Welcome to another edition of Answering Your ESSA Questions, where we try to demystify the Every Student Succeeds Act. Our next question comes from an anonymous reader.
Question: How many states are including 鈥渟chool climate鈥� in their ESSA accountability systems?
Answer: Not as many as you might think. ESSA told states they had to pick an indicator of school quality or student success to measure alongside test scores. Most states picked either chronic absenteeism and/or college and career readiness. At least four states say they are incorporating 鈥渟chool climate鈥� specifically into school ratings, including Illinois (which is measuring climate through surveys), Maryland (which is also using surveys), Montana (where school climate is part of a broader measure of 鈥減rogram quality鈥� that also includes reducing behavior issues, and increasing engagement) and New Mexico (which is gauging school climate through 鈥淥pportunity to Learn鈥� surveys.)
Two other states鈥擟alifornia and Ohio鈥攁re looking at school discipline data. And Rhode Island and Tennessee are specifically looking at suspensions.
For more, check out our inside look at state ESSA plans.
Got an ESSA question? Email us at aklein@epe.org or aujiusa@epe.org. Or tweet at us @PoliticsK12.
Want to see what other readers are wondering? Here are links to past installments of this feature:
Want to learn more about the Every Student Succeeds Act? Here鈥檚 some useful information: