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Illinois’s plan under Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), marks a dramatic change in education accountability. Under NCLB, there were accountability measures and targets for schools to meet that were based solely on student achievement on one assessment that was given once a year. If a school did not perform at the expected level, there was a series of more and more dire punishments that were meted out. Eventually, almost all schools were considered “failing.”
Under ESSA, there are multiple measures included in the new framework. A large portion of the accountability is still based on the results of one test but there are also many other measures that are taken into account. Only 20% of the entire rating is based on the achievement of students on one assessment.
In addition, the academic indicators (Growth and Proficiency) are also measured and scored by sub-groups in the school population: racial and ethnic groups, students who receive free and reduced lunch, students learning English, students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP), students who were formerly designated as English Learning.
Each school in the district is judged by how all students perform and by how these sub-groups perform.
There are two significant changes:
· Each school in the district is judged separately and each sub-group is judged separately. Once these calculations are made, schools are ranked in order of all students. The score that determines whether a school receives additional support is the score of the school that marks the lowest 5%.
· Schools where all students score under the 5% designation are considered in need of “Comprehensive Support” and are given additional funding from the state and are required to use approved partners to improve their performance.
· Schools with sub-groups that score at the level of the lowest 5% of all students are given “Targeted Support.” They are given considerably less money and may work with an approved partner if they wish. Regardless of whether the school works with a learning partner, Illinois gives the school four years to improve the performance of that sub-group.
Using data from 2017 -2018, both Spring Wood and Greenbrook were considered in need of “Targeted Support.” This support consists of extra money and approved learning partners in order to provide extra support to help students in these schools grow at a faster rate.
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