U.S. Department of Education approves Illinois ESSA Plan

District 88 shares an important update from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) regarding the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a law that was passed in December 2015 that reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

According to the ISBE, “The U.S. Department of Education (recently) approved the Illinois ESSA Plan. Equity is the grounding principle for the Illinois ESSA Plan. Every student must receive the support he or she needs to achieve academic excellence and postsecondary success. Equity requires that those students with the greatest need must receive the greatest support. The Illinois ESSA Plan embraces the Whole Child, Whole School, Whole Community approach, recognizing students come to their schools from interconnected learning environments. The plan crystallizes Illinois’ commitment to address the needs of the whole child: to integrate supports for students’ cognitive growth, social and emotional development and physical well-being through the reinforcement and expansion of cross-agency and public-private-philanthropic partnerships.”

The approved plan incorporates the robust and ongoing stakeholder and practitioner feedback gathered through more than 3,500 online comments and 100 in-person forums and meetings. The plan can be viewed at https://www.isbe.net/Pages/ESSA.aspx.

The Illinois ESSA Plan transitions the state to a system of balanced accountability. The plan gathers and examines multiple indicators of school quality and student growth to inform differentiated levels of support for schools and recognizes each school’s unique local context. The plan advances ambitious long-term goals for all students to attain by 2032: 90 percent or more of third-grade students are reading at or above grade level; 90 percent or more of fifth-grade students meet or exceed expectations in math; 90 percent or more of ninth-grade students are on track to graduate with their cohort; and 90 percent or more of students graduate from high school ready for college and career. The Illinois ESSA Plan goals align with a larger state goal, whereby 60 percent of Illinois residents earn high-quality degrees and career credentials by 2025. In preparation for full implementation in the 2018-19 school year, the ISBE will continue the process of testing and learning with Illinois’ educators and education leaders to strengthen the ESSA Plan throughout the 2017-18 transition year.

To read the full article, go to https://tinyurl.com/y8bdwg5q.