New Analyses Identify Shortcomings and Strengths in State ESSA Plans

Washington, D.C. — Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act, states received flexibility to chart their own path to educational success, but they must submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Education explaining how they will reach these goals. So far, sixteen states and the District of Columbia have submitted their plans with the remainder due in September. To provide a quick reference guide of strengths—and shortcomings—for each state’s plan, which in some cases are hundreds of pages long, the Alliance for Excellent Education today released the first five in a series of dashboards.

“Cars have a dashboard of indicators alerting drivers when they are running well, are too hot, are due for an oil change, or need more serious work,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. “These red-yellow-green dashboards lift the hood on state ESSA plans, helping teachers, parents, and advocates easily identify whether states are speeding toward positive outcomes for all students or keeping students in the slow lane.”

The one-page dashboards provide a green, yellow, or red designation for more than one dozen policies, including each state’s long-term goals for student achievement and high school graduation rates; treatment of students of color, students from low-income families, English language learners, and other historically underserved students, and focus on academic performance. While the dashboards do not examine every aspect of state plans, the indicators included are essential for advancing equitable education opportunities for all students.

“Because students from low-income families and students of color make up more than half of all U.S. schoolchildren, continuing to improve the academic performance of these students is key to the nation’s future success,” said Wise.

The first five dashboards in the series focus on Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico. And while none of the five plans is perfect, Louisiana’s plan is among the most promising due to its focus on academic outcomes and its use of an innovative “strength of diploma” indicator to make the high school experience more rigorous and meaningful.

Illinois sets high academic goals within a reasonable timeframe for all students, including historically underserved students, and uses a “ninth grade on-track” indicator to help prevent students from dropping out. Unlike many states, New Mexico identifies historically underserved students for support based on reading and math achievement, ensuring they do not have to fail on everything before receiving help. The District of Columbia ensures that historically underserved students count more in its system than in most states and sets impressive goals but over an unimpressive (i.e., long) timeframe.

On the other end of the spectrum, Colorado sets a high goal for its high school graduation rate, however, it does not have clear goals for increasing the percentage of students who perform on grade-level in math and reading. Additionally, by allowing students to opt-out of annual assessments, Colorado’s state plan appears to disregard federal law, potentially putting it on a collision course with the U.S. Department of Education.

“With these dashboards, parents and the public can hold state policymakers accountable for improving education policy while state policymakers can see how their efforts compare to other states,” said Wise.

Dashboards for Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico are available at all4ed.org/essa/essa-in-your-state/. In July, the Alliance will post dashboards for Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont.

The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, D.C – based national policy, practice, and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those historically underserved, graduate from high school ready for success in college, a career, and citizenship. www.all4ed.org

Featured

  • dormitory with green roofs, solar panels, balconies, and labeled architectural annotations

    2025 Residence Hall Design Trends Focus on Sustainability, Flexibility, Community, Technology, and Well-Being

    With the most technically advanced Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) at the helm, residence hall design trends for 2025 look to focus on flexible spaces, health and wellness, sustainability, community, and digital technology.

  • ClassVR Wins Tech & Learning Best of Show at ISTELive 25

    Avantis Education recently announced that its flagship product, ClassVR, won the Tech & Learning Best of Show Award at ISTELive 25 in San Antonio, Texas, according to a news release. The program is designed to celebrate products that are “transforming education in schools around the world and that show the greatest promise for the industry,” and this is the fourth consecutive year that Avantis has claimed the award.

  • Beeville ISD Starts Construction on New Elementary School

    The Beeville Independent School District near Corpus Christi, Texas, recently began a construction project that will consolidate two existing, aging schools into a new elementary school, according to a news release. The district is partnering with Pfluger Architects and Spawglass General Contractors for the design and construction, respectively, of the new facility.

  • ECM Technologies Wins ‘Most Innovative Business of the Year’ Award

    HVAC preventative maintenance and efficiency solutions provider ECM Technologies was recently named the “Most Innovative Business of the Year” at the 2025 Champions of Change Awards, according to a news release. The program recognizes Arizona business leaders and organizations taking steps to make a positive impact on the state through innovative thinking and philanthropy.

Digital Edition