignment and collaboration such as alignment of standards, curriculum and instructional practices and role of early learning programming in struggling schools • Recommends LEAs look at policies and practices to create inclusive preschool settings for students with disabilities
• Highlights opportunities to promote early learning in various grant programs such as Promise Neighborhoods and other grants in Title IV 11
Alignment and Collaboration
12
13
Supporting Educators •
Title II, Part A funds may be used to support the professional development of early educators. SEAs and LEAs may use Title II, Part A funds to support early learning. • For the first time, allowing LEAs to support joint professional learning and planned activities designed to increase the ability of principals or other school leaders to support teachers, teacher leaders, early childhood educators, and other professionals to meet the needs of students through age 8 • Supporting LEAs to increase teachers’, principals’, or other school leaders’ knowledge base regarding instruction in the early grades and strategies to measure whether young children are progressing • Providing LEA training to support the identification of students who are gifted and talented, and implementing instructional practices that support the education of such students, including early entrance to kindergarten • Allowing SEAs to support opportunities for principals, other school leaders, teachers, paraprofessionals, early childhood education program directors, and other early childhood education program providers to participate in joint efforts to address the transition to elementary school, including issues related to school readiness • The Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) includes the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grants program which will provide competitive awards to SEAs to support comprehensive literacy instruction . • SEAs that receive grants must spend 15 percent of the funds on early learning (defined as birth to kindergarten entry). Funds must be used for high-quality professional development; training to administer evidence-based early childhood education literacy initiatives; and coordination of families, early childhood staff, principals, and other school leaders in addressing children’s literacy development. • The overall purpose of the program is to improve student academic achievement in reading and writing for children from birth to grade 12 by providing subgrants to LEAs, early childhood education programs, and their partners to implement evidence-based programs that ensure high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction for students most in need.
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15
16
ESSA implementation Sprint (2016-17)
Marathon (2017-18+)
Federal: Regulations, initial guidance, TA, congressional oversight, transition to new Administration
Federal: Ongoing monitoring, guidance, TA, competitive grant applications, Assessment Pilot application, congressional oversight
State/local: State plans, LEA plans, new assessment/ accountability systems, school improvement plans
State/Local: Building/improving school improvement systems , continuous improvement of plans, systems, activities 17
Next Steps
• Final regulations will be issued on accountability systems and consolidated state plans. • States are writing state plans now, districts will start soon. • Need to understand:
• • • •
Vision for state education system Vision for birth to third grade system Gaps in systems for young children Opportunities to leverage ESSA to address needs of children from birth to third grade 18
