Dive Brief:
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The U.S. Department of Education released the names of the committee members who will draft the regulation proposals that will accompany the Every Student Succeeds Act, the final step in the implementation process.
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According to a department release, the committee is comprised of “state and local education administrators and board members, tribal leadership, parents and students, teachers, principals, other school leaders, and the civil rights and business communities.”
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The group will meet March 21-23 and April 6-8, with the option to meet April 18-19 as well. Meetings will be open to the public.
Dive Insight:
The committee will propose regulations on the requirement that federal funds are used to supplement other funds in high-need schools, not supplant other funding streams. It will also propose new regulations on state assessments, focusing on computer adaptive testing; the exception for advanced mathematics assesments in 8th grade; the inclusion of students with disabilities; alternative assessments for states; the inclusion of English learners in academic assessments and English proficiency exams.
As ESSA is officially implemented in schools Fall 2016, Congress will keep a close eye on the Department of Education to ensure that states and districts are granted the appropriate autonomy over what happens in their schools. Still, the handling of historically underperforming or underresourced schools remains a question mark, as states and districts work out a plan to address the needs of those schools.