Education Week - February 10, 2016 - 19

had in 2009, the result, educators
say, of a punitive and demoralizing
accountability system ushered in as
a result of federal Race to the Top
grants to districts and a waiver to
the state from provisions of the No
Child Left Behind Act.

Evaluation Issue
In January, state Rep. Randy Truitt, a Republican, proposed legislation
that would leave it up to districts to
determine whether to evaluate teachers using the state exam, give raises
to teachers who receive "improvement necessary" on their evaluations, and set aside $12 million to
pay teachers $1,000 a year to mentor
recently hired teachers.
Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican,
signed legislation in January to
pause for one year any consequences
the state's exam would have on
teachers after it was revealed that
scores on the state's newly revised
tests tanked across districts last
year, and that some of the scores
were botched.
But Pete Miller, a Republican
state senator, said efforts to dismantle the state's evaluation
system to fix the state's teacher
shortage are shortsighted. He has
instead proposed allowing district
superintendents to give math and
special education teachers higher
pay than other teachers.
"We pay surgeons more than we
pay family doctors," said Miller, who
cited a statewide study that argues
the shortage was contrived as a political tool to block new accountabil-

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ity measures. "That doesn't mean
there's jealousy in the hospital. If
there's lower supply, we need to give
a higher salary."
Teacher unions have argued that
efforts to differentiate pay will pit
teachers against each other and corrode school teamwork.
Other states have targeted-or
tried to get around-certification
requirements to bring in more
teachers.
Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa
Hutchinson last month set aside
$3 million of his budget to pay for
more Teach For America recruits.
Alabama's state board of education loosened its teaching requirements to let those with a
high school diploma to teach some
classes part time.
And in South Carolina, where
Gov. Nikki Haley wants to spend
$15 million to forgive student loans
to teachers willing to teach in rural
parts of the state, the state last
year loosened certification rules
and began to recruit teachers from
overseas.
The change in certification angered the state's teacher unions.
"That's caused the profession of
teaching not to be looked at as the
noble profession that it is," said
Bernadette R. Hampton, the president of the South Carolina Education Association. "Just because
you can read doesn't mean you can
teach. This work impacts students'
lives."
Assistant Editor Stephen Sawchuk
contributed to this report.

ESSA Transition Guidance Rolling Out
By Alyson Klein
The Every Student Succeeds Act
may be the law of the land, but it
won't be fully in place until the
2017-18 school year.
Between now and then, the federal government, states, and school
districts will be transitioning to
the ESSA from the No Child Left
Behind Act, the previous version of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and from the Obama
administration's NCLB waivers.
Those waivers-which are in place
in 42 states and the District of Columbia-are null and void as of
Aug. 1.
The U.S. Department of Education continues to roll out guidance
on how key elements of the transition will work.
On Jan. 28, for instance, the department made it clear that the
eight states without waivers will no
longer have to continue to set aside
20 percent of their Title I funding,
which targets low-income students,
for tutoring and school choice-a
requirement under the NCLB law
for schools that missed achievement
targets.
Instead those eight-California,
Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Washington, Wyoming, and
Vermont-can come up with another plan to help schools that have
missed targets for multiple years.
Those with waivers can focus

just on their 5 percent lowest-performing schools, known as priority
schools, and those with really big
achievement gaps (another 10 percent deemed focus schools). States
can either stick with their current
lists of those schools or come up
with a new list by March.
What's more, during the transition period, the department will

Testing issues and
states without NCLB
waivers are among
the latest topics
discussed by the
U.S. Department
of Education.
continue to enforce the requirement that 95 percent of students
take state tests.
That requirement-a holdover
from the NCLB law-remains in
place under ESSA. But the new
law allows states to decide what
happens to schools that miss their
participation target, while under
NCLB, they were automatic failures. That new language won't
kick in, however, until the 2017-18

school year, when ESSA plans are
approved and fully in place.
States also no longer have to continue to ensure that teachers meet
the NCLB's "highly qualified" definition, which calls for teachers to
have a bachelor's degree and state
certification in the subject they're
teaching. That requirement isn't
part of the new law. But states
must still implement the plans for
equitable teacher distribution that
they submitted earlier this year.
And, on Feb. 2, the administration came out with new guidance to
help states and districts cut down
on the number of tests students
take.
The guidance issued includes
ideas like ensuring tests are of
high quality and worth taking, and
makes it clear that states and districts can use federal money to support some of that work. For instance,
states can use federal funds to conduct audits of their assessment systems or help educators better understand how test results can improve
student learning.
Chris Minnich, the executive director of the Council of Chief State
School Officers, noted that at least
39 states have already set to work
on improving the quality of assessments or reducing unnecessary
tests. "Those assessments must be
meaningful and provide immediate
feedback to students, teachers, and
parents," he said in a statement.

Engaging Learners With Feedback and
Collaborative Learning Environments
Learn how to use technology tools
such as Minecraft, Skype, Pulse
in School, and others to engage
learners and drive better learning
outcomes. We'll look at research
and recent practices that have
delivered powerful results.
FREE WEBINAR
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016
2 to 3 p.m. ET
www.edweek.org/go/webinar/
EngagingLearners

GUESTS
JOSEPH FREIDHOFF, vice president of
research, policy & professional learning,
Michigan Virtual University
KATHRYN KENNEDY, assistant director,
Michigan Virtual Learning Research
Institute, Michigan Virtual University
KRISTEN DEBRULER, researcher,
Michigan Virtual Learning Research
Institute, Michigan Virtual University
MODERATOR
CATHY CAVANAUGH, director of
teaching and learning, Worldwide
Education, Microsoft
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Education Week - February 10, 2016

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