Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

A Public Input Meeting

Monday

January 11, 2016

Sponsored by the

U.S. Department of Education

Washington, D.C.

Held at the

U.S. Department of Education

Washington, D.C.

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 (301) 577-5882
2

ESSA Public Input Meeting

January 11, 2016

I N D E X

 

 Page

Welcome and Overview of ESSA

 by Ann Whalen 6

Logistics and Plan for the Day

 by Patrick Rooney 9

Public Comments

 Governor Bob Wise, Alliance for Excellent

 Education 12

 Peter Zamora, Council of Chief State School

 Officers 16

 Liz King, Leadership Conference on Civil and

 Human Rights 19

 Kim Hymes, National Center for Learning

 Disabilities 24

 Brenda Calderon, National Council of La Raza 28

 Tommy Sheridan, National Head Start Association 33

 Christine Wolfe, National Alliance for Public

 Charter Schools 37

 Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education

 Association 41

 Scott Sargrad, Center for American Progress 45

 Julie Borst 50

 Jeff Simering, Council of Great City Schools 55

 Lynn Tuttle, National Association for Music

 Education 58

 Dimple Patel, National Indian Education 

 Association 62

 Jamy Brice-Hyde 65

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I N D E X

 Page

Public Comments

 Dan Weisberg, TNTP 70

 Sandra Davis, Baltimore Teachers Union 74

 Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, Dignity in Schools

 Campaign 76

 Alice Cain, Teach Plus 80

 Delia Pompa, Migration Policy Institute 85

 Heather Noonan, League of American Orchestras 89

 Susie Saavedra, National Urban League 91

 Mary Kingston Roche, Coalition for Community

 Schools 94

 Fernando Martinez, Dignity in the Schools

 Campaign 100

Afternoon Session at 12:15pm

Welcome and Overview of ESSA

 by Ann Whalen 105

Logistics and Plan for the Day

 by Patrick Rooney 108

Public Comments

 Curtis Decker, National Disability Rights

 Network 111

 Daniel Domenech, AASA: The School Superintendents

 Association 115

 Dane Linn, Business Roundtable 118

 Stephen Parker, National Governors Association 123

 Elizabeth Davis, Washington D.C. Teachers Union 127

 Janel George, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational

 Fund 130

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I N D E X

 Page

Public Comments

 Vito Borrello, National Association for Family,

 School, and Community Engagement 134

 MaryLee Allen, Children's Defense Fund 138

 Marlyn Tillman, Gwinnett STOPP 142

 

 Amanda Fenton, National Association of Charter

 School Authorizers 147

 MenSa Ankh Maa, Teach for America - D.C. Region 151

 Marla Kilfoyle 154

 Thomas J. Gentzel, National School Boards

 Association 159

 Yolanda Rondon, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination

 Committee 162

 Kim Musheno, Consortium for Citizens with

 Disabilities Education Task Force 167

 Jenny Collier, RFK Juvenile Justice Collaborative 172

 Katherine Burdick, Juvenile Law Center 176

 Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, National Association

 of School Psychologists 181

Afternoon Session at 2:45 pm

Welcome and Overview of ESSA

 by Ann Whalen 188

Logistics and Plan for the Day

 by Patrick Rooney 190

Public Comments

 Harold Jordan, ACLU of Pennsylvania 192

 Maura McInerney, Education Law Center 196

 Tim Boals, WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for

 Education Research 201

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I N D E X

 Page

Public Comments

 Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers 204

 Denise Marshall, Council of Parent Attorneys and

 Advocates 208

 Joyce Parker, Citizens for a Better Greenville 212

 Darren Cambridge, National Council of Teachers of

 English 219

 Kathy Lally, Communities in Schools, Inc. 223

 Melissa Tomlinson 226

 Irene Holtzman, Focus DC 228

 Sarah Davis 231

 Narric Rome, Americans for the Arts 236 

KEYNOTE: "---" Indicates inaudible in transcript.

"*" Indicates phonetic spelling in transcript.

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1 M O R N I N G S E S S I O N

2 (9:05 a.m.)

3 Welcome and Overview

4 by Ann Whalen

5 MS. WHALEN: Well, good morning, everybody. I am

6 Ann Whalen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Delegated the

7 Duties and Functions of the Assistant Secretary for

8 Elementary and Secondary Education. It's a very long title. 

9 And I am pleased to welcome each of you here today. So thank

10 you so much for coming. 

11 First let me introduce you to a few of my

12 colleagues up on the panel. To my right is Patrick Rooney,

13 Acting Director of the Office of State Support. And to my

14 left is Kay Ripling, a program attorney in the General

15 Counsel's Office.

16 We are also joined by a number of people here today

17 who are here to facilitate the ease of coming up to the

18 podium and signing in. I would like to recognize a few of

19 them. We have Deborah Spitz*, Ashlee Schmidt*, Irene

20 Harworth*, and our team from Synergy.

21 So if you guys could just raise your hand quickly

22 so people can quickly recognize you. 

23 I think they also have wonderful ribbons on their

24 badges, too. So if you have questions or concerns throughout

25 the day, please don't hesitate to approach any one of them. 

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1 We greatly appreciate you taking your time to be

2 here today to share your input. Your advice and

3 recommendations are critical to helping the Department of

4 Education support the successful implementation of the Every

5 Student Succeeds Act or ESSA.

6 As you know, President Obama signed ESSA into law

7 on December 10, 2015, reauthorizing the Elementary and

8 Secondary Education Act of 1965. This new bipartisan law,

9 which replaces No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, is good news

10 for Nation's schools and students. The ESSA builds on key

11 progress that we have made in our education in recent years,

12 including a record high school graduation rate of 82 percent

13 and includes many of the key reforms we have called on

14 Congress to enact as part of any reauthorization.

15 The ESSA has a clear goal: Ensuring our education

16 system prepares every single child to graduate from high

17 school ready to thrive in college and careers. It includes

18 several provisions that emphasize equitable access to

19 educational opportunities, including holding all students to

20 high academic standards and ensuring accountability for the

21 lowest performing schools and schools with low graduation

22 rates. It also empowers states and local decision-makers to

23 develop their own strong systems for school improvements. 

24 The Department is soliciting advice and

25 recommendations regarding regulations and guidance needed to

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1 implement programs under Title I of ESSA, both in person and

2 electronically. This provides stakeholders with an

3 opportunity to identify areas that could particularly benefit

4 from regulations and provide specific feedback on what those

5 regulations should establish and require.

6 As part of this process, we are accepting

7 electronic comments through the Federal E-rule-making portal,

8 as described in the Federal Register Notice published on

9 December 22,2015, as well as written comments via the postal

10 mail or snail mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. 

11 We strongly encourage everyone participating in today's

12 meeting to also submit comment through our electronic comment

13 process. You may submit comments on or before January 21,

14 2016. Again let me repeat that, January 21, 2016.

15 We are also holding this and one other regional

16 meeting to solicit advice and recommendations from

17 stakeholders. The second meeting will be held on January 19

18 in the University of California, Los Angeles. At these

19 meetings we request your advice and recommendations regarding

20 topics from which regulations or non-regulatory guidance may

21 be necessary or helpful, as states and districts transition

22 to the new law. Programs under Title I of the law are

23 designed to help disadvantaged children meet high academic

24 standards. Comments provided at these meetings should be

25 focused on these issues. 

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1 As a reminder, the purposes of these hearings and

2 comment period is for us to listen and learn. And therefore,

3 we will not be at this time providing individual or general

4 responses or reflections to the testimony made today. We

5 will use this thoughtful feedback to inform our work as we

6 implement the new law.

7 Again, we thank you for being here today and look

8 forward to receiving your comments and input. 

9 Now my colleague, Patrick Rooney, will provide some

10 logistical information as we go over today's agenda.

11 Logistics and Plan for the Day

12 by Patrick Rooney

13 MR. ROONEY: Thanks. And I also want to join Ann

14 in thanking you all for joining us here today. 

15 So I will give you some logistical information to

16 start off the day. And then if you have any additional

17 questions, please feel free to check in with our colleagues

18 around the corner on the Maryland Avenue side of the

19 building, who can answer any other questions you might have

20 during the day.

21 As you can see from the agenda at the registration

22 table, today's meeting is broken into three two-hour

23 sessions, during which participants will have the opportunity

24 to share their advice and recommendations with us. If you

25 registered in advance, you should already have been assigned

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1 to one of the two-hour slots. And you should find your name

2 on the agenda, which will give you a general idea of when you

3 can expect to speak. 

4 But please note that this agenda is only a draft,

5 and we anticipate some last-minute changes. So please bear

6 with us, and please be patient as we try to make sure we get

7 through everyone who signed up to speak today. 

8 If you did not register in advance but have asked

9 to speak today, we will work to try to fit you into the

10 schedule as time permits. We will call for additional

11 speakers, if we have additional time, in the order from when

12 you registered. So please be prepared to speak during any of

13 the three blocks during the day.

14 So we ask that you follow along on the agenda so

15 you have a sense of when you will be speaking. I will also

16 announce each speaker at the end of the previous speaker. So

17 please make your way to the podium as quickly as possible

18 once you have been called so we can move through as many

19 as -- hear from as many of the public as possible.

20 Each speaker will be given five minutes to speak,

21 to share his or her comments. And given that we have a

22 number of people interested in sharing their thoughts, we ask

23 that you respect the time limit in order to ensure we have

24 the opportunity for everyone to speak. There is a timer that

25 is on the podium that will alert you to how much time you

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1 have left. It will start out with green. When you have one

2 minute left, it will turn to yellow. And then when your time

3 is up, it will blink red to let you know that your time has

4 ended. We will ask you to conclude your thoughts, if you

5 have not finished by the end of your five minutes. 

6 If you have any written comments or other materials

7 you would like to share with the Department, we ask that you

8 hand it in at the registration desk to our colleagues from

9 the Department of Education so we can make sure that that

10 becomes part of the record, and we can consider that as part

11 of your comments.

12 As a reminder, the event is being live streamed so

13 that any member of the public may watch and listen to your

14 remarks. And we will be making information regarding the

15 hearing publicly available on our website, including all the

16 speakers' names and affiliations. And we will post a

17 transcript of the meeting on our website. That will probably

18 take a few days until that is finalized and can be posted. 

19 And it is possible that any of the submitted comments that

20 you make, you provide to us, will also be made available

21 publicly.

22 So again, please don't hesitate to direct any

23 additional questions to the team seated at the registration

24 table or around the room. Again, all the staff with the blue

25 ribbons are here to answer any questions you might have. And

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1 our contractors are also wearing purple ribbons. So if you

2 have questions on logistics, our contractors, who I think are

3 sitting primarily at the registration table, can help with

4 those questions.

5 And with that, I want to thank you again for being

6 here today. And we will start with our first speaker, which

7 is Governor Bob Wise from the Alliance for Excellent

8 Education.

9 Governor Bob Wise

10 Alliance for Excellent Education

11 GOV. WISE: Thank you very much. I am kind of

12 honored. And I feel like, wow, I'm the lead-off batter for

13 the 2016 ESSA baseball season, which 2016 is going to be an

14 amazing year. And ESSA makes it even more. And so I may be

15 leading off, but what I want to talk about, really in some

16 ways, is the last inning for students, but also the

17 beginning, and that's going to be graduation rates.

18 I am Bob Wise. I am President of the Alliance for

19 Excellent Education, a national policy and advocacy

20 organization dedicated to ensuring that all students,

21 particularly those who are traditionally underserved,

22 graduate from high school ready for success in college,

23 career, and citizenship. Prior to joining the Alliance, I

24 served for 24 years in elected office as state legislator,

25 member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Governor of

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1 the State of West Virginia.

2 I am honored today to speak to you regarding

3 regulations for the bipartisan ESSA legislation. And indeed

4 what I will be speaking about is also bipartisan. ESSA keeps

5 the Nation's foot on the high school graduation rate gas

6 pedal by maintaining federal policy beginning with the George

7 W. Bush Administration and continuing through the Barack

8 Obama Administration.

9 This policy coupled with incredible hard work by

10 educators, parents, and students have led to the Nation's

11 highest graduation rate on record at 82.3 percent for the

12 2013/'14 school year. This means a reduction in the number

13 of high school dropouts from one million in 2008, actually

14 over one million, to approximately 750,000 in 2012.

15 Where federal graduation rate regulations have

16 clearly assisted major education gains, these regulations

17 need to be renewed. ESSA includes an important requirement

18 to support and improve high schools where one third or more

19 students do not graduate. It is critical for ESSA

20 regulations to require the use of the uniform Adjusted Cohort

21 Graduation Rate, ACGR, to identify these schools. 

22 Even with these gains, we know that one in five

23 students will drop out of high school this year, more than

24 4,000 students every school day. Additionally, 1,235 high

25 schools nationwide fail to graduate one third or more of

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1 their students. These schools disproportionately enroll

2 students of color and students from low income families. 

3 These graduation gaps also remain prevalent. Indeed over the

4 past four years the gap in graduation rates between Latino

5 and white students grew in nine states and for African

6 American students and white students increased in ten states.

7 The two areas of rising rates today getting the

8 most attention are the Federal Reserve and high school

9 graduation rates. For the short-term impact on the Nation's

10 economy, the Federal Reserve's raising of interest rates

11 generates a lot of attention. But over the long term, rising

12 graduation rates are much more important for the future of

13 our economy. 

14 According to research released by my organization

15 in December, increasing the national high school graduation

16 rate to 90 percent would create over 65,000 new jobs and

17 boost gross domestic product by $11.5 billion annually. I

18 want to stress that is for one class. Now think of all the

19 classes that will be coming through.

20 Ensuring that more students graduate from high

21 school is an important first step, but earning a diploma is

22 no longer enough in today's society. And so we need

23 additional training or education.

24 Let me move right to some of the additional

25 regulations that we think are important: Using the Adjusted

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1 Cohort Graduation Rate to implement ESSA's requirement to

2 identify and support high schools where one third or more of

3 students do not graduate. 

4 Second, not allowing state accountability systems

5 to mask the graduation rates in achievement of traditionally

6 underserved students, such as students of color and low

7 income.

8 Three, requiring that graduation rates carry

9 sufficient weight within state accountability systems in

10 order to trigger interventions in high schools with low

11 graduation rates. 

12 Four, using funding targeted for school improvement

13 purposes for high quality interventions in schools with

14 lowest performing students. 

15 And five, clarifying that states have the

16 flexibility to utilize accountability dashboards not just

17 indexes, just as a car's dashboard provides information on a

18 variety of parts, such as the engine, tire pressure, or gas

19 levels, an accountability dashboard provides an array of

20 information about school performance and practices rather

21 than a single index score. Dashboards promote transparency,

22 support continuous improvement of all schools, and allow

23 states to more effectively measure the deep learning skills

24 and competencies students need to be successful in this

25 world.

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1 We thank you for the early action you are taking

2 and look forward to working with you over this exciting year

3 to come.

4 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

5 MR. ROONEY: Great. Thank you. 

6 Next we will hear from Peter Zamora from the

7 Council of Chief State School Officers.

8 Peter Zamora

9 Council of Chief State School Officers

10 MR. ZAMORA: Thank you. Good morning. On behalf

11 of the Council of Chief State School Officers, a national

12 non-profit organization representing state superintendents of

13 education, thank you for the opportunity to comment on what

14 regulation and guidance the Department should issue to

15 interpret the Every Student Succeeds Act.

16 Generally, CCSSO urges the Department to provide

17 clear and timely interpretive guidance only when necessary to

18 resolve uncertainties that arise in implementing a complex

19 and comprehensive new federal statute. The CCSSO strongly

20 supported congressional approval of ESSA because the law

21 provides a long-term stable federal policy that gives states

22 additional flexibility and encourages states and schools to

23 innovate while at the same time holding us accountable for

24 results.

25 In effect, it codifies a bipartisan national

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1 movement to restore authority in education policy to states

2 and local school districts. States have been leading the way

3 in education policy for some time. As former Secretary Arne

4 Duncan has said, our best ideas have always come from state

5 and local governments, which are the real hothouses of

6 innovation in America. 

7 In recent years, states have raised academic

8 standards, improved assessments, refined state accountability

9 systems, reformed teacher preparation and evaluation systems,

10 and moved forcefully to confront academic achievement gaps. 

11 We are now prepared to embrace the new flexibility for states

12 codified under ESSA and use it improve academic opportunity

13 for all students.

14 Congress was quite clear in prescribing the

15 Department's authority regulate under ESSA. The conference

16 committee report, which was approved by a bipartisan vote of

17 39 to 1, contains the following instructions to the

18 Department on academic accountability, for example. While it

19 is the intent of the conferees to allow the Secretary to

20 issue regulations and guidance to clarify the intent and

21 implement the law, conferees intended to prohibit any such

22 regulation that would create new requirements inconsistent

23 with or outside the scope of the law, including regulations

24 that would take from a state the authority to establish a

25 statewide accountability system.

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1 ESSA reflects a strong bipartisan congressional

2 intent to restore substantial education authority to states

3 and local school districts. Unlike No Child Left Behind,

4 which codified specific federal accountability time lines and

5 intervention strategies, ESSA empowers states to determine

6 when, under what basis, and how to address the challenges

7 faced by struggling schools.

8 While the law substantially restricts the authority

9 to create new federal requirements through regulation, it

10 also requires the Department to support states and districts

11 and an orderly transition to the new law and clarify areas of

12 the statute that are unclear. 

13 The Department should move quickly to provide

14 states with the following: Effective dates for full

15 implementation of all programs and provisions of the law;

16 deadlines for states' submissions of consolidated state plans

17 or individual plans, if the state chooses not to consolidate;

18 clarification on ho to approach the intervening time between

19 the lapse of waivers on August 1, 2016, and the

20 implementation of new statutory provisions, including

21 accountability systems under Title I; information on which

22 topics, both within and outside of Title I, that the

23 Department plans to address in non-regulatory guidance or

24 regulation; and clarifications of statutory provisions that

25 are unclear on their face and require specific non-regulatory

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1 guidance for states to adequate interpret.

2 Implementation of a comprehensive new law is an

3 extraordinarily complex endeavor at every level, federal,

4 state and local. Passage of ESSA presents state and local

5 leaders with many questions about how to implement in a

6 manner that is both responsive to state and local needs and

7 compliant with federal law. We welcome the Department's

8 partnership in implementing the new law as Congress intended

9 and providing interpretative guidance as state and local

10 leaders embrace new opportunities under the law to better

11 serve students.

12 Thank you very much. 

13 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

14 MR. ROONEY: Great. Thanks. 

15 And now we will hear from Liz King from the

16 Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

17 Education.

18 Liz King

19 Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

20 MS. KING: My name is Liz King, and I am the

21 Director of Education Policy for the Leadership Conference on

22 Civil and Human Rights in Washington, D.C. We are a

23 coalition charged by our diverse membership of more than 200

24 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and

25 human rights of all persons in the United States. Through

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1 advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies we work

2 toward the goal of a more open and just society, an America

3 as good as its ideals.

4 The civil rights community has long recognized

5 equal educational opportunity as central to our struggle to

6 achieve equality for all Americans. Without a robust and

7 thoughtful implementation of ESSA over the next decade, we

8 will have missed a crucial opportunity, and the students we

9 represent will continue to be denied the full protections

10 that they need and are entitled to under federal law.

11 Originally passed on the heels of significant civil

12 rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964,

13 we believe that the ESEA is a civil rights law, and

14 implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act should

15 preserve that legacy, Whether African American, Latino,

16 Asian American, Native America students, students with

17 disabilities, those who speak English as a second language,

18 or those from low income families, the challenges are

19 different than they were in the 1960s, but the stakes are at

20 least as high. 

21 The civil rights community worked very hard to

22 preserve the Department's authority to issue regulations,

23 guidance, and provide technical assistance for the

24 implementation of the ESSA. Despite various claims to the

25 contrary, federal funds are still conditioned on thorough

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1 compliance with the law. The Department still has the

2 weighty responsibility of developing regulations that are

3 comprehensive enough to ensure that state and local

4 implementation is consistent with the intent of this law and

5 the long-standing federal role in protecting the civil rights

6 of all Americans. 

7 The consequences of failing to meaningfully include

8 and respond to the students, parents, and communities, this

9 law seeks to assist are dire. The knowledge perspectives and

10 voices of these communities must drive decisions about

11 funding, accountability, supports, interventions, data

12 reporting, and assessment at the federal, state, and local

13 level. Regulation guidance and technical assistance must

14 ensure that low income communities, communities of color, the

15 disability community, immigrant communities, and tribes are

16 included in decision making.

17 In direct response to the request for information

18 regarding regulations to implement programs under Title I of

19 ESSA, we encourage the Department to propose regulations

20 regarding accountability, assessment, supplement not

21 supplant, educator equity, data reporting, and inter-district

22 resource equity. We believe the Department should propose

23 regulations which ensure that state accountability systems

24 are driven by the performance of groups of students and that

25 support and intervention systems are developed with

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1 stakeholders and are implemented to raise achievements for

2 chronic low performing groups of students. It will be

3 crucial to reinforce that so-called super groups or the

4 aggregation of students by race, ethnicity, disability, or

5 income status obscures important differences in history and

6 identity and is not consistent with the law as written. 

7 Regulations to implement the assessment provision

8 of the law should ensure that the 95-percent participation

9 requirement is enforced, so that the performance of all

10 students is taken into account. It must be affirmed that the

11 one-percent cap on the alternate assessment is applied at the

12 assessment and not the accountability level. 

13 Ensuring the valid and reliable assessment of

14 English language proficiency and the inclusion of English

15 learners in content assessments is crucial to ensuring that

16 these students have the supports they need for English

17 language acquisition and content proficiency. In the

18 instances where local assessments are permitted in the law as

19 a pilot of eventual statewide assessments, and in some

20 districts for the high school assessment, it will be

21 imperative to ensure that assessments meet the highest

22 standards of validity, reliability, and comparability and

23 that students with disabilities and English learners are

24 included in the assessments. These assessments should not be

25 an excuse to provide vulnerable students with lower quality

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1 assessments or obscure disparities in student outcomes. 

2 The supplement not supplant provisions, if it is to

3 allow greater flexibility in demonstrating compliance, it

4 must presume and ensure an equal base of actual per pupil

5 funding before any federal funds can be considered

6 supplemental. In this provision and throughout regulations,

7 the Department should reinforce the Title 6 non8 discrimination responsibility of schools, districts, and

9 states. ED should also seek additional opportunities to

10 advance greater resource equity between school districts.

11 Regulations to implement the data reporting

12 requirements should promote universal access to cross13 tabulated data and expand on the availability of data

14 disaggregated by Asian American Pacific Islander categories. 

15 The test of regulations guidance, technical assistance, and

16 other implementation activities must be whether or not they

17 advance educational equity and serve the interests of all

18 students. Low income students, students of color, students

19 with disabilities, English learners, and native students

20 deserve no less than robust and thorough regulation by this

21 Department to close opportunity and achievement gaps.

22 Thank you. 

23 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

24 MR. ROONEY: We will now hear from Kim Hymes from

25 the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

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1 Education.

2 Kim Hymes

3 National Center for Learning Disabilities

4 MS. HYMES: Good morning. I am Kim Hynes, and I

5 serve as the Associate Director for Federal Regulations as

6 the National Center for Learning Disabilities. Thank you for

7 convening this public meeting about implementing ESSA. 

8 NCLD's full written response will provide additional details

9 on the subjects I will discuss today and will be submitted by

10 the January 21 deadline.

11 Our mission is to improve the lives of the one in

12 five children and adults nationwide who have learning and

13 attention issues. Learning and attention issues are brain14 based difficulties that often run in families. Roughly 20

15 percent of children have learning and attention issues and

16 may have trouble with reading, writing, math, organization,

17 concentration, or a combination of these.

18 Many of these children have been identified as

19 having a disability, such as learning disabilities or ADHD,

20 but others struggle with the same challenges and go

21 unidentified. Whether they have an identified disability or

22 not, most of these students spend the majority of their

23 school day in the general education classroom. When provided

24 with the right services and supports, they can and do thrive

25 in school and life.

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1 ESSA provides an opportunity to improve outcomes

2 for children with learning and attention issues. The U.S.

3 Department of Education can and should issue regulations,

4 guidance, and technical assistance to all stakeholders to

5 provide clarity and support for the implementation of ESSA. 

6 Recognizing my short time today, NCLD has

7 identified four areas that we believe the Department should

8 focus on, but our full written response will include

9 additional areas and details. The four areas I will

10 highlight today are accountability, assessments,

11 transparency, and engaging families.

12 Our first focus areas is accountability. The law

13 includes critical federal guardrails that the Department must

14 strongly enforce. Specifically, NCLD would urge the

15 Department to focus regulations, guidance, and technical

16 assistance on three topics related to accountability. The

17 first is to clarify how schools will be identified as having

18 consistently underperforming students and subgroups of

19 students. The second is to clarify when and how often

20 intervention should be provided to schools with struggling

21 student populations. And the third is to clarify how

22 schools, school districts, and ultimately the state will be

23 held responsible for improving outcomes for all students.

24 Our second focus area is assessments. NCLD urges

25 the Department to issue regulations, guidance, and technical

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1 assistance regarding two major areas related to assessments. 

2 The first is about the alternate assessment based on

3 alternate academic achievement standards, which I will just

4 refer to as the alternate assessment. And the second is to

5 help ensure students with disabilities have access to a wide

6 range of accommodations on assessments. 

7 Regarding the alternate assessment, there are three

8 actions the Department can take to ensure the law is properly

9 implemented. First, the Department must help states and

10 school district implement the one-percent cap on

11 participation. Second, the Department should establish

12 criteria for states to include in any potential waiver

13 application. And lastly, the Department should ensure that

14 students taking the alternate assessment will have access to

15 the general education curriculum.

16 Another issue related to assessments is the under

17 used and lack of availability of accommodations on

18 assessments. For some students with disabilities,

19 accommodations ensure that they are able to access the

20 assessment and demonstrate their knowledge and skills.

21 Next, our third area is ensuring that Title I state

22 and LEA report cards are truly a tool for transparency. 

23 Families must know ow their child's school is performing, not

24 only through data put into context, but also through

25 narrative commentary that describes areas of strength and

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1 challenge and plans for moving forward. These report cards

2 can be informative tools for families, if they contain useful

3 information that is transparent and does not mask the

4 performance of student subgroups.

5 Finally, our fourth focus area is to ensure that

6 the family engagement and meaningful consultation

7 requirements are implemented in a way that meets both the

8 letter and spirit of the law. Here, the Department must

9 provide states and school districts with information about

10 how families and communities can engage with educators and

11 policymakers to support the implementation of this new law.

12 Setting a positive and constructive tone from the outset will

13 benefits students.

14 In closing, I would like to reiterate that NCLD

15 believe the Department has a critical role in implementing

16 regulations, guidance, and technical assistance to support

17 the implementation of ESSA. Policymakers, educators, and

18 families will be looking to the Department for leadership and

19 clarity. NCLD looks forward to continuing to be part of this

20 process and will provide a more comprehensive response in

21 writing. 

22 In addition, NCLD also plans on joining with our

23 colleagues in the disability and civil rights communities in

24 submitting additional comments by the January 21 deadline.

25 Thank you.

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1 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

2 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

3 We will now hear from Brenda Calderon from the

4 National Council of La Raza.

5 Brenda Calderon

6 National Council of La Raza

7 MS. CALDERON: Thank you to the Department of

8 Education for hosting this timely town hall on the

9 implementation of ESSA. I am Brenda Calderon, and I have the

10 privilege for working for the National Council of La Raza. 

11 NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization

12 established in 1968 to reduce poverty and discrimination and

13 improve opportunities for the Nation's Hispanic families. As

14 the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy

15 organization in the U.S., NCLR serves all Hispanic

16 nationality groups in all regions of the country through a

17 network of nearly 300 affiliates, community-based

18 organizations. Of those, nearly half provide some type of

19 educational service, and we also have a membership of about

20 115 affiliate charter schools.

21 In my remarks I would like to provide a brief

22 statistical landscape of Latino and English learner student

23 population and discuss areas for regulatory actions. NCLR

24 believes that English is critical to success in this Nation

25 and strongly supports English language acquisition and

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1 effective integration of immigrants. NCLR and its affiliate

2 network are in the business of helping Latinos and immigrants

3 acquire English. For example, about half of our affiliates

4 provide some English language acquisition services. In

5 addition, NCLR's network of about 115 charter schools serves

6 a diverse group of students, including English learners.

7 NCLR has invested a great deal of time in shaping

8 the Every Student Succeed Act and are working toward building

9 and effective implementation strategy for the law, which we

10 see as a lynchpin for the future Latino students. NCLR and

11 its affiliate network work with Congress to strengthen

12 provisions for English learners by providing clear

13 accountability for helping ELs acquire English and keep up

14 with their English-proficient peers in reading, math, and

15 science. And so I work with Congress to make sure that

16 parents are part of the education process, particularly

17 immigrant parents, who are not English proficient. 

18 Now is a critical time to make sure the educational

19 policies set in this new law, the regulations and

20 implementation are responsive to the needs of children it is

21 intended to serve. We still have a long way to go to ensure

22 adequate educational supports for our Nation's most

23 vulnerable children. 

24 One in four children in the U.S. schools are

25 Hispanic, and this figure is growing. ELs are one in ten

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1 students, and we have continued to see a steady increase in

2 our English learner population in schools. In order for this

3 new law to be successful, we must ensure that it meets the

4 needs of nearly 12 million Latino students in U.S. schools

5 and 5 million English learners in our classroom, 80 percent

6 of which are Spanish speakers.

7 Before the reauthorization, many activists and

8 policymakers argued about what was the best method for

9 helping ELs acquire English. The Every Student Succeeds Act

10 has correctly changed the debate on ELs to a simple question: 

11 How can schools improve the academic achievement and

12 attainment of ELs? 

13 While by no means a perfect law, ESSA provides some

14 leverage to ensure that Latinos and ELs cannot be ignored. 

15 It does this by requiring that student test scores be

16 desegregated by different categories, including race,

17 ethnicity, and English proficiency. The scores will have to

18 pay attention to these students, because it will be a part of

19 their accountability bottom line. However, there are

20 opportunities in the regulatory process to address some of

21 the data assessments and accountability provisions not

22 exclusively stated in the law. And for the purpose of my

23 remarks, I will focus on students identified as English

24 learners.

25 To begin with, the law creates a new definition for

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1 the English learner subgroup for the purposes of

2 accountability. States can include ELs up to four years

3 after they have been reclassified in EL subgroup. This will

4 create a masking effect and hide the true performance of

5 current ELs. While we understand the concerns around

6 stabilizing the subgroup to monitor long-term trends, we see

7 this as more appropriate for reporting purposes rather than

8 accountability. And we encourage the Department to

9 desegregate current versus former ELs in the reporting

10 subgroups.

11 Recently arrived English learners, this is probably

12 an area that is the most technical treatment of any

13 subgroups, a special carve out for recently arrived English

14 learners or ELs that have been in the U.S. for 12 months or

15 less. We must make sure that we are not exempting ELs. The

16 law allows for states to continue to exempt ELs from reading,

17 math, and English language proficiency exams for one year

18 from the accountability system. ELs must still take the ELP

19 exam in order for states to comply with provisions in Title

20 III of ESSA. We urge the Department to consider this

21 provision when examining compliance with the recently arrived

22 ELs provision.

23 On assessments, there must be research on which

24 accommodations are most effective at reducing test inaccuracy

25 for ELs, especially now that these exams must be tied to

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1 English language proficiency standards. The new law also

2 allows for locally designed assessments. We must consider

3 issues of equity and comparability for students that may need

4 additional accommodations, such as ELs.

5 On accountability, ESSA takes important steps

6 forward to place EL accountability with that of all the other

7 students in Title I. In fact, English language proficiency

8 is an indicator for the school rating system. It is

9 important that this indicator carry substantial weight,

10 especially because English proficiency is tied to the

11 academic achievement. We must take steps to ensure that

12 schools with large percentage of ELs are making this

13 indicator a significant amount of their accountability

14 system.

15 Finally, I will conclude with the need to emphasize

16 parental involvement in the new law and the need to make sure

17 that parents are given consideration as partners in the

18 academic success of their children. Underlying ESSA is the

19 theory that students will meet higher benchmarks if they are

20 challenged. And if they do not, their parents will march

21 into the schools and demand change. To think that the

22 average parent from a low income community can march into a

23 school and connect the dots between state standards, state

24 assessments, and ESSA's complicated accountability

25 requirements is fantasy. Parents need to get the information

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1 from an accessible source that can help them understand the

2 complicated school system, particularly as it relates to the

3 new requirements in ESSA.

4 We must make sure that the newly authorized parent

5 and family engagement centers are resourceful and provide a

6 space for meaningful engagement from parents and community

7 partners. Together we can monitor the implementation of this

8 law to work together to ensure that this law does right by

9 our kids.

10 Thank you.

11 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

12 MR. ROONEY: Great. We will now hear from Tommy

13 Sheridan from the National Head Start Association 

14 Tommy Sheridan

15 National Head Start Association

16 MR. SHERIDAN: Good morning. And thank you all for

17 the opportunity to be here today to provide input regarding

18 the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. 

19 As is noted, I am Tommy Sheridan, the Director of Government

20 Affairs at the National Head Start Association. And I am

21 here today representing the over one million children and

22 families, the 200,000 staff, and the 1,600 grantees that make

23 up the Head Start community.

24 Let me begin just with a statement of

25 congratulations. After working on the periphery of this

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1 legislation for several years, the Head Start community is

2 delighted to be finally having an implementation conversation

3 rather than just a legislative conversation. And we would

4 particularly like to congratulate the Department,

5 congratulate Congress and the congressional staff here, as

6 well as all the other advocates and leaders in this room and

7 across the Nation for really their tireless dedication that

8 has taken place over the past several years to improving our

9 Nation's public school system.

10 By way of background, NHSA believes that every

11 child, regardless of circumstances at birth, has the ability

12 to succeed in school and in life, if given the opportunity,

13 such as that which Head Start commits to children and their

14 families. In order to support this commitment in the K-12

15 system, NHSA has four specific recommendations for the

16 Department as they move along with the regulatory process.

17 First, we encourage the Department to promulgate

18 regulations and very clear guidance on the development of

19 agreements between LEAs and Head Start programs. Since 2007,

20 Head Start programs have had requirements to create memoranda

21 of understanding with their LEA partners, but not until ESSA

22 have LEAs been required to do the same.

23 We recommend that the Department of Education work

24 very closely with the Department of Health and Human Services

25 to put forth such regulations and guidances for LEAs about

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1 basically how to craft those agreements and in such a way

2 that it aligns with the regulations Head Start already has in

3 place. The lifelong success of our Nation's most vulnerable

4 children and their families depends on the ability for Head

5 Start and their school partners to effectively collaborate. 

6 And these agreements have the unique opportunity to support

7 these partnerships.

8 Second, we recommend that the Department of

9 Education promulgate regulations about and in support of the

10 use of Title I funds for early learning, as well as Title II

11 and Title III funds, as well. Specifically, we encourage the

12 Department to create regulations encouraging and describing

13 how LEAs might consider using Title I funds through a mixed

14 delivery system to support and strengthen early learning in

15 their communities. LEAs should receive clear information

16 about the Head Start performance standards, as well as the

17 changes that are coming to the performance standards, how

18 they are to be met, which is something that ESSA requires

19 that schools who are using Title I meet for all their early

20 learning programs. And they should also be given clear

21 guidance about the necessity and benefit of including and

22 partnering with existing programs in their communities to

23 provide these services. 

24 Third, we recommend that the Department begin

25 working closely with HHS on the implementation of the new

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1 preschool development grants program. We encourage both

2 departments to put forth guidance and funding announcements

3 that clearly articulate to the need to build state early

4 learning systems in collaboration with Head Start and other

5 proven models of early childhood education that are already

6 operating in communities. This is a fantastic opportunity,

7 again understanding its authority lies slightly outside of

8 ESSA, and we just encourage the Administration to begin work

9 as soon as possible. 

10 And then fourth and probably most importantly,

11 picking up on a point that was just made, we strongly

12 encourage the Department to continuously focus on children

13 and families throughout the entire development of all ESSA

14 regulations and guidance. We constantly hear from Head Start

15 parents that they do not feel welcome in the K-12 setting,

16 and this needs to change, especially if we want to build and

17 support an effective education system.

18 ESSA provides a perfect opportunity for us to reset

19 this course, and the first step needs to be through the

20 Department's rule-making process. 

21 In closing, Head Start appreciates the opportunity

22 to provide comments and recommendations. And NHSA stands

23 ready to collaborate with and support the Administration as

24 the process moves forward. And I would thank you all very

25 much for the time.

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1 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

2 MR. ROONEY: Now we will hear from Christy Wolfe

3 from the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.

4 Christine Wolfe

5 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

6 MS. WOLFE: Good morning. I'm Christy Wolfe,

7 Senior Police Advisor at the National Alliance for Public

8 Charter Schools. The National Alliance for Public Charter

9 Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization

10 committed to advancing the public charter school movement. 

11 Our organization worked hard to ensure that the

12 reauthorization of ESEA included the changes necessary needed

13 in the charter schools program and other ESEA programs as a

14 result of the growth and evolution of the charter school

15 community over the last 15 years.

16 As a result, we strongly supported the passage of

17 the Every Student Succeeds Act. U.S. Department of Education

18 has asked for advice and recommendations on topics on which

19 regulations or guidance might be helpful in the

20 implementation of ESSA. We appreciate the opportunity to

21 summarize our comments here today as part of the regional

22 meeting information-gathering process. 

23 Public charter schools are public schools or

24 districts under ESSA. Therefore, while some of the issues

25 that require clarification through regulations or guidance

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1 are unique to charters, others are not. First of all, the

2 National Alliance supports conducting a negotiated rule3 making process on assessments and supplement not supplant

4 provisions. This process can help build consensus and

5 clarity and understanding what is permitted under ESSA. We

6 do not support including additional issues, such as

7 accountability requirements as part of such a process.

8 Regarding standards and assessments, we believe

9 strongly that robust assessments measuring student mastery of

10 reading, math, and science content are critical to school

11 accountability and a critical component of measuring the

12 success of charter schools. We support any regulations or

13 guidance that facilitate the implementation of assessments

14 that measure student growth. Many charter schools

15 demonstrate their effectiveness through growth in their first

16 years of being open, much more so than proficiency rates.

17 We are also supportive of innovation and

18 assessments, but such models should not be implemented at the

19 expense of comparability or robust measures of student

20 achievement. 

21 On the issue of accountability, the National

22 Alliance supported the accountability provisions in ESSA that

23 requires states to set goals for all groups of students,

24 which will help to ensure that all students graduate prepared

25 for post-secondary education or the workforce. But while

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1 there is intentional flexibility in the statute as to what is

2 required in setting goals and measuring student progress,

3 there is also some ambiguity. For example, what exactly

4 differentiates a school that is comprehensive or targeted

5 interventions and support, if subgroups alone put that school

6 in the bottom five percent? 

7 We also believe that there needs to be additional

8 clarity in how to implement measures of school quality and

9 student success. For example, will states be able to develop

10 and index of school quality and success that incorporates

11 several measures? Many charter schools include such measures

12 in their performance metrics. Could there be a way to

13 include those in ratings?

14 The experience charter schools have in measuring

15 school climate and quality can help inform state

16 implementation of these new indicators. We support any

17 clarification that will ensure that states are not

18 backpedaling on accountability for all groups of students and

19 that will ensure that school success is measured primarily on

20 student academic achievement and not soft indicators.

21 In fact, the charter schools program, as

22 reauthorized by ESSA, requires impact on student achievement

23 to be one of the most important factors in determining

24 whether a charter school has its charter renewed. 

25 Another important issue requiring clarification

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1 concerns alternate accountability and graduation rates. The

2 National Alliance is a strong supporter of the adjusted

3 cohort graduation rate measured over the course of four

4 years. However, a small but growing segment of charter

5 schools focus on students who are overage or under-credited. 

6 Such schools have had difficulty demonstrating their success

7 on the context of graduation, in the context of state

8 accountability systems focus on a four-year grad rate. Many

9 of these schools only have students for a short period of

10 time. States will need additional guidance on graduation

11 rates, especially those with accountability assistance for

12 alternate schools on how to differentiate those schools

13 meaningfully and the applicability of the failing to graduate

14 one-third-or-more-students threshold. 

15 Since the statute does not specify that the

16 standard has to be met through a four-year rate, we believe

17 there is flexibility for states and charter authorizers to

18 develop meaningful accountability for schools that primarily

19 serve students who have dropped out of traditional high

20 schools.

21 Regarding school improvement and interventions,

22 ESSA doesn't specify what interventions are permissible as

23 part of comprehensive support. We believe charter schools

24 have an important role to play in turning around low25 performing schools and helping students in failing schools

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1 find access to higher-performing schools. We would like to

2 see any accountability regulations or guidance to clearly

3 delineate restarting charter schools as charter schools as a

4 permissible use of funds.

5 In addition, states and districts should be able to

6 direct Section 1003(c) funding to expanding access to high7 quality options for students attending identified schools. 

8 In other words, states and districts should be able to

9 implement city-based school improvement and reform strategies

10 with Title I funding for school improvement.

11 One final issue concerns Title I credential

12 requirements and parental right to know. In some states

13 charter school teachers have to meet different requirements

14 than district-run schools and may receive exemptions. These

15 requirements should be implemented consistent with state

16 charter school law and should not trigger notice to parents.

17 Thank you for the opportunity to summarize our

18 comments. And we will submit our detailed comments in the

19 process. Thanks.

20 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

21 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

22 We will now hear from Lily Eskelsen Garcia from the

23 National Education Association. 

24 Lily Eskelsen Garcia

25 National Education Association

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1 MS. GARCIA: Good morning. And I want to thank the

2 Department for kicking off the new year with this

3 implementation process. What a gift. My name is Lily

4 Eskelsen Garcia. I'm a sixth grade teacher from the Great

5 State of Utah and the proud president of the National

6 Education Association, which represents three million

7 educators, who are teaching students, serving meals, getting

8 kids on buses right now, even as we speak. And this is very

9 important work to them.

10 In the months leading up to the enactment of the

11 Every Student Succeeds Act, we engaged our members who work

12 in every aspect of public schools. And I heard loud and

13 clear from my members what they wanted to see in this new

14 law. They wanted to ensure opportunity really matters in any

15 accountability system. They wanted to guarantee educators'

16 expertise in decision-making. And they wanted to reduce the

17 volume and the over reliance of standardized testing in so

18 many of the decisions that are made for our students.

19 The new law potentially delivers on all three of

20 those, and it is why we are so excited that implementation

21 discussions are starting right away. It paves the way for

22 finally seeing access and opportunity as a real part of what

23 gets counted. And now on an historic development for our

24 education system in this new law, we also see that it returns

25 a significant responsibility to states and school districts

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1 to plan on and ensure that students are learning. But it

2 doesn't leave out the important role of the U.S. Department

3 of Education and its enforcement authority and responsibility

4 to ensure that students have equitable access to a robust and

5 well-rounded education and to the supports that students need

6 to make sure that they excel. We call that our whole child

7 education.

8 And like other organizations here today, the

9 National Education Association will put in writing a very

10 comprehensive recommendation list, but I wanted to focus my

11 five minutes on a very key aspect that excites my members. 

12 This will be a monumental transition, because it will

13 require, if we do it correctly, a very deep collaboration

14 amongst multiple stakeholders that don't always sit in the

15 same room and discuss how to make sure that kids have what

16 they need.

17 We want to make sure that there are more voices

18 coming together at the decision-making tables. None of us

19 should want to shortcut this very important collaboration. 

20 It is the only way that this new law is going to bring us to

21 something better. There is built-in time for that deep

22 engagement of all stakeholders, and we urge the U.S.

23 Department of Education to set a good example by not rushing

24 its process, its part of the process for the sake of

25 expediency. 

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1 The implementation process is going to have to be

2 simultaneously built at the national, the state, the local,

3 and, what we think as the most exciting part, the school

4 building level. We are going to look at schools across the

5 country, taking a look at policies that need to be updated,

6 need to be improved. And we implore the Department to ensure

7 the regulatory process is infused with the best thinking of

8 the people who actually know the names of the kids, the

9 people who teach them, their parents, that school community. 

10 Concepts all across the country are being developed even as

11 we speak. And we hope that the two listening sessions are

12 only the beginning of the Department's listening tour. We

13 believe that it is listening that will lead us to a better

14 place, more engagement of the whole school community, more

15 stakeholder voice. And we believe that that will be the game

16 changers when you bring people together, and they all feel

17 confidence in what is being developed.

18 We intend to practice what we preach. The National

19 Education Association has embarked on its own listening tour

20 so that we can hear from our own members who aren't elected

21 leaders within the organization but are just hard-working

22 professionals, the teachers, the education support

23 professionals, the specialized instructional support folks,

24 librarians, school nurses, everyone.

25 We know that there are innovative performance

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1 assessment systems already being developed out there. We

2 know that we are just waiting to make sure that these new

3 ideas have a fair shot at being heard. And we are ready to

4 chart that new path. 

5 So on behalf of my members, three million members,

6 and our 50 million public school students, we thank you.

7 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

8 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

9 Now Scott Sargrad from the Center for American

10 Progress.

11 Scott Sargrad

12 Center for American Progress

13 MR. SARGRAD: Thank you very much for the

14 opportunity to speak here today. My name is Scott Sargrad,

15 and I'm the Director for Standards and Accountability at the

16 Center for American Progress. And the Center for American

17 Progress or CAP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent

18 policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of

19 all Americans through bold progressive ideas, as well as

20 strong leadership and concerted action.

21 And CAP strongly supported the recent passage of

22 the Every Student Success Act as a major step forward to move

23 beyond No Child Left Behind. And while it is certainly

24 perfect, we believe that ESSA strikes the right balance

25 between accountability and flexibility. It holds states,

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1 districts, and school accountable for raising student

2 achievement and closing achievement gaps while giving them

3 the flexibility to design systems that meet their students'

4 specific needs.

5 With this new law the entire country has the

6 opportunity to renew and refocus our energy on dramatically

7 improving outcomes for all students and increasing equity. 

8 And the Department has a clear role and responsibility to

9 regulate and enforce the law, particularly when it comes to

10 improving outcomes for disadvantaged students. 

11 In order to advance ESSA's goals of providing all

12 students with a fair, equitable, and high-quality education

13 and to close achievement gaps, the Department should consider

14 issuing strong regulations, guidance, and technical

15 assistance in at least five key areas: standards,

16 assessments, accountability, fiscal issues, and educator

17 equity.

18 First with respect to standards, the Department

19 must ensure that all states truly have rigorous standards

20 that prepare students for college and a career. The

21 Department should consider regulating to clarify how states

22 can demonstrate that their standards truly do align with

23 college entrance requirements for credit-bearing courses, as

24 well as career and technical education standards.

25 Second with respect to assessments, ESSA provides

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1 an opportunity to move beyond the focus on a single high2 stakes test by reducing the consequences associated with an

3 individual state assessment. And to take advantage of this

4 opportunity, the Department should ensure that states support

5 their districts in moving towards better, fairer, and fewer

6 tests, and a much more coherent and aligned system of

7 formative, interim, and summative assessments.

8 The Department should also issue regulations around

9 the new local flexibility for nationally recognized high

10 school assessments and the new innovative assessment and

11 accountability demonstration authority. Here, we think the

12 regulations are necessary to ensure that all assessments

13 implemented under these new flexibilities are high-quality,

14 valid, ribald and support student learning and are comparable

15 and protect equity.

16 Third with respect to accountability, ESSA takes a

17 major step forward by allowing states to build more

18 sophisticated systems that are based on multiple measures and

19 evaluate school performance more holistically than under No

20 Child Left Behind. And the Department's role is to ensure

21 that all states create systems that support student learning,

22 support strong teaching, and protect underserved students.

23 There are a number of areas where the law is

24 unclear, and regulation, guidance, and technical assistance

25 are going to be necessary to help states and districts meet

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1 their obligations and the requirements of the law. In

2 particular, the Department should consider regulations,

3 guidance, or technical assistance to clarify the meaning of

4 terms such as meaningful differentiation, substantial weight,

5 much greater weight, significant progress, consistently

6 under-performing.

7 And the Department should regulate to ensure that

8 interventions in the lowest performing schools are truly

9 evidence based, and states and districts are able to

10 understand what those interventions need to be.

11 Still, it is important that the Department not be

12 overly prescriptive and should make sure not to close off

13 innovative approaches to accountability. It should leave

14 states the flexibility to demonstrate using data that their

15 systems do in fact meet the requirements of the law. 

16 The Department should make sure to support these

17 innovative approaches, such as balanced scorecard or

18 dashboard systems that still result in annual school

19 determinations. The Department should make sure to support

20 different ways to use student assessment data by not just

21 looking at proficiency rates, but also at scale scores or

22 improvements at multiple achievement levels.

23 Fourth, ESSA makes important changes to some of the

24 fiscal provisions in Title I and some of the related data

25 requirements. These changes can help ensure that the

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1 students with the greatest needs and the schools serving them

2 actually do receive the greatest level of funding, while at

3 the same time reducing districts' compliance burden and

4 reducing ineffective and inefficient spending at the local

5 level.

6 The Department should issue regulations that

7 support greater resource equity, including regulations around

8 the new weighted student funding pilot program, the revised

9 supplement not supplant requirements, and the new requirement

10 for reporting actual school level per pupil expenditures.

11 Finally, with respect to educator equity, ESSA

12 maintains critical protections for students through the

13 requirement that low income and minority students are not

14 served at disproportionate rates by ineffective,

15 inexperienced, or out-of-field teachers. And the Department

16 should support states and districts in addressing educator

17 equity gaps by implementing strategies that address the

18 entire teacher pipeline, transforming the systems and

19 policies that support teachers throughout all stages of their

20 careers.

21 And thank you again for the opportunity to speak

22 here today and for the additional opportunity to provide

23 written comments.

24 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

25 MR. ROONEY: Thanks.

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1 Now we will hear from Julie Borst.

2 Julie Borst

3 MS. BORST: Good morning, everyone. My name is

4 Julie Borst. I'm a parent advocate from New Jersey. I'm an

5 organizer for Save Our Schools, United Opt Out, and I'm a New

6 Jersey bat in special ed. I came here today to talk about a

7 couple of things. And I have to admit it was difficult

8 choosing a topic with which to speak. And so while many are

9 cheering the change from No Child Left Behind, I'm feeling a

10 little bit more cautious. 

11 As a family, we have not had good experiences under

12 NCLB, and it was clearly in serious need of revision. But I

13 don't believe that ESSA really alleviates a myriad of

14 problems within NCLB, particularly for students with

15 disabilities. We seem to be the ones at the end of the

16 conversation always.

17 Among the worst, I think, are still the onerous

18 standardized testing. More students with disabilities will

19 be required to take irrelevant and developmentally

20 inappropriate tests. Local districts will continue to waste

21 precious dollars on infrastructure to support these tests. 

22 And I'm not sure for what. That's a conversation, obviously,

23 that can go on for a very long time, and I think it's worth

24 having. Let's just say that from where I sit as a parent and

25 an advocate that the tests are a waste of time and money. 

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1 Well-trained, dedicated professionals, as Lily was talking

2 about, are what's needed, not more tests. 

3 However, the reason I'm here today is to talk

4 specifically about social impact bonds, otherwise known as

5 Pay For Success. You can find the explanation of that on

6 ESSA page 797, line 17. The current landscape in special

7 education is a dire one. In states like New Jersey it has

8 become increasingly difficult for parents to get appropriate

9 identification, classification, and services for their

10 children. OCEP* and OCR* have become yet another roadblock

11 to appropriate services.

12 I believe the root of that difficulty is money. 

13 IDEA is poorly funded, and it has been so ever since its

14 inception. Money is now spent on everything related to high15 stakes testing, prep, massive curricula changes, computers,

16 infrastructure, and teacher professional development that is

17 geared to the use of that technology rather than honing their

18 skills as educators.

19 In New Jersey there is an even more formalized

20 process about to begin, response to intervention, a program

21 that will likely make it less likely for a student with a

22 disability to get timely identification classification and

23 services. There appears to be little actual focus on

24 identification and then possibly doing something about it. 

25 So preschool, high-quality preschool, has become

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1 the new mantra in this vein, especially in New Jersey. 

2 Studies show that high-quality preschool can reduce the

3 percentage of students who go on to kindergarten and are then

4 classified for special education. These percentages are

5 anywhere from a reduction of 10 to 50 percent of students who

6 would otherwise need special education services. The impact

7 is a positive and clear one. Let me be really clear about

8 this. It does make sense to support high-quality preschool. 

9 We need a definition of what that is. And what doesn't make

10 sense, though, is for private investors, Wall Street, to be

11 the ones funding these programs and then making money off the

12 children in those programs not being classified for special

13 education.

14 So Pay for Success is a use of private money

15 invested into public programs, in this case public preschool. 

16 The program was first tested in Utah and claimed to have a

17 99-percent success rate. And that sounds amazing. Right? 

18 So 109 of the 110 students, who were identified as at risk or

19 possibly in need of special education, out of 600 preschools

20 did not require special education.

21 Goldman Sachs received money back for every one of

22 those 109 students and will continue to do so as long as they

23 are not classified for special education all the way through

24 sixth grade. And to be perfectly frank, this raises a lot of

25 questions. So what was the starting criteria for those

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1 students? What diagnostic test did they use? What was the

2 medical history? Demographics? How many students would have

3 likely had to have had special education, if they didn't have

4 a high-quality preschool? How many would they expect to

5 classify even with that experience? What is high-quality

6 preschool? What does high-quality preschool cost? How much

7 did Utah spend on preschool previously? What is the

8 threshold that was to be met by Goldman Sachs to earn its

9 money back, and who would have covered those costs if it had

10 failed? 

11 In Utah's case, one test, PVVT, was used. It's not

12 normally used by itself, especially by itself, for

13 identification of learning disabilities. English language

14 learners typically don't do well, because it is a vocabulary15 based test. It doesn't necessarily mean they have a

16 disability. And from the outset the criteria presumed that

17 all 110 at-risk identified children were going into special

18 education without high-quality preschool, and that is not a

19 valid presumption.

20 There is also the issue of cost. High-quality

21 preschool costs are generally three to four times what

22 Goldman Sachs invested per student. It is not clear how the

23 high-quality label was actually executed as some of the

24 students went to daycare instead of preschool. Utah has set

25 the rule book, but they also have had no preschool without

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1 this program. Why were they allowed to set the bar so low

2 and so obviously skewed as to have this a win for Goldman

3 Sachs? And perhaps more importantly, what is Utah doing to

4 ensure those success students in fact were properly not

5 identified? 

6 I understand that on the surface Pay for Success

7 sounds wonderful. Public money that is already so lacking

8 will not have to be used to fund preschool programs. 

9 However, success based on a negative outcome of our most

10 vulnerable students demonstrates the loss of our moral

11 compass. Pay for Success has no business being in federal

12 education law. There are too many unanswered questions, too

13 many for this program go -- too much can go very wrong for

14 our most vulnerable students, especially in the current

15 environment. There is no magic pill to cure learning

16 disabilities, but there are many well-documented teacher17 driven practices to address identification, classification,

18 and delivery of services. We should be concentrating on

19 those.

20 Thank you.

21 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

22 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

23 Next up is Susie Saavedra from the National Urban

24 League. Is she here? I don't think she had checked in yet.

25 Okay. So we will move next to Jeff Simering from

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1 the Council of Great City Schools.

2 Jeff Simering

3 Council of Great City Schools

4 MR. SIMERING: Good morning. I am Jeff Simering

5 from the Council of Great City Schools, a coalition of

6 the --- Central City School Districts. Today I will discuss

7 some general comments on ESSA implementation with some more

8 specific written comments to be submitted later.

9 The bulk of the questions we are getting from our

10 urban districts have been on a transition provision for ESSA. 

11 The additional provisions in the consolidated appropriations

12 bill provide some clarifications that we think are helpful. 

13 But our initial concerns here are primarily based on what the

14 districts need to do programmatically in the upcoming school

15 year in order to maintain the continuity of services. And

16 the Department can be helpful in this regard.

17 We need a letter to all school districts stating

18 succinctly and clearly what school districts need to do for

19 the upcoming school year, school year '16/'17. And we think

20 the rule of thumb actually is what they are doing currently

21 as of the day before enactment is what they can continue to

22 do. But you guys need to tell them that in some guidance

23 letters and to do that quickly. 

24 We are also requesting another immediate step from

25 the Department of Education on behalf of a number of our

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1 urban districts and thousands of other districts nationwide. 

2 We request that the Department use its transition authority

3 or any other authority that it has to absolve any districts

4 now not operating under waiver authority for the upcoming

5 school year from unproductively having to spend their Title I

6 funds on the NCLB set-aside for SES activities. And we need

7 a transition rule on that by the end of this month. To

8 continue to mandate such expenditures that are unproductive

9 in our opinion is tantamount to malpractice. 

10 Many districts and state staffers are now reading

11 this act on first impression. And unfortunately in some of

12 the provisions it is difficult to discern what is mandatory

13 and what is permissive. It is common for state and local

14 staff, unfortunately, to sometimes misinterpret these

15 provisions, and they often err in terms of requiring more

16 than what is actually called for.

17 While ESSA has been characterized as substantially

18 providing more flexibility for state and local education

19 agencies, there are hundreds of new statutory provisions and

20 requirements that school districts and states have to still

21 consider. The Department can be helpful here in writing regs

22 and guidance that clearly differentiates between what is

23 required and what is merely allowable or permissive. 

24 We think there is a strong continuing role for non25 regulatory guidance to explain and provide examples of

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1 implementation options and flexibilities. As a general rule,

2 we would recommend merely reiterating statutory language in

3 the upcoming regulations. And we would ask to refrain from

4 further defining terms and adding further criteria. For

5 example, the evidence-based activities definition is

6 referenced dozens of times in the statute in various context

7 and with various qualifications. The Council recommends not

8 adding further complexities to this.

9 Though the Council are big fans of database

10 decision-making, it is widely viewed by our research

11 directors that this particular provision is poorly designed

12 and overly burdensome. And further, expounding on the term,

13 as we have noted in the Federal Register November 22 Notice,

14 we think is actually unhelpful and overstated.

15 The new supplement not supplant compliance

16 methodology we think should be addressed in the regulations. 

17 And we will have recommendations on how to do that in the

18 areas of non-school level expenditures. The credibility for

19 ESSA, I think, has been a rocky situation over the last

20 decade. And I think it is in everyone's best interest

21 basically to try to rebuild that credibility. And to do so,

22 school districts need to feel like the Department is paying

23 attention to their local needs and not just listening

24 basically to state departments of education. And to do so,

25 we think that local practitioners should comprise the

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1 majority of the peer reviewers, should comprise the majority

2 of the negotiated rule-makers, and the Department should

3 focus attention on those end users, students and schools that

4 are the end users of ESSA funds.

5 In closing, to be clear, there are new challenges. 

6 There are new burdens. There are new requirements contained

7 in ESSA that most state and school districts have yet to

8 consider. And this includes, among other things, an

9 unprecedented new requirement to develop and implement

10 improvement measures in identified non-Title I schools in

11 which we can't use Title I funds to implement those

12 activities.

13 Given these expanded local ESSA responsibilities,

14 we think at the Council that we would like to have the

15 Department exercise restraint in the regulation process. And

16 we are happy to participate in other forums to discuss those

17 in more specifics. 

18 Thanks a lot.

19 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

20 MR. ROONEY: Next is Lynn Tuttle from the National

21 Association for Music Education.

22 Lynn Tuttle

23 National Association for Music Education

24 MS. TUTTLE: Hello. Good morning. My name is Lynn

25 Tuttle, and it is my honor to serve as the Senior Regulatory

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1 Policy Advisor for the National Association for Music

2 Education representing 68,000 members. Bringing music

3 education to our Nation's students and schools, we, along

4 with our coalition members and the Music Education Policy

5 Roundtable, believe that all students should have access to

6 high-quality music education.

7 Unfortunately, research from the University of

8 Indiana indicates that elementary students from urban

9 settings, from rural areas, from low income households, and

10 students of color do not share the same access to high11 quality music education as their white suburban counterparts.

12 We are excited about the potential that Every

13 Student Succeeds Act writes this wrong by providing

14 supplemental support to increase access to music education

15 for all children. We respectfully ask that the U.S.

16 Department of Education consider the following request as you

17 provide non-regulatory guidance and reporting requirements

18 for Title I(a) in support of high-quality education,

19 including music education, for all.

20 Number one, require disaggregated data for all

21 well-rounded subject educators teaching outside of their

22 credentialed teaching areas, including music educators. We

23 have anecdotal stories from our colleagues that they are

24 being asked to teach reading and math. Having the data to

25 confront this information would be extremely useful for our

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1 field. 

2 Number two, encourage states to include access to

3 music education as an other indicator determined by the state

4 in the new state-level accountability formulas. New Jersey,

5 utilizing data from its state longitudinal data system,

6 currently includes access to music and arts education as part

7 of its school report card system. Such information helps

8 advocates, philanthropists, and community leaders understand

9 where additional resources may be needed to create better

10 access to music and arts education within their states. The

11 information of statewide access to music and the arts often

12 exists, just not in accessible format for parents,

13 policymakers, researchers, and advocates to use. 

14 Number three, including samples of how music and

15 arts programs can be utilized to help children meet

16 challenging state academic standards as part of Title I

17 targeted assistance programs. While states such as

18 California and Arizona have supported arts integration and

19 arts education as part of the whole school reform models

20 under Title I school-wide programs, there are fewer models

21 utilizing targeted assistance funds in support of a well22 rounded education. Providing examples in the areas of music

23 and the arts would clarify what this could look like for

24 Title I targeted assistance schools. 

25 And finally, number four, include samples of how

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1 music and the arts support and contribute to parental and

2 family engagement. Dr. Joyce Epstein recognizes audience

3 participation at student concerts as one of the reasons which

4 parents successfully connect with their schools. Making this

5 connection between concert participation, music education,

6 and family engagement would help call out how music and the

7 arts contribute to a school's culture and climate.

8 Additional suggestions, including non-regulatory

9 guidance or reporting requests for Titles II and IV, will be

10 submitted through the electronic portal.

11 Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to bring

12 these suggestions to your attention. Of all the issues we

13 fight for as an association of music educators, access to

14 music education for all of our Nation's students, students in

15 rural classrooms, students in inner cities, students from

16 diverse backgrounds, students from homes in poverty, is by

17 far the most important. We are excited about the potential

18 and the possibility ESSA provides in making certain every

19 American child can share in the joy of making music during

20 the school day.

21 Thank you.

22 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

23 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Next is Dimple Patel from the

24 National Indian Education Association.

25

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1 Dimple Patel

2 National Indian Education Association

3 MS. PATEL: Hi. Good morning, everyone. My name

4 is Dimple Patel. I'm here on behalf of the National Indian

5 Education Association. NIEA is the most representative and

6 inclusive organization that represents the needs of all

7 Native youth. Our membership consists of tribal leaders,

8 students, educators, and researchers. Our mission is to

9 advance the educational opportunities for all Native youth

10 through advocacy, research, and capacity building. 

11 So on behalf of the National Indian Education

12 Association I would like to thank the Department of Education

13 for allowing us to share some of our comments regarding Title

14 I implementation. As we transition out of the No Child Left

15 Behind era and begin discussing what implementation looks

16 like in the Every Student Succeeds Act, NIEA wants to make

17 sure that the needs of Native youth are both supported and

18 addressed. And we believe that that begins with meaningful

19 tribal consultation.

20 NIEA wants to emphasize the need for educational

21 entities to collaborate and coordinate efforts to better

22 support our Nation's most vulnerable youth. Through ESSA for

23 the first time ever tribes have the opportunity to play more

24 of an active role in educating their citizens. As excited as

25 we are for this win on behalf of Indian Country, we are also

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1 cautious about how states will engage with tribes in regards

2 to consultation, which is why NIEA would recommend that the

3 Department of Education better define meaningful consultation

4 between tribes, states, and local educational agencies. For

5 the shift of power from the federal to state level it is

6 vital that the Department of Education provide clear

7 expectations about what is meaningful consultation versus

8 merely suggesting that it occurs. 

9 Particularly as it relates to tribes, the framework

10 for consultation has already been developed. In 2009 the

11 presidential memorandum on tribal consultation was issued to

12 agency heads regarding consultation with Indian tribes

13 pursuant to Executive Order 13175. The memorandum directed

14 each agency head to develop a plan of action for implementing

15 consultation and coordination with Indian tribal governments,

16 as it later recognized the Federal Government's trust

17 responsibility to Native communities.

18 Through treaties, federal law, U.S. Supreme Court

19 decisions, the Federal Government has a trust responsibility

20 to provide adequate resources to Native education. NIEA

21 agrees with the Department of Education's process for tribal

22 engagement through identification, outreach, consultation,

23 and follow-up. We firmly believe that in order for

24 meaningful consultation to occur it has to happen at the

25 earliest possible stage. NIEA recommends that the Department

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1 of Education uses this outline police as the basis of its

2 regulations on tribal consultation. 

3 We also stand in solidarity with our civil rights

4 partner in urging for strong community involvement and

5 meaningful engagement for implementing Title I programs. 

6 Lastly, since a core component of consultation is

7 incorporating the voices of those affected by ESSA, we

8 encourage the Department of Education to continue hosting

9 several regional meetings since today's public hearing and

10 the one hosted next week in L.A. will not holistically

11 reflect all those affected by ESSA. 

12 We appreciate the opportunity for education

13 stakeholders to submit comments online. However, less than

14 ten percent of Indian Country has access to broadband

15 internet technology, making it challenging to receive tribal

16 input. For several generations, Indian leaders and Native

17 education stakeholders have urged policymakers to work

18 collaboratively with tribes. With the ESSA pass, tribes and

19 states have a fresh opportunity to combine efforts in

20 providing both a quality and culturally appropriate education

21 to our students. Through the inclusion of NIEA's

22 recommendations the Department of Education will ensure that

23 Title I better supports the needs of our students.

24 Finally, NIEA also supports our civil rights

25 partners ask regarding assessments, accountability, data

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1 reporting, and educator equity. So as we move forward in

2 implementing Title I, we are looking forward to working with

3 you all.

4 Thank you.

5 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

6 MR. ROONEY: Thank you. 

7 Next is Jamy Brice-Hyde.

8 Jamy Brice-Hyde

9 MS. BRICE-HYDE: Hello. My name is Jamy Brice10 Hyde, and I am the first classroom teacher to speak today. I

11 am currently teaching at Horseheads High School. I've been

12 there for 17 years, and I teach social studies and political

13 participation and comparative politics. On Friday when I

14 told my students I wouldn't be there today for them, they

15 said, they always ask, "Why aren't you going to be here? 

16 What's wrong?" And I said, "No. I'm coming to speak to the

17 Department of Education." And they were so proud of me and

18 so excited, because they knew, as a matter of fact on

19 December 18, they knew that the ESSA had been passed. And

20 they were excited about it, because their teacher, me,

21 spearheaded a quality of work life study with Badass Teachers

22 Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

23 Thirty-one thousand teachers responded to that

24 survey over a period of ten days last May. What that survey

25 revealed was the demoralization of my profession. And what

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1 it also told me is that something needed to change. So when

2 ESSA was reauthorized, I said, wow, I have a little bit of

3 hope. There is a spark of sun ray out there for me and my

4 kids.

5 There is no corporation organization that paid my

6 way to come here today. I drove myself six hours from the

7 Southern Tier of New York with my darling husband and came

8 here because of my kids. My kids are my students. They are

9 everything to me. The only people that mean more to me than

10 my students is my husband and my daughter. There is nothing

11 more important to a teacher than their students. And every

12 tell teacher will tell you they will do everything they

13 possibly can to give their children, their students, the best

14 education possible. 

15 Our hope is that the ESSA will give us an

16 opportunity to change course, because that has not been

17 possible under No Child Left Behind nor has it been possible

18 under Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind on steroids. 

19 I'm concerned that I'm the only teacher that has

20 spoken so far today. There is a huge divide and an enormous

21 trust issue between public educators, parents, kids, this

22 Department, and this Department and public policymakers. We

23 have to change that, if we're really going to improve public

24 education. The accountability system under No Child Left

25 Behind and under Race to the Top has destroyed teachers. We

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1 have been lambasted publicly by multiple billionaire-run

2 organizations saying we're the problem. I've got news for

3 you folks out there. A test score is not going to tell you

4 what these kids need. One in four kids in my State of New

5 York live in poverty. Fix it, not the test. 

6 So I came with all this hope, but I didn't tell my

7 kids something. I told them, "Oh, I'm hopeful it's going to

8 be great. It's going to be wonderful." I didn't tell them

9 that the Department of Education sent a letter to every state

10 saying, "If you don't have a 95 percent participation rate in

11 your test, we're going withholding funding." How can you do

12 that? How? We need time. We need time to fix this. We can

13 fix this. 

14 If this was a room full of educators, I guarantee

15 you you would have a ten-point plan before we left today,

16 because we know what needs to be done in our classrooms. We

17 know how this bill -- and I read all of it -- we know how

18 this is going to look in our classroom. We know what it

19 needs to look like. I know how to help the urban children. 

20 I work in a rural school district. I will tell you I have

21 seen an increase in food security in my district. It's scary

22 what's happening out there.

23 And then your Department sends a letter that says

24 if you don't have 95 percent of the kids taking the test,

25 we're going to withhold your funding. I can't -- I can't

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1 even fathom the -- to me, it's unconscionable. It's

2 unconscionable. It's not acceptable. It's not right for my

3 kids.

4 Next I would like to say one other thing. My

5 students asked me to tell you that they envision a school

6 system where they get their field trips back. We haven't had

7 field trips since 2008, 2009. And then 2010 we lost 23

8 percent of our teachers in my district. We have had trouble

9 filling open positions. There's a teacher shortage. It's

10 not just in my district. It's nationwide. 

11 We have to reset the button, but we have to rebuild

12 our trust between the Department of Education and teacher sin

13 the classroom and all these organizations that we're lucky

14 enough to have someone to pay their way here. We need time. 

15 Don't take our money away. We are so -- we are strapped so

16 tight. My department, my social studies department, we used

17 to have 16 teachers. We're now running on 11. And that

18 meant the kids don't get those special classes.

19 The kids want portfolios to follow them through

20 their school years. They are so stressed out about these

21 tests. They don't even -- they just want to know -- give me

22 the right answer by my side. Give me the right answer. Just

23 tell me what it is. No. You have to learn to think. 

24 Those bubble tests, my kid is in college. She is

25 not -- she has taken two bubble tests in four years of

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1 college. She is a senior this year. It is all experiential

2 learning, collaboration, and technology. 

3 So I went totally off what I wrote, because this

4 was a teachable moment. Please don't take our funding away. 

5 In New York there's a task force report, which I have

6 provided with you guys. They put a moratorium on these tests

7 because they're that bad. And parents are going to opt out

8 their kids. My school district had an 18-percent opt-out

9 rate. Can I tell you something? I would love to control

10 parents as a teacher. Guess what? I can't. I have no

11 control over somebody's parents. I only have control what

12 goes on in my classroom and in my school. So why would you

13 punish me and my school and all the other kids for what a

14 parent is doing what they think is the right thing to do?

15 I've run out of time. I hope I can come back and

16 talk to you again. Thank you.

17 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

18 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

19 (Applause)

20 MR. ROONEY: I think next on the list was Adam

21 Fernandez from MALDEF. I think he had to leave early. If

22 someone else from MALDEF wanted to speak in his place, we

23 would be happy to hear from that organization.

24 (No response.)

25 MR. ROONEY: Otherwise we will move to the next

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1 person, which is Dan Weisberg from TNTP.

2 Dan Weisberg

3 TNTP

4 MR. WEISBERG: Good morning. My name is Dan

5 Weisberg. I'm the CEO of TNTP, a national nonprofit

6 organization founded by teachers and dedicated to ensuring

7 that all students learn from great teachers. TNTP has had

8 the great good fortune of working with many of the largest

9 school systems in the country over the last two decades. We

10 have seen firsthand how the Elementary and Secondary

11 Education Act, and Title I specifically, has served as a

12 crucial backstop to ensure that our most vulnerable students

13 are treated equitably.

14 That role is more important now than ever. Despite

15 the best efforts of dedicated educators and policymakers, low

16 income students, students of color, students with

17 disabilities, and English learners still face daunting

18 inequities at every turn in funding, access to rigorous

19 courses, and especially access to the most powerful school20 based factor in student success, that is, access to effective

21 teachers.

22 Thank you for the opportunity to offer advice on

23 how the Department can continue Title I's long legacy of

24 promoting educational equity. I want to briefly highlight

25 opportunities in four aspects of the new law: Statewide

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1 accountability systems, assessments, school support and

2 improvement, and equity distribution of teachers.

3 We believe the direct measures of student

4 achievement should continue to be the predominant factor in

5 accountability systems. ESSA provides new flexibility to

6 include factors beyond student achievement, providing an

7 opportunity for states to improve accountability systems and

8 capture a fuller picture of school performance, but only if

9 new systems are design strategically. And the Department

10 should help states make the most of this opportunity by

11 providing detailed guidance and technical assistance around

12 the usefulness of different measures and how to incorporate

13 them effectively into accountability systems.

14 For example, students and teachers can provide

15 enormously valuable input about classroom and school culture,

16 but this information is only useful as an accountability

17 measure if states ask the right questions on surveys. The

18 Department should establish guidelines that require the use

19 of tools that have demonstrated a link to student

20 achievement.

21 When it comes to assessments, states should be

22 required to provide detailed evidence that their academic

23 standards prepare students for success with credit-bearing

24 post-secondary course work and that assessment schools use

25 valid and reliability measures of progress against these

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1 standards. 

2 Oversight by the Department will especially

3 important in cases where districts opt to use locally

4 selected assessments at the high school level. ESSA requires

5 LEAs to include evidence-based interventions in their plans

6 for any school identified as needing comprehensive or

7 targeted support and improvement. To ensure that these plans

8 actually help schools get better results for the student they

9 serve, the Department should define evidence-based as a

10 demonstrated relationship to student academic growth or

11 leading indicators to student growth, such as retention of

12 effective teachers.

13 And because struggling schools often have a

14 disproportionately low percentage of effective teachers and a

15 disproportionately high percentage of ineffective teachers,

16 the Department should also require intervention plans to

17 include and report on strategies to address this inequity. 

18 Correcting this disparity is an essential part of any

19 successful intervention strategy in our experience, and it is

20 also eminently feasible. In our work we have seen strategies

21 such as early hiring time lines, mutual consent staffing

22 processes, and a focus on retaining effective teachers lead

23 to real improvements in teacher effectiveness and student

24 success at low-performing schools.

25 To ensure that school turnarounds are sustainable

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1 over the long run, the Department's regulation should ensure

2 that communities have a real voice in intervention plans

3 before they are set in stone. Given the opportunity and the

4 right information, local stakeholders could play an

5 instrumental role in improving school culture, aligning

6 community-based resources to support turnaround efforts, and

7 even the selection of school leaders.

8 ESSA requires that states report on efforts to

9 ensure that low income and minority students are not

10 disproportionately taught by ineffective teachers. The

11 Department should use this requirement to continue its push

12 for accurate teacher evaluation systems. Though ESSA

13 regrettably doesn't allow the Secretary to require particular

14 indicators or specific measures within evaluation systems,

15 the ban on inequitable distribution of teachers would be

16 rendered meaningless without systems that accurately identify

17 ineffective teaches and distinguish them from their more

18 effective peers. Given this, the Department can and should

19 require that all states have such a system and should define

20 effectiveness as the demonstrated ability to ensure that

21 students meet challenging state standards however the state

22 measures that ability.

23 These regulations wouldn't run afoul of the statute

24 but would encourage states to continue developing evaluation

25 systems that meaningfully differentiate teacher performance

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1 so that fewer schools will be flying blind as they work to

2 improve.

3 Thank you very much.

4 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

5 MR. ROONEY: Next we will hear from Sandra David

6 from the Baltimore Teachers Union.

7 Sandra Davis

8 Baltimore Teachers Union

9 MS. DAVIS: Good morning. Thank you for the

10 opportunity to provide comments as you work to shape

11 regulations and guidance around the new Every Student

12 Succeeds Act. My name is Sandra Davis. I am

13 paraprofessional member of the Baltimore Teachers Union. I

14 work at REACH! Partnership High School within the Baltimore

15 City Public School System, currently assigned as a one-to-one

16 to a student with disabilities. And I have done that for 26

17 years.

18 In my school and district and in my community we

19 applauded the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act as it

20 seemed to close the book on the damaging aspects of No Child

21 Left Behind, Race to the Top, and Waivers. I was excited to

22 hear that this law will not mandate school closures or

23 turning a neighborhood public school into a charter school,

24 but will allow supportive interventions designed with input

25 from parents, educators, and community members, those who

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1 know best what their schools need.

2 I hope that as you make and enforce the rules

3 around this law that you really emphasize the need to involve

4 educators, parents, and community members in the individual

5 school plans. I am also very happy that this new law retains

6 one of the few things that the No Child Left Behind Act got

7 right, the requirements for paraprofessional certification. 

8 I passed the parapro assessment and became a highly qualified

9 paraprofessional.

10 I can tell you that in my job I need those

11 certification requirements. I am often teacher, social

12 worker, and mother to the students, as well as officially a

13 paraprofessional. These certification requirements will help

14 prevent school districts from hiring paraprofessionals with

15 little educational experience or professional training, which

16 is not the kind of people you want in schools when so much

17 emphasis is ensuring that students are ready for college and

18 a career.

19 I hope that the U.S. Department of Education

20 enforces the paraprofessional certification requirements in

21 states and districts. I am also pleased to learn that in

22 Title II the part of the law that provides funds to support

23 educators, including allowing funds to be used for

24 professional development or career ladders. Districts and

25 states must consult with paraprofessionals among others in

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1 the development of their plans. I urge the Department not to

2 ignore the importance of paraprofessionals in the

3 implementation of ESSA.

4 Finally, I am glad that ESSA will provides funds to

5 develop more community schools and will allow Title I funds

6 to be used for community school coordinator lookup. In

7 Baltimore I have seen how community schools really support

8 families and provide as many services as health, social,

9 educational. They combat the many problems that go along

10 with poverty. I would like to see the Department of

11 Education encourage the use of Title I funds on community

12 school coordinators not just allow such a use. 

13 Thank you again for this opportunity to provide

14 comments. I would be happy to continue the discussion with

15 any representative from the U.S. Department of Education. 

16 Thank you.

17 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

18 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

19 Okay. Next is Zakiya Sankara-Jabar from the

20 Dignity in School Campaign.

21 Zakiya Sankara-Jabar

22 Dignity in Schools Campaign

23 MS. SANKARA-JABAR: Good morning. My name is

24 Zakiya Sankara-Jabar. I am a parent organizer and Executive

25 Director of Racial Justice Now based in Dayton, Ohio. We are

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1 a parent organizing and community-based organization that

2 focuses primarily on organizing African American parents in

3 low income communities around Dayton and Montgomery County,

4 Ohio. I am also the National Co-Chair for the National

5 Dignity in Schools Campaign. Dignity in Schools Campaign is

6 a national coalition of youth, parents, educators, lawyers,

7 and advocates working to ensure that all children are treated

8 with dignity and respect in the classroom.

9 I appreciate the Department for giving me this

10 opportunity as a directly impacted parent of punitive school

11 discipline policies. I believe I'm the first person to

12 really focus on school discipline as it relates to school

13 climate and culture. I am excited that the ESSA does address

14 and includes, as one of the indicators for student success

15 and school quality, school climate. 

16 To that end, we would urge the Department 

17 (technical difficulty)--- regulation and provide technical

18 assessment to schools that have addressed the requirement and

19 safety that aligns with the 2014 issuance of Joint Guidance

20 on School Discipline issued by this Department and the

21 Department of Justice. In the law it does require, as an

22 indicator, that school climate and school quality does impact

23 student success. Students obviously cannot learn if they are

24 not even in the classroom. Students cannot learn or achieve

25 if they don't feel a sense of respect and love as they attend

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1 school.

2 Schools with overly punitive school discipline

3 practices like suspension or expulsions, those students are

4 more likely to drop out of school and to be retained a grade. 

5 Schools cannot succeed if students are pushed out. In fact,

6 punitive provisions of the No Child Left Behind law motivated

7 many schools to push students out of schools to inflate test

8 scores. And ESSA should urge schools to keep all students in

9 school and enhance learning for all students.

10 For example, in the State of Ohio black students

11 make up only 13 percent of the overall student enrollment,

12 but 52 percent of all out-of-school suspensions and

13 expulsions. We think that the Department should definitely

14 make sure that regulations around despair impact and

15 disproportionality, in accordance with Title VI, is

16 definitely something that schools and states should be held

17 accountable for, and Ohio should be number one.

18 In the regulations, guidance and/or technical

19 assistance, states should ensure the needs assessment is a

20 fully examined area for improvement to enforce safe and

21 healthy school environments, including reducing the presence

22 of police in schools, reducing suspension and expulsion

23 rates, and addressing in a meaningful way disproportionality

24 and discipline along racial, gender, and disability lines.

25 In the regulation, guidance and/or technical

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1 assistance to states should urge local education agencies to

2 meaningfully include parents and other stakeholders in

3 developing a needs assessment, including and being receptive

4 to the input and ideas about fostering safe and healthy

5 school environments. Regulations, guidance, and technical

6 assistance to states is needed to help LEAs identify partners

7 for programming under Title I, give strong consideration to

8 nonprofit community-based organizations and entities to

9 partner with schools. Community-based organizations who have

10 a foothold in the relationship with parents and other

11 stakeholders in the community should definitely be considered

12 first as a partner in local education agencies. Guidance is

13 needed to ensure that for-profits do not monopolize upon

14 these opportunities without having the needed expertise and

15 experience in serving in low income school districts,

16 guidance needed to ensure distribution of funds is

17 geographically diverse, guidance for how schools can monitor,

18 track, and report on the use of funds to ensure that they

19 will be used as intended. This is key for accountability. 

20 And finally, I would like to again thank the

21 Department for allowing me to have this opportunity to

22 address this body and to address you. I am happy to be here

23 as a parent, again, of a student who was overly disciplined

24 starting at the age of three years old. We all know that

25 African American students, in particular African American

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1 male students, are disproportionately impacted by

2 suspensions, expulsions, and even school-based arrests. And

3 we are here to highlight that as an issue and hope that the

4 Department will consider very strongly regulations around how

5 that looks in local education agencies and in states.

6 Thank you very much.

7 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

8 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Next is Alice Cain from Teach

9 Plus.

10 Alice Cain

11 Teach Plus

12 MS. CAIN: Good morning. I am Alice Johnson Cain,

13 the EVP at Teach Plus. I'm also a former GED and ELL teacher

14 and the parent of two public school children, including one

15 child in a locally designated challenge school. Teach Plus

16 is a national nonpartisan nonprofit that empowers effective

17 experienced teachers to become leaders in policy and practice

18 issues that affect their students. Since 2009 we have grown

19 from working with a handful of teachers in Boston to now

20 working with tens of thousands of teachers in cities across

21 the country. All of our teachers are high performing and all

22 teach in high poverty schools. Their students arguably have

23 the most at stake as the new law is implemented.

24 I would like to cover two things today, share some

25 themes I have heard from our nearly 4,000 teachers who were

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1 involved in ESSA advocacy, and make suggestions that I think

2 can make a difference in ensuring implementation is

3 successful for as many students as possible.

4 I would add that Teach Plus is a proud partner of

5 the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

6 Coalition. And we support the perspective as shared in more

7 detailed by Liz King earlier.

8 Teach Plus teachers spent significant time sharing

9 their expertise with policymakers who wrote ESSA. This

10 included testifying before the House and Senate,

11 participating in three congressional briefings, four Hill

12 Days, a series of flash polls, and dozens of meetings with

13 policymakers both in D.C. and in members' congressional

14 districts. 

15 Our teachers focused on four issues: Assessment,

16 accountability, resource equity, and teacher leadership. 

17 They are strong proponents of continuing annual statewide

18 assessments because they believe these assessments can and

19 should be used to improve the quality of education and

20 effectiveness of interventions. In the words of Alex

21 Fuentes, one of our teacher leaders in Virginia, "You cannot

22 separate assessment from teaching. I need to know what my

23 students do and do not understand. State tests give me data

24 on how my students are doing relative to other students, and

25 I need that reality check. State tests also provide data

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1 that states and districts can use to develop and refine

2 teacher evaluation systems that recognize and reward

3 excellent teaching, helping to keep the most effective

4 teachers in the classroom." But strict enforcement of the

5 95-percent requirement also matters to our teachers. They

6 have seen what happens when their students are excluded and

7 states cannot be permitted under any circumstances go to

8 backwards in that way.

9 Our teachers are support meaningful accountability

10 connected to action. We conducted a flash poll of over 1,000

11 teachers last June that found nearly three quarters of our

12 teachers support requiring states to intervene when schools

13 don't demonstrate growth for needy students. 

14 Our teachers who helped develop the smart act

15 provisions of the law see a strong connection between

16 assessment, accountability, and resource equity. In the

17 words of one of our Chicago teacher leaders, Mika Minor*,

18 "The annual testing data must be used to allocate resources

19 and reevaluate practices and programs that help improve

20 learning outcomes. We should approach this with the idea of

21 improvement based on capacity building and innovation in

22 order to help us as a nation give all students the same

23 chance to succeed."

24 The final thing I want to comment on is teacher

25 leadership. We are thrilled by the provisions supporting

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1 teacher leadership, as well as the new Secretary's desire to

2 make elevating the teaching profession one of his top

3 priorities. I have some advice here on what not to do. 

4 Whatever you do, please do not think of this as a separate

5 add-on siloed activity. Instead please think explicitly

6 about the links between teacher leadership and your other

7 policy goals. Ideally with the recognition that getting

8 teacher leadership right is a means to an end, to better

9 policy implementation and ultimately better student outcomes.

10 Elevating teacher voice at the state level, as the

11 law is implemented, will make all the difference in its

12 ultimate success or failure. States that include teachers in

13 a meaningful way in decisions, including key decisions about

14 their new state accountability systems, decisions about which

15 assessments to eliminate, and decisions about how to allocate

16 resources based on data, will be more successful in closing

17 the achievement gap than states that don't include teachers

18 in a meaningful way. And states asking teachers at the end

19 of the process to rubberstamp decisions that are made along

20 the way by others does not count as including teachers in a

21 meaningful way. I hope the Department will do everything

22 possible to ensure teachers have a seat at the table in

23 states from the beginning of the implementation process. 

24 We are excited about the new Title II provisions

25 designed to assist states and LEAs in retaining effective

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1 teachers, including opportunities for effective teachers to

2 lead evidence-based PD for their peers, provide training and

3 support for teachers who are part of instructional leadership

4 teams, and providing professional growth through career paths

5 that incorporate hybrid rules that allow teachers to lead

6 instructional coaching or mentoring while remaining in the

7 classroom with a reduced load. This is something I hear over

8 and over from teachers across the country that they want.

9 One of our D.C. teacher leaders, Megan Dunn, is

10 participating in a DCPS initiative that enables teachers to

11 spend part of the day teaching and the other part engaging in

12 leadership activities. Initiatives like this are essential

13 to improving student outcomes and extending great teachers'

14 commitment to and time in the classroom. I hope you will do

15 everything possible to ensure as many teachers as possible

16 from across the country have the opportunity to grow

17 professionally in similar ways.

18 Thank you.

19 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

20 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

21 Before we go to the next to the last person on the

22 list schedule for this morning's session, I did want to say

23 that we will have a little bit of extra time. We have had

24 one or two people who walked in and asked to speak this

25 morning. If anyone else would like to speak before the end

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1 of the morning session, please go the registration table so

2 we can try to accommodate as many of them as possible before

3 we break. So if you would like to do that, please go to the

4 registration table.

5 Otherwise we will go to our last scheduled teacher,

6 which is Delia Pompa from the Migration Policy Institute.

7 Delia Pompa

8 Migration Policy Institute

9 MS. POMPA: Good morning. Thank you for the

10 opportunity to comment on the appropriate implementation of

11 the Every Student Succeeds Act with regard to English

12 learners. I am Delia Pompa, a senior fellow in Education

13 Policy at the Migration Policy Institute. The Migration

14 Policy Institute, or MPI, is one of the world's preeminent

15 policy institutions dedicated to the study of migration

16 trends and their effects on communities and to the evaluation

17 of policy options for the effective integration of immigrants

18 into all institutions. MPI is committed to strengthening

19 democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, and

20 advancing inclusive economic growth and human achievement. 

21 Having studied education policies that support

22 successful integration of English learners into our Nation's

23 schools for the last 15 years, our interest in the passage of

24 ESSA and its successful implementation is built on solid

25 data, impartial analysis, deep understanding of political

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1 processes, the engagement of multiple stakeholders in our

2 research and analysis, as well as by our interest in the

3 well-being of all children.

4 Thus, we are encouraged by the newly required

5 inclusion of English proficiency outcomes in states

6 accountability systems. This provision is an important

7 example of where additional clarification and technical

8 assistance is required from the Department of Education. 

9 Regulations that define parameters for how English

10 proficiency will figure into a state's academic indicators

11 should take into account the size of the English language

12 population in a particular state, growth in proficiency

13 levels in the EL population, and the grade level distribution

14 of all the EL population.

15 Certainly imbedded in these regulations should be

16 guidance on how to measure progress in English proficiency

17 versus measuring English proficiency itself. Fortunately,

18 there is a body of research from which to define these

19 parameters and examples from a few states on how to

20 operationalize this knowledge. The Department must define

21 parameters for ensuring that English proficiency outcomes are

22 included in a manner that reflects analysis of existing data

23 and best practice. Doing so is key to fulfilling the law's

24 intent to include the full spectrum of English learners'

25 performance in accountability.

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1 Closely related to inclusion of EL outcomes in

2 accountability frameworks is the new requirement that states

3 develop standardized entry processes into special language

4 services and exit a reclassification from these services. 

5 This new provision will drive equity in both identification

6 and appropriate services, if implemented well. Just as a

7 student's access to a good education should not be determined

8 by his zip code, an English learner's right to an appropriate

9 education cannot rely on politically driven identification

10 procedures and criteria.

11 Again, the Department must synthesize and

12 disseminate research and best practice through regulation and

13 guidance, and in this case also ensure that parameters

14 reflect federal protections established through judicial

15 rulings. 

16 The law now permits states to include in the EL

17 subgroup EL students up to four years after they have exited

18 special language services. Including former English learners

19 in the English learners subgroup allows states and districts

20 to present a more robust picture of how well their English

21 learner students are progressing after meeting exit criteria. 

22 However, by including English learners, excuse me, by

23 including former English learners, overall scores for the

24 subgroup will rise and may mask the performance of current

25 English learners. The Department must address this issue

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1 through the regulatory process requiring states to carefully

2 disaggregate and monitor achievement for current English

3 learners and to address any downward trends in performance as

4 soon as they are noted.

5 Further reporting requirements for English learners

6 with disabilities, long-term English learners, and recently

7 arrived English learners will require guidance to clarify

8 operational definitions. Additionally, as the Department

9 considers how states will determine the size of their English

10 learner population, they should take care to consider data

11 generated through modeling of the various methods and provide

12 regulation and guidance reflecting the outcomes of that

13 modeling.

14 The federal roll in education has been critical to

15 safeguarding the civil and educational rights of English

16 learners, and it is important to ensure that gains in federal

17 law are not lost in state and local accountability plans. 

18 That will mean an increased need for broader and deeper

19 dissemination of what research has yielded about this group

20 of learners. But it would also mean consultation with all

21 stakeholders who count on this law to support an equitable

22 and excellent education for all English learners. 

23 MPI looks forward to working alongside the

24 Department to bring ESSA to full implementation beginning

25 with the regulatory process and continuing through provision

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1 of much-needed information and technical assistance to

2 various communities that support English learners. We will

3 be submitting written comments to expand upon my brief

4 remarks today.

5 Thank you. 

6 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

7 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

8 And before we take any of the walk-ins who asked to

9 speak, I wanted to see if Susie Saavedra or one of her

10 colleagues from the National Urban League has arrived and if

11 there is interest in speaking. 

12 (No response.)

13 MR. ROONEY: So a few people signed in as walk-ins. 

14 And I will call your names and if you would like to come up

15 and speak, please do so. The first is Heather Noonan from

16 the League of American Orchestras.

17 Heather Noonan

18 League of American Orchestras

19 MS. NOONAN: Thank you for the opportunity to

20 provide comments regarding implementation of the Every

21 Student Succeeds Act. I'm Heather Noonan, Vice President for

22 Advocacy for the League of American Orchestras. The League

23 of American Orchestras is a national service organization for

24 more than 1,300 youth, collegiate, community, and

25 professional orchestras throughout this country. And as 

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1 nonprofit, community-based organizations, orchestras partner

2 with parents, educators, and other public stakeholders in

3 pursuing increased, more equitable access to arts education

4 in our Nation's schools.

5 Fully supporting the arts has proven to improve

6 students' success and transform the learning environment. 

7 And yet the U.S. Department of Education's 2012 fast response

8 statistical survey found that students in the highest poverty

9 schools have the least access to arts education. 

10 In its definition of a well-rounded education, the

11 new federal law recognizes music and the arts as essential to

12 a complete education for all students. Guidance from the

13 U.S. Department of Education should encourage states to be

14 publicly transparent about the gaps in access to arts

15 education in Title I schools.

16 U.S. Department of Education guidance can also

17 bring forward examples of how the arts are effective in

18 meeting Title I goals. In identifying examples, the U.S.

19 Department of Education can highlight projects supported by

20 its own arts education, model development, and dissemination

21 program, and professional development program, both of which

22 have supported projects proven to improve student

23 achievement.

24 Finally, in support of ESSA's goal of supporting

25 equitable access to a complete education, we urge the

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1 Department to more frequently collect data regarding arts

2 education in its routine data collection instruments and

3 through more frequent implementation of the national

4 assessment of education progress in the arts. 

5 The assessment frameworks that accompany the

6 standards represent dynamic examples of portfolio and

7 performance-based assessments and practices that measure what

8 students know and are able to do. These practices can serve

9 as a helpful resource as states develop assessment strategies

10 for all subjects that comprise a complete education.

11 Thank you for the opportunity to participate in

12 this process. The League of American Orchestras looks

13 forward to submitting more detailed written comments for the

14 record. We and our member orchestras look forward to

15 partnering with stakeholders in this room and at the state

16 and local level in pursuit of a complete education for all

17 students.

18 Thank you. 

19 MR. ROONEY: Thank you. 

20 And I think Susie Saavedra from the National Urban

21 League just came in. So if she is ready, we are happy to

22 take comments from her.

23 Susie Saavedra

24 National Urban League

25 MS. SAAVEDRA: Good morning. The National Urban

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1 League is the Nation's leading civil rights and urban

2 advocacy organization. And our recommendations are derived

3 from our 104-plus years of advocacy in education and the

4 direct educational services provided by our 94 affiliates in

5 over 300 communities in 36 states and the District of

6 Columbia.

7 Collectively, our movement has served over 2.2

8 million children in the last decade, providing youth a

9 variety of high-quality programs, supports, and services

10 ranging from stem focus after school learning opportunities

11 to running charter schools.

12 During the development and eventual passage of the

13 Every Student Succeeds Act, our movement advocated for strong

14 accountability, resource equity, transparent data, and

15 continued federal oversight. As we move forward into this

16 regulatory phase, our comments will focus on several areas: 

17 accountability, meaningful engagement of families,

18 communities and stakeholders, resource equity, and data

19 reporting.

20 For our first priority, we would like to see the

21 Department ensure that state accountability systems are

22 driven by student outcomes and trigger timely interventions. 

23 There are aspects of the accountability system that require

24 clarification in our view. We believe that it is Congress's

25 intent that state accountability systems should be driven by

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1 student outcome indicators, thus our comments will encourage

2 the Department to clarify the meaning of substantial weight

3 and much greater.

4 We would also like to clarify parameters for the

5 fifth indicator. We also believe that it is Congress's

6 intention for student to begin receiving interventions in a

7 timely fashion and will provide comments encouraging the

8 Department to clarify timelines. 

9 For our second priority, meaningfully engaging

10 families, communities, and stakeholders, we have long11 standing concerns about the manner in which states and

12 localities have engaged families, communities, and other

13 stakeholders in previous iterations of the Elementary and

14 Second Education Act. We believe it would be helpful for

15 states if meaningful stakeholder engagement is defined. 

16 This is of particular importance because the

17 development of state plans and local school improvement plans

18 require engagement. We also believe this will be helpful as

19 states streamline, development, and select their assessments.

20 Our third priority is ensuring the promise of

21 resource equity. Resource equity is a driving factor for

22 inequitable educational outcomes. Congress agrees and has

23 emphasized in ESSA the need to address resources as part of

24 the improvement process. Because these are new provisions,

25 we believe it would be helpful for states to receive some

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1 additional guidance to achieve the promise of these

2 provisions.

3 And our fourth priority is ensuring that data is

4 accessible and understandable to the public. Congress

5 requires states to provide data about student outcomes across

6 multiple outlets. Data shed sunlight on educational

7 practices and progress. We want to ensure that this

8 information is both easy to find and easy to understand, as

9 it is another way that families and communities can hold

10 decision-makers accountable for their actions.

11 Thanks for the opportunity to participate in

12 today's meeting. And we will be submitting a longer list

13 with more details for the public record. Thank you.

14 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

15 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

16 The next member of the public who signed in is Mary

17 Kingston Roche from, it looks like, CCS. Is that correct?

18 If you could -- a reminder that five minutes for

19 your comments. And if you could let us know your

20 organization when you start, we would appreciate that. Thank

21 you. 

22 Mary Kingston Roche

23 Coalition for Community Schools

24 MS. KINGSTON ROCHE: Good morning and thank you for

25 the opportunity to submit our comments. I am Mary Kingston

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1 Roche, Director of Public Policy with the Coalition for

2 Community Schools. The new Every Student Succeeds Act

3 contains key provisions that advance the principle that

4 partnerships among school, family, and community are

5 essential for student success. The bill's passage is a

6 pivotal moment for the community schools' movement, which is

7 built on that principle.

8 It empowers state and district leaders to rethink

9 strategies to support all students and to see their

10 communities as vital resources in that effort. As a

11 coalition of over 200 national, state, and local partners,

12 the Coalition for Community Schools represents many voices. 

13 These include education, like the School Superintendents

14 Association, National Education Association, American

15 Federation of Teachers, health like Trust America's Health

16 and the School-Based Health Alliance, youth development like

17 YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs, and others like United Way

18 Worldwide. And we represent more than 150 communities

19 pursuing the community school strategy.

20 For Title I we offer a few specific comments today,

21 and we will be submitting more through comments by January

22 21. First, we are very pleased that the law requires states

23 to incorporate at least one nonacademic indicator into their

24 accountability system. This provision represents a

25 significant recognition of the multiple factors that

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1 influence young people's success. We feel that while states

2 should carefully consider which indicators will be most

3 meaningful to include, the Department should encourage states

4 to develop a comprehensive framework for results that ties

5 the academic and nonacademic indicators together. This will

6 ensure that the nonacademic indicators are not just an

7 additional data point that states will collect, but is a

8 powerful tool to drive how states will support students to

9 succeed.

10 We urge the Department to encourage states to

11 undertake an inclusive outreach strategy to determine the

12 indicators that includes educators, families, and community

13 partners. Such a process is most likely to lead to

14 indicators that meet three key criteria.

15 One, communications power, that it is explanatory

16 for a broad and diverse audience. Two, proxy power. It is

17 of central importance and will drive actors to work together. 

18 And three, data power based on data that is reliable and

19 consistent.

20 The second recommendation is that we urge the

21 Department to include community partners as stakeholders to

22 be consulted for LEA plans alongside educators and parents. 

23 Under ESSA, states and districts must report a broader set of

24 results toward beyond academics, including chronic absence,

25 school discipline, and school climate data. Experience tells

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1 us that schools must partner with their community to tackle

2 these goals together. United Ways, community-based

3 organizations, higher education institution, National Urban

4 League chapters, local government and others are already

5 involved in various ways. And the Department can affirm the

6 importance of their involvement in its regulations.

7 Community partners should be included in the

8 development of LEA plans and consultation with a group should

9 be continuous so that relationships can be deepened in impact

10 increased over time.

11 We would also point out that communities included

12 as a stakeholder for other areas in Title I, including

13 school-wide program plans and Part E for flexibility for

14 equitable per-pupil funding. So the inclusion of community

15 partners should be consistent throughout the entire law. The

16 Coalition is prepared to share tools for community engagement

17 strategies that will lead to robust community stakeholder

18 engagement for these purposes.

19 Three, we commend Congress for requiring SEAs and

20 LEAs in their Title I plans to describe how they will improve

21 school conditions for learning. We believe it is essential

22 to meet students' conditions for learning in order to prepare

23 our students to become college and career ready. Moreover,

24 when people think about conditions for learning, they are

25 thinking more comprehensively about what young people need to

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1 thrive. 

2 The Department should encourage states and

3 districts to articulate what they see as conditions for

4 learning before selecting strategies, as the set of

5 conditions will inform the implementation. The Coalition

6 recommends that states and districts consider our six

7 conditions for learning that we have articulated for years in

8 reports like making a difference, research and practice in

9 community schools. Among these are that the school has a

10 core instructional program with qualified teachers, a

11 challenging curriculum, and high standards and expectations

12 for students, that students are motivated and engaged in

13 learning both in school and in community settings during and

14 after school, and that the basic physical, mental, and

15 emotional health needs of young people and their families are

16 recognized and addressed.

17 The requirements for school-wide program plans

18 align extremely well with the major components of the

19 community school strategy. And we recommend the community

20 school strategy be referenced as a vehicle to effectively

21 implement school-wide programs. From the requirements to

22 coordinate and integrate federal, state, and local programs

23 to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of the entire

24 school, to address the needs of all the children in a school,

25 these are all activities that community schools do

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1 effectively and strategically. And we urge the Department to

2 encourage districts to tap the assets of their partners and

3 consider the community school strategy as a means to

4 implement school-wide programs at a high level.

5 Finally, the Title I requirement for a

6 comprehensive needs assessment for targeted support schools

7 and school-wide programs is a great development. There are

8 numerous community partners ready and willing to step up to

9 support the needs assessment and planning process embedded in

10 various elements of ESSA. By asking districts to involve

11 community partners in the needs assessment, the Department

12 will set the stage for these partners to be deeply engaged in

13 addressing particular needs. The Coalition will be pleased

14 to offer in our longer comments specific components of a

15 comprehensive needs assessment that we see are effective in

16 community school initiatives across the country. And we urge

17 the Department to share these and other recommended

18 components with LEAs to inform their use.

19 Thank you again, and we look forward with working

20 with the Department and our over 200 partners to ensure that

21 schools and communities together give every child every

22 chance to succeed.

23 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

24 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

25 And I think, unless there are any other additional

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1 walk-ins on the list --

2 MS. WHALEN: Have you register with the table in

3 the back?

4 MR. MARTINEZ: (Away from microphone)

5 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Great.

6 MR. MARTINEZ: I think I went to the wrong table.

7 MR. ROONEY: If you could introduce yourself and

8 your organization when you start, that will be helpful.

9 Fernando Martinez

10 Dignity in the Schools Campaign

11 MR. MARTINEZ: Hi. Well, thank you for -- my name

12 is Fernando Martinez. And I really appreciate the

13 opportunity of speaking to you today. And I also want to,

14 before I get started, I want to share with you that I'm the

15 field organizer for the Dignity in the Schools Campaign. The

16 Dignity in the Schools Campaign is a national organization

17 made out of parents, classroom teachers, legal groups,

18 advocacy groups, that come together to advocate for the human

19 right of every child in public education. And that's what

20 makes us different, because we look into the human right when

21 we talk about public education. And from that perspective, I

22 want to address you, the Department, and other stakeholders

23 specifically around the school climate as an indicator for

24 the school quality or student success, which is the Section

25 1111.

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1 And before -- number one, I would like to also

2 appreciate all the staff and the legislators and our partners

3 who actually work with community members to make sure that

4 these will be in this bill, specifically around very good

5 things around school discipline and school climate.

6 As we understand the law, there are four indicators

7 pretty much for states to choose from as a measure of school

8 quality and student success. The first two of them are

9 performance and annual assessment, four-year graduation rates

10 and progress of English language proficiency. But there is

11 the fourth one, which is optional. And it is our

12 understanding that a state can choose from five different

13 indicators also on how to measure school climate, how to

14 measure school quality and student success. I want to talk

15 to you about the school climate and safety piece, which is

16 the last one, which I think is optional.

17 We are very happy to see this measure right here,

18 but we are a little bit concerned that, you know, we need to

19 have some guidance and regulations on how a school district

20 can actually measure school climate and safety, because we

21 are concerned that safety could actually be interpreted as

22 putting more surveillance camera, putting more metal

23 detectors, putting more police around the schools. And yes,

24 we do want the students to be safe. We do want the teachers

25 to be safe in the classroom. But we must have some guidance

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1 there for schools districts to follow and they don't go on

2 the wrong direction, which criminalizing the students and the

3 parents when they actually are in the classroom. This is our

4 concern.

5 So that's the only thing. I'm not going to extend

6 it too long. I just want the Department to be strong about

7 their regulations and guidance that the school districts need

8 to follow when they are choosing to measure school climate

9 and safety. We have many community-based groups in our

10 coalition in more than 20 different states that are working

11 hand to hand with the school district and also some states. 

12 For example, in Denver, Colorado, --- is intentionally

13 working with the school district to measure this. They meet,

14 I think, twice a year with the superintendent and the chief

15 of police and the chief of safety. And they actually go

16 through, I think, some kind of checklist. And I remember

17 seeing a report card on school climate and safety.

18 So those kind of examples that are happening in

19 other communities implementing restorative justice bring in

20 more of the communities to deal with discipline are really

21 working and improving the climate. Chicago is doing police

22 circles to different schools. We see that in Miami Dade

23 County in Miami, Florida. Power Youth is also working on

24 restorative justice implementation. Los Angeles Unified

25 School District is working with a lot of our members there,

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1 the Labor Strategy Center, Cadra*, and many other member

2 public councils that are actually working with the school

3 district on school climate. And we would be happy to work

4 with the Department on some kind of like checklist, or it

5 could be a self-assessment for the school district to go and

6 say how we're implementing this, how we're measuring this,

7 how we can measure that. It could be a report card.

8 We will be happy to work on that, but we definitely

9 need a strong guidance and regulations on how measure school

10 climate. And we invite the states and the school district in

11 the community. This is an amazing opportunity to measure the

12 success for school climate. And let's work on positive

13 school climate. And we will be happy to work with those

14 states on those kind of hearings or preparing, like I said,

15 this report card or checklist. We will be happy, because we,

16 the parents, the classroom teachers, and the students, know

17 what is needed to improve the school climate. And we are

18 really concerned about enforcement and putting more money

19 behind policing the schools, as well. 

20 Thank you. 

21 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

22 Thank you all for your input and priorities this

23 morning. We really appreciate everybody taking the time to

24 come and share your thoughts and perspectives. 

25 Just a few reminders. One, we are accepting public

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1 comment to be submitted in writing through our E-rule making

2 until January 21, 2016. So if you haven't done so already,

3 please submit your comments in writing.

4 Second is that we will have transcripts of today's

5 meeting available on our website for the public to view and

6 see. It will take us a few days to turn that around, but

7 that will be available. 

8 And third, just a reminder that we are going to

9 break now for lunch. We will return at 12:15 p.m. Eastern

10 time. So those on live stream, we will be taking a break for

11 the next approximate hour. And we look forward to seeing

12 many of you back here at 12:15 and hearing from more of you

13 this afternoon. 

14 So thank you all very much.

15 (Whereupon, a luncheon recess was taken.)

16

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19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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1 A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N

2 (12:19 p.m.)

3 Welcome and Overview

4 by Ann Whalen

5 MS. WHALEN: Okay, everybody. Sorry about that. I

6 wanted to get everybody's attention so we can grab our seats

7 and get going for the afternoon session.

8 Good afternoon, everybody. I am Ann Whalen, Senior

9 Advisor to the Secretary, Delegated the Duties and Functions

10 of the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary

11 Education. 

12 So I am just going to go over a few things that we

13 went over this morning. For those of you who were here in

14 the morning, bear with us. For those who are here for the

15 first time today, welcome. Good afternoon, everybody.

16 I just want to first take the opportunity to

17 introduce a few of my colleagues up here with me. To my

18 right is Patrick Rooney, who is the Acting Director of the

19 Office of State Support. And to my left is Kay Rigling, who

20 is a wonderful, amazing program attorney in the Office of the

21 General Counsel. And we also have a number of team members

22 here facilitating today's session, including Deborah, Ashlee,

23 Irene, and the great members of the team from Synergy. If

24 you guys have any questions throughout the course of the

25 afternoon, please do not hesitate to grab any of them with

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1 your questions or concerns. You can flag them by their badge

2 with their beautiful ribbons underneath. So that is to help

3 the process today.

4 Second, I just wanted to just say how much we

5 appreciate your time and your willingness to share your input

6 this afternoon. Your advice and recommendations are critical

7 to helping the Department of Education support successful

8 implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act or ESSA. As

9 you know, President Obama signed ESSA into law on December

10 10, 2015, reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary

11 Education Act of 1965. 

12 This new bipartisan law, which replaces No Child

13 Left Behind Act of 2001, is good news for our Nation's

14 schools and students. The ESSA built on key progress we have

15 made in education in recent years, including a record high

16 graduation rate of 82 percent, and includes many of the key

17 reforms we have called on Congress to enact as part of our

18 reauthorization. 

19 The ESSA has a clear goal, ensuring our education

20 system prepares every single child to graduate from high

21 school ready to thrive in college and careers. It includes

22 several provisions that emphasizes equitable access to

23 educational opportunities, including holding all students to

24 high academic standards, ensuring accountability for the

25 lowest performing schools, and ensuring schools with low

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1 graduation rates also have accountability.

2 It also empowers state and local decision makers to

3 develop their own strong systems for school improvement. The

4 Department is soliciting advice and recommendations regarding

5 regulations and guidance needed to implement programs under

6 Title I of ESSA both in person and electronically. This

7 provides stakeholders with an opportunity to identify areas

8 that could particularly benefit from regulations and provides

9 specific feedback on what those regulations should establish

10 and require.

11 As part of this process, we are accepting

12 electronic comments through the Federal E-rule making portal,

13 as described in the Federal Register Notice published on

14 December 22, 2015, as well as written comments via postal

15 mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We strongly

16 encourage everyone participating in today's meeting to also

17 submit comments through our process. You may submit comments

18 on or before January 21, 2016. Again, please submit any

19 comments on or before January 21, 2016.

20 We are also holding this and one other regional

21 meeting to solicit advice and recommendations from

22 stakeholders. The second meeting will be held on January 19

23 at the University of California in Los Angeles. At this

24 meeting, we request your advice and recommendations regarding

25 topics for which regulation or non-regulatory guidance may be

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1 necessary or helpful as states and districts transition to

2 the new law. 

3 Programs under Title I of the law are designed to

4 help disadvantaged children meet high academic standards. 

5 Comments provided at these meetings should be focused on

6 these issues. As a reminder, the purpose of these meetings

7 and comment periods is for us to listen and learn, and

8 therefore we will not be at this time providing individual or

9 general responses or reflections to the testimony made today. 

10 We will use this thoughtful feedback to inform our work as we

11 implement the new law.

12 Again, we thank you for being here today and look

13 forward to receiving your comments and input. 

14 I will now turn it over to my colleague, Patrick

15 Rooney, who will go over a few logistics of today's meeting.

16 Logistics and Plan for the Day

17 by Patrick Rooney

18 MR. ROONEY: Good afternoon, everyone. I also want

19 to thank you all for coming and welcome you here. We are

20 looking forward to hearing from all of you this afternoon. I

21 am going to go through a few of the logistics. But just to

22 remind you, if you do have any questions, my colleagues, who

23 are seated around the room and at the registration table out

24 in the hallway, can answer any other questions you have

25 during the session.

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1 As you can see from the agenda, we have -- we are

2 broken into three two-hour blocks. And we are trying to give

3 the participants as much time to provide their advice and

4 recommendations to us. So if you registered in advance, you

5 will see your name on the agenda, which will give you a

6 general time of when you will be speaking this afternoon. 

7 But please know that the agenda may change depending if

8 people aren't here, you may go earlier than your name appears

9 on the agenda. So we ask that you be ready to speak at any

10 time during the session.

11 If you did not register in advance but you would

12 like to speak, we ask that you sign in at the sign-in sheet

13 at the registration table outside so we can then know that if

14 we have time, we will try to take as many people as we can. 

15 And the time in which they registered, we will take them on a

16 first-come, first-served basis. 

17 So we ask that you just please follow along with

18 the agenda so you have a general sense of when you will be

19 speaking. I will also announce each speaker at the end of

20 the previous speaker. So at that point we ask you to come up

21 to the podium as quickly as possible. Each speaker will have

22 five minutes to speak. There is a timer on the podium

23 itself, which will count down the five minutes. It will

24 start green. When you have a minute left, it will turn

25 yellow. And then when your time concludes, it will turn red.

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1 We will ask you to conclude your thoughts by the end of the

2 five minutes, if you haven't finished by the time the light

3 turns red. 

4 If you have any written comments or copies of your

5 comments that you would like to drop off, we ask that you do

6 that at the registration desk outside. We will be happy to

7 accept those and make them as part of the record.

8 So as a reminder, the event is being live streamed. 

9 So any member of the public may watch and listen to your

10 remarks. And we will be making information regarding the

11 public hearing available today on our website, including all

12 the speakers names and affiliations. And following the

13 meeting, it will take a few days until we have this, but we

14 will have a transcript that we will make publicly available

15 on our website. And it is possible that any of the submitted

16 comments you give us will become publicly available, as well.

17 So again, if there are any questions during the

18 day, please talk to any of our colleagues who have name tags

19 around the room or at the registration table, and they can

20 try to answer that. And we appreciate you all for being here

21 today. 

22 And with that, we will announce the first speaker,

23 who is Curtis Decker from the National Disability Rights

24 Network.

25 MS. WHALEN: And speakers have the honor of

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1 standing up at the podium. 

2 Public Comments

3 Curtis Decker, National Disability Rights Network

4 MR. DECKER: And if only there was a ramp to allow

5 speakers to come up who might need the accommodation of a

6 ramp here at the Department of Education.

7 I am Curt Decker. I am Executive Director of the

8 National Disability Rights Network. And I want to thank you

9 for the opportunity to present public comments on behalf of

10 the National Disability Rights Network and the Protection and

11 Advocacy System on the role the Department should play in

12 ensuring that Every Student Succeeds Act is implemented in a

13 manner that will benefit all students. We will also be

14 submitting comments to supplement and expand on what I am

15 talking about today, so you can look forward to that. 

16 For over 30 years the Protection and Advocacy

17 System has worked to protect the human and civil rights of

18 individuals with disabilities of any age and in any setting. 

19 The central part of the work of the P&As has been to advocate

20 for opportunities for students with disabilities to receive a

21 quality education with their peers. IN 2014 alone, the P&Ns

22 worked on nearly 12,000 education cases.

23 We are deeply concerned about the potential impact

24 of changes in Title I for children and youth with

25 disabilities, who have benefitted in important ways from the

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1 federal oversight that NCLB provided. P&Ns and other civil

2 rights stakeholders have an important in the development of

3 state plans and their implementation. 

4 Specific areas where the Department's guidance can

5 be most valuable, in our opinion and based on our experience,

6 is in the following.

7 State plan development, the Department should issue

8 guidance similar to that that was required in the waiver

9 application package on what states should do to ensure

10 adequate stakeholder input as the state plans are being

11 developed. Stakeholder inputs should be meaningful and

12 ongoing, not just when the plan is nearing completion, and

13 that the states should ensure that the wide variety of

14 stakeholders groups are included.

15 With regard to Title I state and local education

16 agency report cards, we urge the Department to issue

17 regulations clarifying states and LEA report card

18 requirements in areas such as reinforcing the statutory

19 requirements related to the state's accountability system,

20 including specifying the methodology for determine consistent

21 under-performance and the time period used by the state to

22 determine consistent under-performance on the state report

23 card.

24 With regard to N-size, this is especially important

25 in rural areas and when considering the critical issue of

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1 intersectionality. As studies have shown, children of color

2 with disabilities are at the greatest risk of school removal

3 and other negative school outcomes. And yet an N-size and

4 data collection system that is inaccurately structured can

5 overlook these problems.

6 N-sizes must be as small as possible to balance the

7 need to protect student privacy with the need to obtain the

8 most information as possible on subgroup performance. It is

9 critical that states receive the technical assistance from

10 the Department of Education that they need to ensure that

11 data is gathered in a manner that will ensure that this

12 balance is maintained. And additionally, the Department

13 should explicit the use of super subgroups. 

14 With regard to assessments, the alternative

15 assessments align to alternative achievement standards is one

16 of the most important provisions with students with

17 disabilities. We urge the Department to clarify and

18 reinforce through regulation a number of specific provisions,

19 including reinforce the one-percent cap on participation of

20 students taking the alternative assessment, ensure that

21 participation in the alternative assessments ensure the

22 provisions does not preclude a student from obtaining a high

23 school diploma and emphasize parental notification of the

24 impact of their student participating in the alternative

25 assessment. And we will add additional comments in that

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1 area, as well.

2 School quality on student success indicators. 

3 School climate indicators are the key to ensuring that

4 children and youth with disabilities, particularly of color,

5 receive a quality education in a consistent and healthy

6 environment. The Department of Ed must provide guidance to

7 states both on the importance of including a school climate

8 indicator in states with low graduation rates, high removal

9 rates, and high dropout rates, particularly those impacting

10 discrete sub-populations, and additionally how to craft such

11 an indicator in a manner that will result in meaningful

12 change.

13 And lastly with regard to seclusion restraint, the

14 Department of Education must issue guidance on the

15 appropriate uses of restraint and seclusion. As NDRN has

16 been reporting since 2009, the use of seclusion and restraint

17 remains rampant throughout the country. The conference

18 report indicated that the state plan should describe how it

19 will support the reduction in the use of restraint and

20 seclusion. NDRN feels strongly that more binding guidance

21 from the Department beyond the aspirational guidance provided

22 in the resource document is critical to ensure that this

23 occur.

24 Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. 

25 And as I said, we will be submitting more detailed comments

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1 by the time period allowed. Thank you.

2 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

3 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

4 Next we will hear from Daniel Domenech from AASA.

5 Daniel Domenech

6 AASA: The School Superintendents Association

7 MR. DOMENECH: Good afternoon. I am Dan Domenech,

8 Executive Director of AASA, the School Superintendents

9 Association. AASA is the national professional organization

10 representing the Nation's 10,000 public school

11 superintendents. As I recently penned in a thank you note to

12 the Congress members who led the effort to authorize the

13 Elementary and Secondary Education Act into the Every Student

14 Succeeds Act, I started at AASA in 2008, when Congress was

15 just one year in what would prove to be an eight-year effort

16 into ESEA reauthorization.

17 Reauthorization has long been the priority of our

18 members who are focused on revising No Child Left Behind and

19 delivering a comprehensive and updated piece of legislation

20 that provided federal parameters while returning autonomy and

21 authority to the state and local level. Our members

22 prioritize an approach that preserved a federal focus on

23 equity that strengthens and supports rather than prescribes

24 and dictates to our Nation's schools. 

25 In ESSA, Congress delivered both. AASA looks

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1 forward to working with the Department as you move forward

2 with ESSA regulations. We appreciate the expediency with

3 which the Department is undertaking the regulation process

4 and strongly encourage the Department to move regulations

5 that are in line with the spirit of the ESSA statute and that

6 reflect the input and feedback of stakeholders. By focusing

7 the federal role on strengthening and supporting public

8 schools and avoiding any tendency to unnecessarily prescribe

9 and dictate, the Department can and must work to implement

10 ESSA in a manner that reflects the expended authority and

11 flexibility now granted to the education experts at the

12 states and local level.

13 ESSA makes clear Congress's intent that states be

14 solely responsible for the development and implementation of,

15 and decisions regarding, all aspects of their state

16 accountability system. Section 1111(e) clearly states the

17 Secretary may not add any requirements or criteria outside

18 the scope of this act and further says the Secretary may not

19 take any action that would be in excess of a statutory

20 authority given to the Secretary. This is an idea with broad

21 bipartisan support. As the conference report itself writes,

22 while it is the intent of the conferees to allow the

23 Secretary to issue regulations and guidance to clarify the

24 intent and implemental law, conferees intend to prohibit any

25 such regulation that would create new requirements

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1 inconsistent with or outside the scope of the law.

2 The Department kicked off the regulatory process

3 with a pair of public hearings and a quick 30-day comment

4 period on Title I regulations. Title I is where many of the

5 onerous punitive elements of NCLB originated. ESSA

6 represents the first time in 15 years that state and local

7 education agencies can demonstrate what they can do in the

8 accountability and assessment arena absent federal overreach

9 and prescription while preserving student subgroups'

10 accountability and graduation rate data.

11 AASA urges the Department to start its regulatory

12 process by remembering that state and local educators are in

13 the business of education to serve children, that they are

14 professionals much better positioned to know the intricacies

15 of local systems and implementation and to practice restraint

16 in designing their regulations to ensure that the Department

17 efforts do not overstep the intent of ESSA or move to create

18 elements of the unbroken NCLB.

19 This is also an excellent opportunity for the

20 Department to assume a leadership role in advocating for the

21 transformative changes that technology and personalized

22 learning can bring to education. By reexamining the rules

23 and regulations that, for example, tie credit-bearing courses

24 with tee time requirements perpetuate the Gregorian school

25 calendar in the 21st century and ignore competency-based

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1 accountability systems in favor of standardized testing. 

2 The Department can lead by empowering school

3 districts to implement critical technology and personalized

4 learning opportunities in flexible ways that best serve the

5 needs of our students. 

6 Thank you for convening this public hearing. And I

7 appreciate the opportunity to share these comments today. We

8 look forward to working with the Department and ensuring the

9 involvement of our Nation's public school superintendents in

10 the many facets of ESSA implementation.

11 Thank you.

12 MS. WHALEN: Thank you. 

13 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

14 Next is Dane Linn from the Business Roundtable.

15 Dane Linn

16 Business Roundtable

17 MR. LINN: On behalf of the Business Roundtable, I

18 want to thank you for the opportunity to provide comments

19 today. CEOs support the move to shift responsibility from

20 the Federal Government to the states as they begin to

21 implement the law. Our members strongly believe that success

22 can only be measured with a focus on improving school

23 performance and results. 

24 The Department not only has a role to play moving

25 forward, but a responsibility to provide guidance to states

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1 that both recognizes the broader flexibility the law provides

2 while also providing some guardrails that will prevent

3 student achievement gaps to grow and a reduction in the

4 number of students who not only don't graduate from high

5 school but are ill equipped to succeed in college and the

6 workplace.

7 There are five areas where you can and should

8 provide guidance and regulations, especially in the area of

9 accountability. The first, ensure opt-out does not undermine

10 the accountability system. It is critical that the spirit

11 and the intent of the law, which requires states to assess 95

12 percent of all students in subgroups be maintained

13 notwithstanding the new rule of construction, which clarifies

14 that the new law does not preempt state or local laws

15 regarding parental decisions not to have their children

16 participation in state assessments.

17 While the law requires participation rates to be

18 included as part of the statewide accountability system,

19 there must be a high bar of what is acceptable to states

20 holding schools accountable. For example, simply including

21 an asterisk next to a school's letter grade for having a low

22 number of students taking the assessment must not be allowed. 

23 Instead the Department should provide suggestions and

24 guidance or regulations for how states can implement this

25 requirement. 

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1 For example, under the NCLB waivers some states

2 automatically identified schools for improvement if they

3 failed to meet the 95-percent target. Failure to set a high

4 bar will allow schools to mask low performance and eliminate

5 the ability for parents to truly compare the relative quality

6 of their child's school.

7 The second area is ensuring the N-size is not used

8 to mask low performance. Under the law, states have

9 flexibility to determine the minimum number of students that

10 must be included in order to report disaggregated data. The

11 law appropriately ensures that such number be statistically

12 sound and ensure student privacy. However, as we witnessed

13 during NCLB, some states have used N-sizes as a way to

14 inappropriately mask the low performance of subgroups. This

15 must not be allowed. Through regulations or guidance, the

16 Secretary should provide examples of what might constitute an

17 acceptable N-size. 

18 Area number three, ensure state accountability

19 systems are focused on academics. No surprise coming from

20 the business community. CEOs believe that states should

21 continue to ensure student tests and graduation rates are the

22 predominant factors in determining whether or not states and

23 districts are meeting the state-defined goals and for

24 differentiating among all public schools in the state. The

25 law's requirement that gives states substantial weight to

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1 each academic and nonacademic indicator used in their

2 accountability system is in need of clarification. This is

3 particularly in light of the law's additional requirement

4 that academic factors be assigned a much greater weight. 

5 Under the waivers, some states have developed index systems

6 which have appropriately assigned a fairly minimal weight to

7 nonacademic indicators, such as attendance. These states

8 should continue to have the ability to assign a relatively

9 small weight to these indicators while still meeting the

10 definition of substantial. 

11 At the same time, we note that the law's

12 prohibition on the Secretary to prescribe the weight of any

13 measure or indicator does not appear to prevent guidance of

14 the term much greater for the academic indicator in the

15 aggregate. Therefore, we believe the Secretary should at

16 least consider providing guidance to ensure that the

17 percentage on academic indicators be as high as possible.

18 Area number four, turning around low performing

19 schools. Under the law, states are required to identify

20 three categories of schools, including the lowest five

21 percent and dropout factories, for comprehensive support and

22 improvement. In addition, states have the discretion to

23 identify other categories of schools. We believe the

24 Department should provide guidance and encourage states to

25 identify additional categories of schools in need of

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1 improvement.

2 The new law also provides far more flexibility for

3 states' districts, as well as schools, in developing and

4 implementing interventions in schools identified by the state

5 as in need of supportive improvement. The oversight and

6 improvement of low-performing schools is critical, especially

7 as we are working to ensure every student graduates from high

8 school ready for college and the workplace. 

9 The Department of Ed should provide guidance to

10 ensure that states, districts, and schools are living up to

11 their responsibilities by developing improvement plans that

12 are rigorous and by implementing interventions that are truly

13 evidence-based, as required under the law.

14 And lastly, keep it simple. We need to make sure

15 that parents and educators understand the accountability

16 systems their states are implementing. The Department could

17 provide models to states, some of which are currently being

18 used, to ensure that states avoid the creation of complex

19 index systems that only confuse educators, parents, and the

20 public. 

21 Again, thank you for the opportunity to provide

22 comments at today's hearing. In addition to my comments

23 today, the Business Roundtable will be submitting more

24 detailed suggestions in response to the Department's request

25 for information.

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1 Thank you.

2 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

3 MR. ROONEY: Next up is Stephen Parker from the

4 National Governors Association. 

5 Stephen Parker

6 National Governors Association

7 MR. PARKER: Good afternoon. Thank you so much for

8 the opportunity. On behalf of the Nation's governors, it is

9 great to be here. Education governors are no longer the

10 exception but the norm. Governors have been leading

11 groundbreaking K-12 education innovation to ensure that every

12 child is prepared for a successful life.

13 Governors view ESSA as an opportunity for states to

14 set high, but realistic, expectations for schools while

15 allowing governors to empower educators, parents, and

16 communities to provide the education that all children

17 deserve. Early in 2015 governors offered their plan for

18 reauthorization to guide Congress in their efforts to replace

19 NCLB, including enhancing governors' role, improving early

20 childhood education, and ensuring that all students,

21 regardless of their disability, race, economic status, or

22 English proficiency, receive a high quality education.

23 Congress listened and produced a federal law

24 designed for states that reflects the state-federal

25 relationship envisions by governors, so much so that NGA

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1 endorsed ESSA, the organization's first endorsement of any

2 federal legislation in 20 years. This is a historic law for

3 states. And governors plan to play an active role

4 implementing it at the national, state, and district levels. 

5 ESSA returns authority to states, districts, educators, and

6 parents. And our top priority is to make sure that it

7 remains with them.

8 ESSA is poised to fuel education innovation across

9 the country. And governors have several priorities they will

10 be paying close attention to as the Department and districts

11 and states move forward with implementation of the law. The

12 first has to do with alignment and coordination. K-12

13 education is not an island. And our Nation's education

14 policy shouldn't be either. ESSA finally breaks down the

15 traditional federal silos and moves beyond the one16 dimensional K-12 laws of the past to ensure that students

17 succeed from early childhood into the workforce. 

18 Early childhood education is intertwined throughout

19 the law. And governors will work during the implementation

20 process to ensure that states have the flexibility to

21 leverage ESSA funds to ensure that school readiness becomes a

22 reality in every community.

23 Also with workforce and post-secondary education

24 becoming a key piece of accountability systems, governors

25 will make sure that guidance and regulations from the

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1 Department build on what states have already been doing and

2 allow them to aim high in those accountability systems. 

3 Turning around the Nation's lowest performing schools was a

4 priority of ESSA, and governors share that priority. 

5 Governors were pleased that ESSA prioritized state-led school

6 improvement with full flexibility for states and districts to

7 determine the best strategies to intervene in low-performing

8 schools. 

9 Governors will make it a top priority to work with

10 the Department and education stakeholders to make sure that

11 the flexibility to determine the best strategies to intervene

12 in low-performing schools remains in the final law that

13 educators and governors and states will be implementing at

14 the local level. 

15 Finally on other big issues, we encourage you to

16 look to the states for guidance and information that will

17 hopefully inform your efforts as you write guidance. 

18 Particularly in Virginia, Governor McAuliffe has brought

19 together teachers, school boards members, parents, and

20 stakeholders from across the Commonwealth to look at

21 accountability systems and testing. And hopefully they will

22 have a firm result in the next few months to show you the way

23 and show potential ideas for accountability systems and

24 guidance for testing that you all are currently writing.

25 Finally, the governors have really laid out five

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1 broad principles that hopefully will guide you all as you

2 develop guidance and regulations moving forward. First,

3 guidance should be the primary tool that the Federal

4 Government utilizes to inform state efforts to implement

5 ESSA.

6 Second, regulations should reflect congressional

7 intent and be promulgated only for sections of ESSA where

8 states, districts, and the Department of Education agree that

9 additional context is necessary.

10 Third, as the leader of each state's education

11 system and the official responsible for creating lifelong

12 learning from early childhood into the workforce, governors

13 should be consulted for substantive input throughout the ESSA

14 implementation process. 

15 Fourth, recognizing that each state's readiness to

16 implement ESSA varies, the Federal Government should allow a

17 flexible timeline to allow for early implementation or

18 provide additional time for states to make necessary changes

19 to state policy. 

20 Fifth and finally, federal ESSA guidance and

21 regulations, when necessary, should focus on meeting the

22 needs of students and empowering educators and parents,

23 allowing governors to prepare students for the high-skilled

24 careers of the 21st century and for a successful life. 

25 Ultimately, governors want to use ESSA to take our education

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1 systems from good to great. And let me assure you that

2 governors stand ready to inform the Department's efforts, to

3 work with our fellow education stakeholders to make sure that

4 happens. 

5 Thank you so much. We look forward to working with

6 you.

7 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

8 MR. ROONEY: Thanks.

9 Next up is Elizabeth Davis from the Washington D.C.

10 Teachers Union.

11 Elizabeth Davis

12 Washington D.C. Teachers Union

13 MS. DAVIS: Good afternoon. Thank you for this

14 opportunity to provide comments as you formulate regulations

15 and guidance around the new Every Student Succeeds Act. My

16 name is Elizabeth Davis, President of the Washington Teachers

17 Union. And prior to that, I was a teacher in D.C. public

18 schools for 40 years. 

19 WTU members and teachers across the country are

20 excited about the passage of the ESSA and its potential for

21 relief from the high-stakes test and punish policies that

22 have dominated schools. The law clearly shows that the

23 voices of educators have been heard. It will now be up to

24 individual states and local school districts to take

25 advantage of the opportunities ESSA provides to create

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1 systems in which factors, such as resources, working

2 conditions, and teacher voices, must be considered. Teacher

3 evaluation will be used to grow and strengthen the

4 profession, not sort and punish. Assessments will be used to

5 help improve schools and inform instruction, not arbitrarily

6 measure them.

7 School accountability can be based on a number of

8 reasonable factors that align with the needs of students. 

9 More time for teaching and learning in schools will be

10 available. 

11 I strongly encourage the U.S. Department of

12 Education to follow the frame of the members of Congress and

13 ensure that any guidance or regulations is workable in

14 America's classrooms and supportive of our educators. There

15 is tremendous opportunity in this new ESSA law to allow

16 places like D.C. to have fewer and better tests. The first

17 opportunity is that we can eliminate some of the tests used

18 for the primary purpose of evaluating teachers. I am very

19 hopeful that without the threat of losing Race to the Top

20 money or loss of the No Child Left Behind waiver, D.C. will

21 have the opportunity to develop and implement a teacher

22 evaluation system that truly supports students learning and

23 educator development.

24 I would also like to encourage the Department to

25 work swiftly to allow states and districts to have better and

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1 fewer assessments so that more time can be spent teaching and

2 learning. This means that the Department should quickly

3 establish a pilot program for innovative assessments so

4 states willing to try project-based assessments can do so,

5 and other places like D.C. can learn from them.

6 The Department should also make it easy and as

7 quick as possible for states to replace their state high

8 school tests with a nationally recognized one. I know that

9 Chancellor Kaya Henderson and I both agree with this measure.

10 Another way the Department can be helpful is in the

11 area of school accountability. We will continue to put

12 tremendous pressure on teachers and students to increase

13 their park scores, if the accountability system doesn't

14 include measures of school quality and student success beyond

15 these scores.

16 And we will exacerbate our current system of highly

17 unequal education in this city, in which students in poor

18 communities are fed a steady diet of rote reading and math

19 and nothing else, and their more affluent peers engage in

20 rich critical thinking projects and experiences. The

21 Department should encourage truly robust accountability

22 systems with factors beyond test scores considered an equal

23 par test scores not as an afterthought. 

24 Additionally, ESSA has put in place good provisions

25 requiring more transparency and accountability for charter

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1 schools. This is a welcome step. But I can tell you in

2 Washington, D.C., charter schools have decimated local

3 communities and often exacerbated our city's inequities. 

4 Please carefully examine the impact of charter schools on

5 segregation and community well-being when you award grants

6 for charter school development and expansion.

7 Finally, I hope that you will consider community

8 schools as an intervention for struggling schools. Community

9 schools truly support student learning and the health of the

10 families who attend such schools.

11 I want to thank you for this opportunity, and I

12 would be happy to continue the conversation with any

13 representatives from the U.S. Department of Education. 

14 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

15 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

16 MR. ROONEY: Next we will hear from Janel George

17 from the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

18 Janel George

19 NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

20 MS. GEORGE: Thank you so much for the opportunity

21 to be here today. My name is Janel George. I am Senior

22 Education and Policy Council with NAACP Legal Defense and

23 Educational Fund, which has advocated for equal access to

24 quality educational opportunities, including through

25 litigation of cases such as Brown versus Board of Education

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1 and through policy advocacy for a little over 75 years now.

2 LDF believes that the Department of Education

3 retains the authority and the responsibility to help

4 implement and enforce the Every Student Succeeds Act through

5 the issuance of regulations, guidance, and technical

6 assistance to states and local educational agencies in order

7 to close achievement gaps and promote student success. 

8 Programs under Title I are especially consequential, as they

9 historically support the educationally disadvantaged

10 including districts serving high proportions of low income

11 students and those districts identified as in need of

12 improvement.

13 There are four particular areas in Title I that LDF

14 would like to underscore, and we urge the Department to issue

15 regulations, guidance, and technical assistance to aid in

16 implementation of these areas in particular. 

17 First, in the area of subgroup accountability the

18 Department should provide regulations to define the

19 statistically sound minimum number of students that should

20 comprise a particular student subgroup, including students of

21 color. This is essential to capture data on how subgroups of

22 students are performing.

23 Second, in the area of school funding the

24 Department should issue regulations and provide technical

25 assistance to states in identifying and providing targeted

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1 funding for Title I districts ensuring geographic diversity

2 in the distribution of fundings and also helping schools to

3 outline methodologies for monitoring use of Title I funds to

4 ensure that they are used as intended. This is all the more

5 essential given that these Title I funds can now be combined

6 with local and other funds under flexible per-pupil spending.

7 Third, in the area of resource equity, for schools

8 identified for improvement we urge the issuance of

9 regulations, guidance, and technical assistance to states to

10 help identify and address resource inequities. In providing

11 information, the states go through the data to design

12 particular interventions, reviewing school-level budgeting

13 and designing remedies and additional assistance for those

14 schools targeted for additional support and in need of

15 periodic review of resource allocation.

16 And fourth, for reintegration of system-involved

17 youth, as a federal partner of the Dignity in Schools

18 Campaign, we know that youth of color are disproportionately

19 targeted, arrested, and referred to the juvenile justice

20 system often for minor disciplinary offenses. This increases

21 their likelihood of dropping out of school and fuels the

22 schools-to prison pipeline. Therefore, we urge the

23 Department, building upon the joint guidance issued by the

24 Department of Education, the Department of Justice, to

25 provide additional guidance, regulations, and technical

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1 assistance to ensure that those students who become involved

2 with the juvenile system are able to receive credits that are

3 transferrable, reintegrate, receive the supports to

4 reintegrate back into the school environment, and obtain a

5 necessary high school diploma in order to pursue post6 secondary opportunities.

7 And we want to close by thanking the leadership and

8 staff, who really worked hard. And as a part of the Dignity

9 in Schools Campaign, I really want to reiterate some of the

10 comments that were made earlier by other state-based

11 community and local groups, who are part of this coalition,

12 for the inclusion of provisions to support school climate and

13 school discipline reform. We know that leadership and staff

14 really worked hard to include several provisions, including

15 funding for alternatives to punitive discipline practices,

16 such as restorative practices, funding for school-based

17 mental health, and trauma informed responses. We know that

18 these provide the promise for helping to dismantle and

19 address the school-to-prison pipeline. But we also urge

20 regulations and guidance on states on how to measure school

21 climate and school discipline as an indicator of overall

22 school quality. 

23 We thank you again for the opportunity to comment. 

24 LDF looks forward to submitting written comments and to

25 continuing to work with the Department on implementation of

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1 this law. Thank you.

2 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

3 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

4 Next we will hear from Vito Borrello from the

5 National Association for Family, School, and Community

6 Engagement.

7 Vito Borrello

8 National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement

9 MR. BORRELLO: Good afternoon. I am Vito Borrello,

10 Executive Director of the National Association for Family,

11 School, and Community Engagement. Our purpose is to advance

12 high-impact policy and practice in family, school, and

13 community engagement to promote children's development and

14 improve student achievement.

15 I want to thank the Department for providing this

16 opportunity. We look forward to submitting expanded written

17 comments later this month. Our comments focus on how the

18 Department may advance family, school, and community

19 engagement as an essential strategy to support student

20 achievement and school improvement.

21 Title I is the signature federal program to ensure

22 that all of our Nation's children have access to a high

23 quality education, especially the most disadvantaged. It is

24 also the first federal education program that gives parents a

25 role as full partners in how the Title I program is planned,

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1 reviewed, and improved. However, this intent of Title I

2 parents becoming full partners still needs to be realized. 

3 Although ESSA makes few changes to the family

4 engagement provisions in previous law, we believe that the

5 existing non-regulatory guidance last revised in 2004 badly

6 needs to be updated to reflect the important advances in

7 research and practice that have occurred in the past ten

8 years. The field needs relevant and useful guidance that

9 includes examples of high-impact practice and that is fully

10 aligned with the Department's dual capacity building

11 framework for family-school partnerships, as well as with the

12 forthcoming joint policy statement on family engagement in

13 the early years and the early grades.

14 Revisions to the NRG in Section 1116 should be

15 guided by four principles, all of which are imbedded in the

16 dual capacity framework. One, family engagement is an

17 essential strategy for promoting child development and

18 improving student learning. Therefore, we must build the

19 capacity of educators to effectively engage families.

20 Two, families are not the problem but essential

21 partners in improving student learning. Parents may not be

22 experts in child development, but they are experts about

23 their own children. Stronger, more purposeful relationships

24 with families support improved instruction.

25 Three, Because family engagement is a shared

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1 responsibility, both educators and families need support to

2 effectively collaborate as education partners. 

3 And four, close parent-teacher communication and

4 collaboration in developing critical literacy and math skills

5 in class and at home leads to improved student learning.

6 Although the entire NRG needs updating, I will

7 focus today's comments on updating the parent and family

8 engagement guidance in Title I, particularly on the school9 parent compact, as well as early learning. The law has long

10 stated that the purpose of the school-parent compact is to

11 show "how parents, the entire school staff, and students will

12 share the responsibility for improved student achievement and

13 the means by which the school and parents will develop a

14 partnership to help children achieve the state's high

15 standards."

16 Unfortunately, the current NRG interprets

17 partnership to mean that teachers, parents, and students

18 should assume separate responsibilities for assuring student

19 achievement. We offer three recommendations. 

20 One, the NRG should state that the compact describe

21 how parents and teachers will work together. The compact

22 should be current, linked to the school's achievement data,

23 and describe how teachers in class and parents at home will

24 help students develop the critical skills identified in the

25 school plan.

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1 Two, each section of the compact should be

2 developed after parents, teachers, and students have

3 discussed the skills students need to master and how they

4 would like to work together. This is what developed with and

5 approved by parents means.

6 Three, emphasize the new provision in Section 1116

7 about how schools should address the importance of ongoing

8 parent-teacher communications. It states, "Regular, two-way

9 meaningful communication between family members and school

10 staff and, to the extent practicable, in a language that

11 family members can understand." Notices sent home from

12 school about student progress and annual parent-teacher

13 conferences examples given in the current NRG do not satisfy

14 this requirement. 

15 Because it is critical to future success that

16 children arrive ready for kindergarten, we also recommend

17 that the NRG emphasize seamless coordination with early

18 learning programs through the following: One, build strong

19 family engagement practices from the early years so that

20 families embed them into the home environment; two, create

21 transition programs so that families can have a seamless

22 transition into kindergarten and sustain the family

23 engagement practices they have been using; three, create

24 welcoming, inviting cultures at all levels of schooling. 

25 What has been modeled through Head Start must be replicated

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1 and enhanced within K-12.

2 In closing, as Anthony Bryk pointed out in

3 Organizing Schools for Improvement, if we want to transform

4 schools, we must understand the close ties with families and

5 the community is an essential ingredient. If every student

6 is to succeed, then we must raise the standard for we will

7 effectively engage every family in that essential goal.

8 Thank you.

9 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

10 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

11 Next is Mary Lee Allen from the Children's Defense

12 Fund.

13 MaryLee Allen

14 Children's Defense Fund

15 MS. ALLEN: Good afternoon and thank you. I am

16 Mary Lee Allen, Director of Policy at the Children's Defense

17 Fund. CDF appreciates the opportunity to suggest topics to

18 the Department of Education for their Title I regulations and

19 guidance. We believe these are necessary to ensure fair and

20 equitable treatment for all children, as state and local

21 education agencies implement the new Every Student Succeeds

22 Act.

23 CDF has been advocating for more than 40 years for

24 closing the achievement gap for poor children, black children

25 and other children of color, children with disabilities, and

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1 children with other special needs. CDF has expressed extreme

2 concern about the diminish federal role in the new act. 

3 However, we believe it is critically important to help states

4 now implement meaningful state accountability systems and

5 measures to promote achievement for vulnerable children and

6 vulnerable subgroups of children. The Department's remaining

7 rule-making and guidance authority is essential to make that

8 happen. 

9 I will first suggest quickly three general points

10 relevant to the Title I regulations and then in the remainder

11 of my five minutes urge the Department to give heightened

12 attention to students in foster care, a group receiving

13 attention for the very first time in federal education law,

14 to help ensure them educational stability and success. 

15 The Department should attend first to three

16 overarching areas in regulations and guidance to help states

17 establish meaningful accountability systems responsible to

18 children with the greatest needs. One is Title VI. Title VI

19 of the Civil Rights Act continues to obligate certain

20 behaviors and obligations to promote equity in education. 

21 There must be improvements in school quality to improve

22 student outcomes. This must include, however, attention to

23 achievement, not just achievement, but how to reduce chronic

24 absenteeism and exclusionary school discipline and improve

25 access to rigorous courses and qualified and effective

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1 teachers, all essential to school quality.

2 Two is resource equity. States must attend to gaps

3 in access to state and local resources as they assure

4 progress on behalf of all students, including specific

5 subgroups. Meaningful compliance with the requirement in the

6 law for supplementing not supplanting funds to assist

7 students depends on this. 

8 Three is publicly available data and new partners. 

9 ESSA requires the collection and review of disaggregated data

10 by subgroups, including state report cards. States should

11 make these data publicly available and accessible to parents,

12 students, and other community leaders, who must also be long13 term partners as states establish accountability systems to

14 improve student outcomes.

15 In my remaining minutes I want to urge the

16 Department to highlight students in foster care in its early

17 regulations and guidance. These students have been singled

18 out by federal education law for the first time in ESSA, and

19 their risk for poor educational outcomes are well-documented. 

20 They are often referred to, in fact, as invisible children. 

21 An estimated 56 to 75 percent of them change schools when

22 they first enter care. More than one third of the 17- to 18-

23 year-olds in care have experienced five or more school

24 changes. Only half of youth in care complete high school by

25 age 18. Foster children have lower test scores, high levels

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1 of grade retention and dropping out, and lower high school

2 and graduation rates. 

3 The new Title I assurances and protections for

4 foster students must be addressed in the Department's first

5 set of regulations and guidance. Attention to these students

6 will be very new for many state and local education agencies

7 and should be singled out.

8 In addition, some of the steps for foster students

9 required in Title I are subject to an expedited timeline. 

10 They must be in effect by December 2016, one year after

11 enactment. Each of the assurances to promote educational

12 stability for foster children should be addressed in

13 regulations and guidance: Remaining in the school of origin,

14 immediate enrollment and prompt transfer of records, points

15 of contact, a collaborative local level transportation, and

16 new annual data for foster children on student achievement

17 and high school graduate rates, definitions, processes, and

18 additional resources to assist states and LEAs to help

19 increased educational stability and success for students in

20 foster care, as state and local education agencies and child

21 welfare agencies collaborate on their behalf. 

22 We will elaborate further on all of these issues in

23 our written comments. The benefits of school stability for

24 foster children are clear, and we are eager to see the new

25 protections fully implemented as quickly as possible.

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1 Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

2 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

3 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

4 Next is Marlyn Tillman from Gwinnett STOPP.

5 Marlyn Tillman

6 Gwinnett STOPP

7 MS. TILLMAN: Good afternoon. I am very honored to

8 have followed Children's Defense Fund. Thank you for the

9 timing. My name is Marlyn Tillman. I am the co-founder of

10 the Gwinnett Parent Coalition to Dismantle the School-to11 Prison Pipeline or Gwinnett STOPP for short. We organize

12 parents around school-to-prison pipeline issues by informing,

13 educating, training, and mobilizing them. We are also a

14 proud member of the Dignity in Schools Campaign, a national

15 coalition comprised of 100 organizations that are youth and

16 parent led, working on school climate issues, as well. 

17 I am really happy that the N-size was addressed, so

18 I won't beat it. But I will say ditto. It is so needed. It

19 is what is used to hide data and the effects of education on

20 various subgroups.

21 I would like to address some various sections of

22 ESSA starting with use of funds. Funds must go to areas that

23 are geographically diverse. Georgia schools are a mix -- and

24 I should have said I am out of Gwinnett County, Georgia. 

25 Georgia schools are a mix of rural and urban. And they are

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1 increasingly diverse, increasingly from low-wealth

2 backgrounds, and each one has its own set of challenges and

3 gifts. 

4 And so currently Georgia requires the completion of

5 one advance placement test to quality for their state6 sponsored scholarship. And it will soon increase to two. 

7 And regulations must be written to ensure that the very

8 students that Title I was intended to uplift have access to

9 these classes that enable them to qualify for higher level

10 learning opportunities. 

11 Regulations should dictate that high schools that

12 receive Title I funding qualify for state-sponsored higher

13 education funds. They should also be included in the

14 comprehensive needs assessment and as an indicator in school

15 quality. And that shouldn't be a choice, it should be a

16 mandate. I like shall.

17 Regulations, guidance, and technical assistance

18 must be provided to ensure a safe and secure environment. 

19 That requires schools use alternative to exclusionary

20 discipline that research shows does not work. And police

21 should not be a fixture in our schools. They should be

22 called when needed. They should not have a post in the

23 building.

24 Community-based organizations are instrumental in

25 improving school and student outcomes. In theory, Title I

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1 funding was expanded to take advantage of this important

2 resource. However, in practice the application and

3 requirements can be prohibitive for community-based

4 organizations. We need regulations that don't line us out.

5 Real family engagement programs, well, ditto what

6 everyone else said. I am just going to add a little bit to

7 it. It has to utilize community-based organizations. That's

8 imperative. Parents trust them. They don't have the bridge

9 yet to the school. And community-based organizations provide

10 that bridge between the school and parents. And research

11 shows that when parents are engaged, students are more

12 successful.

13 It also cannot be a one size fits all. Just like

14 our children are different, we have to have -- our parents

15 are different. And they have different needs. And we cannot

16 assume what works at this school over here also works for the

17 other. 

18 And then I am going to say that for groups like

19 Gwinnett STOPP, we are parent-based. We should be in the

20 schools, helping build a bridge. We talk to schools. We

21 talk to parents. We are trusted. And there are other

22 organizations like us around the country that can be utilized

23 and should be written in.

24 Peer review process for developing state plans,

25 guidance needed on outreach and involvement of parents and

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1 other community stakeholders, they need to be meaningfully

2 involved. And it needs to take place at a time that parents

3 can fully participate. And it should not require two years

4 of classroom experience. We run a program called Parent

5 Leadership Institute. And I can guarantee you none of them

6 have two years of classroom experience, but they have a

7 wealth of knowledge to input into that. And so it things

8 like that that are barriers, and we are trying to remove

9 those barriers.

10 Regulations to ensure the racial income education

11 programs, again, regionally diverse, and that requires

12 regulations and guidance. And I am in the South. If you

13 don't tell them what to do, they are not doing it. ESSA was

14 begun because states weren't doing the right things. And I

15 think they are getting closer to wanting to, but they are not

16 there yet. And they still need that guidance and regulation

17 to say, yeah, you are going to do it.

18 Strong guidance on the peer review process, again

19 and just very quickly, school climate. Dignity in Schools,

20 we have to talk about school climate. So Gwinnett STOPP

21 successfully advocated for school discipline being included

22 as an indicator on our state report card. We have this

23 really complex report card now, thanks to our waiver, that

24 parents cannot understand. So we asked for school climate to

25 be school discipline. They thought it was great. Didn't

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1 implement the first year, but they said, "We'll come back the

2 second year." And they did it. And we were happy. Yes, we

3 got a win. They are going to look at school discipline. 

4 And what we found out is that they took it and put

5 it together with other indicators and created some

6 amalgamated indicator. School discipline must be reviewed

7 distinctly, not as part of some amalgamated thing. And that

8 needs to be included in regs guidance, again, to show them

9 what it looks like, just like the guidance for school

10 discipline.

11 Students who are pushed out due to overly punitive

12 practices and policies make students more likely to drop out. 

13 And I am just going to really quickly give you some stats

14 here. Gwinnett County, Georgia, largest school system in the

15 state, 292 kindergarteners were suspended in 2011/2012. And

16 in that same year for Georgia 3,977 kindergarteners were

17 suspended. You are telling our youngest learners that school

18 isn't for them. There has to be something different that we

19 do for a child who is throwing a crayon, having a tantrum or

20 something.

21 In Georgia we lost over 1.5 million days of lost

22 instruction to in- and out-of-school suspension. Gwinnett

23 County lost almost 120,000 days. That's too much. Our kids

24 aren't in school. They are not learning. Please feed the

25 school discipline guidance through the regs and the other

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1 guidance you are doing. 

2 And I am just going to stop now. And I would

3 suggest that where there are "mays," maybe there is somewhere

4 you can pencil in "shall." And just in closing, ESSA must be

5 true to its civil rights rules, and flexibility must not

6 equal no accountability. 

7 Thank you.

8 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

9 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Next is Amanda Fenton from the

10 National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

11 Amanda Fenton

12 National Association of Charter School Authorizers

13 MS. FENTON: Thank you very much for having me here

14 today. My name is Amanda Fenton, and I am the Director of

15 State and Federal Policy for the National Association of

16 Charter School Authorizers. So authorizers are the entities

17 that oversee charter schools. We decide which charter

18 schools are allowed to open, oversee charter schools that are

19 in operation, and hold charter schools accountable to the

20 promises that they make to students, families, and taxpayers.

21 In many states, we are local school boards, while in other

22 states we are state departments of education, state agencies,

23 universities, nonprofits, or city governments. 

24 As public schools, charter schools are required to

25 meet all Title I requirements just as tradition public

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1 schools. But how charter schools meet these requirements can

2 sometimes look different. It is an authorizer's job to

3 ensure that all charter schools are held accountable to high

4 standards. And since NCLB we have learned a lot about how

5 Title I helps us do this. I want to share three lessons we

6 have learned that I encourage the Department and states to

7 consider as we embark on ESSA implementation. 

8 First, limit data gaps or pauses. Accurate,

9 reliable comparable performance data is crucial when making

10 high-stakes decisions. We all rely on it to make informed

11 decisions about our schools. And authorizes particularly

12 rely on it every year to make high-stakes decisions to renew

13 or close a charter school. A year without achievement data

14 is a year when all schools get a free pass, even those that

15 don't deserve one. This is especially true in the charter

16 sector, where high-stakes decisions to keep schools open or

17 close them will continue to be made during this transition.

18 Last month the Department issued guidance that

19 suspends some indicators for the '14/'15 and '15/'16 school

20 years in the interest of a smooth transition. We don't

21 disagree with this action, but we strongly encourage the

22 Department and each state to make every attempt to minimize

23 these data disruptions. It makes it exponentially difficult

24 to expect the best from our schools, if we don't have

25 benchmarked, objective yearly data on how they are doing.

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1 Second, don't put failing charter schools in a

2 state-mandated turnaround program. Close them. In the early

3 2000s, with few charter schools across the country, few

4 states understood how their intervention systems, which are

5 designed for failing traditional schools, would interact with

6 the state's charter school law. This ended up creating a

7 quagmire where some state Title I intervention systems

8 actually got in the way of enforcing a charter contract and

9 shuttering a failing charter school. 

10 The Department issued guidance in 2011, which

11 helped clean this up, but there is no substitute for getting

12 it right from the start. ESSA recognizes that effective

13 state charter school laws, which are enforced by authorizers,

14 result in regular, rigorous, charter school accountability. 

15 This is in Title I and reinforced throughout the competitive

16 grant program of Title IV.

17 I encourage the Department to make sure states

18 account for charter schools when making their Title I

19 accountability plans, where the best form of accountability

20 for a failing charter school is most often enforcing that

21 charter school contract and shutting that school down.

22 Third, make sure plans for Title I oversight work

23 for all types of schools and all types of overseers. Too

24 often under NCLB the state systems for Title I oversight

25 relied exclusively on the traditional hierarchy and

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1 infrastructure of a school district system. Charter schools

2 and authorizers didn't receive information, were asked to

3 contort themselves to fit a traditional mold, or were left

4 with no guidance at all on their Title I oversight

5 responsibilities. At its worst, this can lead to holes in

6 oversight of our Title I funds or it can erode the

7 accountability and autonomy that's at the core of the charter

8 school model. 

9 Actions like the Dear Colleague letter from

10 September regarding oversight of charter schools helped, but

11 alone it doesn't fix the underlying problem of a maladapted

12 oversight system. In issuing standards for Title I

13 oversight, please make sure that states consider how these

14 systems will work for charter schools and the authorizers

15 that are the first line of oversight for charter schools in

16 their state.

17 At their best, authorizers in charter schools are

18 exemplars of the locally driven accountability that ESSA

19 promotes. Goals are set locally at each school. That local

20 school decides how to meet them. And the authorizer holds

21 that local school accountable for meeting these goals. We

22 can all use the lessons and innovations of the charter school

23 community, as together we create locally driven Title I

24 systems under ESSA.

25 Thank you very much for your time.

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1 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

2 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

3 Next -- I apologize, I am probably going to

4 mispronounce this name -- is MenSa Ankh Maa from Teach for

5 America in D.C.

6 MenSa Ankh Maa

7 Teach for America - D.C. Region 

8 MR. MAA: Good afternoon. My name is MenSa Ankh

9 Maa, and I am here representing Teach for America here in the

10 D.C. Region. As you may know, Teach for America is a

11 national, nonprofit organization, which recruits, trains, and

12 supports highly accomplished and diverse college graduates

13 and professionals to become teachers in low income

14 communities across the country and develop into leaders who

15 will remain focused on ensuring that all children in America

16 have access to great educational opportunities.

17 We believe that by recruiting capable and promising

18 teachers with tremendous leadership potential, while

19 committed to working with low income students, can help build

20 a pipeline of talent and innovative leadership that will be

21 needed to help improve outcomes and opportunities for

22 children. Teach for America supports this new law. We

23 believe it will foster further progress towards ensuring

24 excellent schools for all children. And we encourage states

25 and local school districts to continue the work that needs to

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1 be done to ensure that neither race nor background nor family

2 income limits a child's opportunities to succeed.

3 We are particularly grateful for ESSA's focus on

4 accountability for traditionally underserved students. We

5 support maintaining the statewide annual testing requirement

6 and associated data disaggregation in order to ensure a

7 yearly transparency for all of our Nation's students so that

8 all students' achievement growth is tracked in a comparable

9 manner and will provide critical information for parents,

10 educators, and teacher education programs.

11 Along similar lines, we also supported empowering

12 states to audit their assessment systems and eliminate poor

13 quality and redundant tests. And we deeply appreciate the

14 balance that the new law seeks to strike between federal

15 guardrails to protect our most vulnerable students and state

16 and local freedom to advocate.

17 We encourage the Department to consider that

18 balance in the development of regulations which both adhere

19 to the guardrails established in the new law while allowing

20 states and localities some room to innovate and create new

21 approaches to improving outcomes for our Nation's students. 

22 We understand that states and districts will implement

23 different systems to meet the needs of their students and

24 look forward to the Department both supporting these efforts

25 and sharing out promising local and state practices as they

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1 emerge.

2 Teach for America strongly believes all teachers

3 should be held to high quality standards regardless of their

4 pathway into the classroom, whether they are traditionally

5 certified or alternately certified. And we appreciate the

6 new law's focus on teacher effectiveness.

7 Teach for America is committed to ensuring a high

8 bar for school quality and student success indicators within

9 state and local plans and elect a partner with the Department

10 of Education, as well as the states and districts where we

11 teach, to promote indicators that reflect teacher

12 effectiveness. Teach for America is committed to low income

13 students and students of color having access to great

14 teachers. Therefore, we will also work to engage states and

15 districts as partners in developing comprehensive support and

16 improvement plans for low-performing schools. 

17 Throughout the ESEA authorization, Teach for

18 America supported required disaggregation of student data

19 along all AAPI subgroups. Along with the Leadership

20 Conference for Civil and Human Rights and other national

21 civil rights organizations, Teach for America was

22 disappointed that this provision was included in the final

23 legislation. However, while there is no federal requirement

24 that states and school districts disaggregate their student

25 data by AAPI subgroups, this law does not preclude states

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1 from conducting this disaggregation on their own. And we

2 look forward to the possibility that some will.

3 While it didn't appear in the final law, Teach for

4 America also supported the Student Nondiscrimination Act,

5 SNDA, because all students deserve an equal opportunity to

6 learn and succeed in school. And students who are or who are

7 perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are no

8 different. Moreover, student academic achievement suffers

9 when LGMTQ students are harassed, bullied, or discriminated

10 against. Teach for America will continue our commitment to

11 safety, fairness, and dignity for all of our students. And

12 we look forward to states moving ahead in this space, even

13 absent federal mandate.

14 We thank you for the opportunity to provide comment

15 and look forward to regulations which balance fleshing out

16 the ESSA-established guardrails alongside allowing states and

17 local districts the latitude to innovate and forge new

18 solutions to long-standing challenges in serving the needs of

19 all children, especially those who are the most vulnerable.

20 Thank you.

21 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

22 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

23 Next is Marla Kilfoyle.

24 Marla Kilfoyle

25 MS. KILFOYLE: Thank you. Thank you for allowing

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1 me to offer my recommendations and advice on Title I of the

2 ESSA. I have been a public school teacher for 29 years. I

3 have taught in rural, urban, and suburban school districts. 

4 I have a master's in education, and I am national board

5 certified.

6 My proudest role, however, is that I am the mother

7 of a child with disabilities who is enrolled in public school

8 in New York State. Here are my very humble recommendations

9 and advice and what I urge the Department to carefully

10 monitor as we move through the new ESSA.

11 We have seen over the last decade more and more of

12 our children living in poverty. I applaud that the bill

13 increases funding for key formula grants, increases overall

14 funding by two percent each year. 2018 to 2020 is very, very

15 hopeful. Increases in Title I, which is about $1.2 billion

16 over four years of the authorization. A more than 20-percent

17 increase is amazing.

18 We applaud the increase in the authorizations for

19 Title III, our English language learners, Title VI, American

20 Indian and Alaska Native programs in impact aid are

21 excellent. Increases in the McKinny-Vento leave us hopeful

22 that our homeless children will be serviced and supported. 

23 But we need to do much, much more.

24 I am hoping the Department will be mindful of the

25 use of the language called Personalized Learning. Will this

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1 be a vehicle for students to be placed in front of a computer

2 screen for several hours a day? This is very concerning to 

3 me, as both a mother and an educator. Will this require that

4 children be moved out of their public school to possibly an

5 online learning center? We need to support strong,

6 sustainable public schools in every community so that our

7 children have a chance to attend to school in their

8 community.

9 I know that ESSA requires that each child be tested

10 every year in grades three to eight and once in high school. 

11 We are the only nation that demands this of our children. If

12 I were to have it my way as a mother, I would love to have

13 grade span testing by random sampling as we have done pretty

14 successfully with NAPE. Over-testing has depleted much of

15 the real teaching and learning that we need in our

16 classrooms. And hopefully one day we will return back to a

17 time where testing is about giving us good data on kids right

18 away rather than profits for testing companies. 

19 I am concerned that our ENL and ELL populations

20 will be subject to multiple statewide interim assessments

21 during the academic year. This once again results in more

22 testing and less learning for our non-English speakers. What

23 we are seeing for our ELL students is less time with their

24 ELL teachers in instruction to teach them and acquire the

25 English language. The drive to get them ready for a test at

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1 the end of the year that they are not ready to take due to a

2 lack of language is abusive and inappropriate. Although

3 pushing them into clashes with their English-speaking peers

4 is excellent, and we know it is research proven to help them,

5 there must also be a balance of making sure that we are

6 giving them the instruction they need to acquire the English

7 language. This has been taken away from them in many

8 districts across the Nation.

9 I am concerned about the language geared towards

10 computer-adaptive assessments listed in the act. We have

11 seen testing and technology companies put together inferior

12 products. They sell them to cash-strapped districts. And

13 now the districts are left with inferior products and very

14 little money to sustain them. And I am hoping the Department

15 remains very mindful of that.

16 I am also concerned about the idea of what is now

17 innovative assessment systems, as outlined in Part B Title I

18 that could be used as assessments in school districts. As

19 educators, we have seen technology companies and testing

20 companies pillage the coffers of public education with

21 products that are inferior, that do not enhance teaching and

22 learning, but instead are used to rank and sort children,

23 evaluate their schools and their teachers. This is not what

24 I want for my child. We do not want our classrooms to become

25 places in which children sit in front of a computer screen

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1 for several hours a day and the teacher just becomes a

2 computer facilitator. We see a need for technology and to

3 make sure that our students are using it to enhance their

4 learning. That's important. But it should not replace the

5 human interactions that we need in the classrooms to become

6 productive global citizens.

7 Finally from Part A of Title I, I feel that

8 allowing alternative routes to certification will only

9 guarantee that our neediest children will get the least

10 trained teachers. We should require every teacher in every

11 classroom in this country to be fully licensed and accredited

12 from a strong college education program.

13 And finally in closing, I would like to take a few

14 moments to address the letter that the Department sent on

15 December 22 to chief school officers in states that had high

16 refusal rates. This letter stated that the Department may

17 withhold Title I money for states with high test refusal

18 rates. I am from New York and, as you know, we had a high

19 test refusal rate. 

20 I want to implore the Department to understand that

21 this trajectory will create conditions where a local school

22 district must pressure parents into making decisions they do

23 not want for their child. This is not good for a positive

24 relationship that school districts need to create in order to

25 cooperatively work with parents. 

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1 Thank you so much for your time and consideration,

2 and I'm honored to be able to present.

3 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

4 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

5 Next we will hear from Thomas Gentzel from the

6 National School Boards Association.

7 Thomas J. Gentzel

8 National School Boards Association

9 MR. GENTZEL: Good afternoon. I am Tom Gentzel,

10 Executive Director of NSBA, National School Boards

11 Association. We are the Washington office for our State

12 Associations of School Boards. In working in partnership

13 with them, we represent 90,000 local school board members

14 across the country.

15 I just want to make this point on behalf of our

16 members. These are local officials, mostly elected, mostly

17 unpaid. But they are lynchpin, really, in our system of

18 governance for public education. They are the local

19 officials who are accountable to their communities. 

20 And so in that context I really want to thank

21 Congress in particular for passing this bipartisan piece of

22 legislation. That's historic. But I think it is also

23 incredibly important that Congress underscore the importance

24 of local governance, talking about how that's critical to

25 ensure that we have a true continuum in education, pre-K

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1 through 12 and on. And we know to do that we have to work

2 together to make that happen.

3 Because while all the levels of governance are

4 important in this process, education is fundamentally a local

5 enterprise. It is where it happens. And that's where the

6 accountability has to take place. And so what I think is

7 most important about this piece of legislation is that it

8 really represents a sort of new federalism, because it

9 resets, I think, the relationship between the federal, state,

10 and local levels of government. It creates the opportunity,

11 which we are deeply committed to, for our new partnership in

12 education. 

13 And so it now falls to the Department to make real

14 the promises that were contained in ESSA. And so I want to

15 begin and emphasize that we stand here prepared to work with

16 you in a cooperative way to make that happen. And for that

17 to happen, communications is really critical, ongoing

18 communications between and among all these levels of

19 governance. 

20 I would point out that in ESSA in Part, Section

21 8541, there is specific recognition of the importance of

22 community ownership and leadership in public education. It

23 is important, I think, that this language was included both

24 in the House bill and the Senate bill and then, of course,

25 the final piece of legislation. And so in that spirit we

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1 come before you today with several recommendations that we

2 hope will guide the successful implementation of this law.

3 First of all, meaningful collaboration. And so we

4 think it is quite important for the Department of Education

5 to obtain input from school boards and other local leaders

6 before acting. We would hope that this kind of communication

7 in this sort of form would be a regular process going

8 forward.

9 But equally important, we think it is critical for

10 the Department to require states to work closely with local

11 school districts. A lot of this decision-making now will

12 shift to state governments. And so it is critical that they

13 work closely with local school leaders in developing state

14 plans, accountability systems, assessments, and so forth. 

15 And so, again, this is an opportunity for us to make a

16 difference.

17 Another recommendation deals with flexibility. In

18 this case we think it is important that there be as much

19 flexibility and latitude as possible in the implementation of

20 this law. One size fits all is kind of a worn out phrase,

21 but that's not the direction this law takes. And in fact, I

22 think it recognizes specifically the need for school

23 districts to have some opportunity to make the decisions that

24 are in the best interest of their communities. 

25 For example, Title V, Section 5002, provides for

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1 greater transferability among funds in Title I. We think it

2 would be very helpful for the Department to provide some

3 clarity on that, which funds can be combined, which ones

4 can't be, and how that can work.

5 And finally, the last area of recommendation deals

6 with support. We are really moving from a punitive and

7 prescriptive process to one that involves cooperation and

8 collaboration. And so for school districts and states to be

9 effective and successful in implementing this new law, the

10 Department would do very well to provide technical assistance

11 in support through your regional offices and your other

12 facilities.

13 We look forward, as I said, to working with you to

14 make this a successful new era in public education, to make

15 this law serve all students well, and to meet the needs of

16 communities across this country. And we will be submitting

17 more detailed comments later.

18 Thank you.

19 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

20 MR. ROONEY: Thank you. 

21 Next is Yolanda Rondon from the American-Arab Anti22 Discrimination Committee.

23 Yolanda Rondon

24 American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

25 MS. RONDON: Good afternoon. My name is Yolanda

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1 Rondon. I am staff attorney for the American-Arab Anti2 Discrimination Committee. And on behalf of AAADC I would

3 like to thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. 

4 AAADC for the last 35 years has defended Arab-Americans

5 against discrimination, defamation, and stereotyping. For

6 the last 20 years we have focused on education and policy

7 initiatives that impact our students, as well as English

8 language learners.

9 The Arab-American population here today in the

10 United States is estimated at over 3.5 million people

11 representing over 22 countries, very diverse. And important

12 with this is that the Arabic language connects all of us. 

13 And we want to emphasize the dichotomous conception that the

14 English language learner community is exclusive Spanish. 

15 That is wrong. The Arabic-speaking population is one of the

16 largest growing speaking populations in the United States. 

17 And we are disproportionately underserved in our schools and

18 our school districts. We have to resort to litigation and

19 many consent decrees just to ensure the fact that we can have

20 appropriate, culturally appropriate material to ensure that

21 the translators and interpreters at our schools are actually

22 qualified.

23 And so I am going to touch a little bit more on

24 that later, but I want to bring back and go back to the fact

25 that in the United States often wealth has always been

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1 associated with access and opportunity. And unfortunately

2 those who don't have wealth don't have the power or even the

3 substantive right to a quality education. And this has been

4 a reality for many Arab-Americans in this country, but

5 particularly for those who are of Arab origin but from

6 disadvantaged subgroups within the Arab community, including

7 persons from Sudan, persons from Morocco, persons from Yemen,

8 persons from Mauritania and Jibuti. And with that, we have

9 to make sure that that's what the fundamental purpose of what

10 Title I is supposed to implement.

11 Now with that we want to make sure that we

12 emphasize that there is a large void of 50 percent income

13 disparity gap between Arab-Americans who are of Syrian or

14 Egyptian background versus Arab-Americans who are of Yemeni,

15 Palestinian background. And so with this we have to make

16 sure we understand within the ELL community that there are

17 disadvantaged groups within that subgroup itself that need

18 particular consideration and regulation from the Department

19 to focus on technical assistance, as well as guidance.

20 Our first recommendation is regarding intervention

21 and support. The Department has the authority and the

22 responsibility to regulate and intervene where schools or

23 school districts fail to remedy disparities and substantively

24 address achievement gaps. The Department must take proactive

25 measures and initiatives to make sure states are accurately

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1 identifying schools where subgroups are underperforming. A

2 footnote in a report is unacceptable. And any other

3 arbitrary attempt to mask low performance must not be

4 tolerated.

5 When we talk about closing achievement gaps and

6 assessments, you want to make sure the Department publishes

7 best practices and guidance to guidelines on the

8 intersectionality of closing achievement gaps, meeting

9 college and career readiness standards and assessments of

10 English language learners. The Department must mandate that

11 schools and school districts appropriately balance content

12 mastery of core subjects while still developing English

13 proficiency, affirming that English language acquisition

14 alone is no longer sufficient.

15 If a EL student performs poorly on a content

16 assessment, educators and policymakers need to better

17 understand whether this due to insufficient proficiency to

18 demonstrate content knowledge or a lack of content knowledge

19 or the opportunity to learn such content knowledge, or

20 whether there is bias or errors in measurements regarding the

21 systematic interference and use of unnecessarily complex

22 words and assessments. 

23 The Department should discourage in their

24 regulations any exemption for ELL accountability in the state

25 accountability systems for both math and English and make

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1 clear that any exemption beyond a year is unacceptable and

2 should not be tolerated.

3 Lastly, I want to get into that the Department

4 should vigorously enforce the 95-percent participation rate

5 in assessments. This is vital to know whether and where

6 intervention is needed and support is necessary, especially

7 when it comes to educator equality and resource equality to

8 make sure that states invest and actually qualify translators

9 and interpreters. 

10 Again, as well with our parents and our children's

11 parents mainly serving as translators for their parents in

12 these vital documents, you want to make sure there is

13 actually meaningful engagement and inputs of rights of

14 parents, so parents should have a substantial role in funding

15 priorities, as well as continued consultation throughout the

16 school year to ensure progress and how needs-based

17 assessments are being met and submissions of plans to the

18 LEAs. The Department should strongly encourage state and

19 school districts with significant Arab-speaking populations

20 that even if the students understand English, that all vital

21 education documents and student assessments are readily

22 accessible in Arabic. The Department must ensure that

23 educational documents are provided to parents in a language

24 they understand and that these parents are inconspicuously

25 notified of this right.

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1 Thank you.

2 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

3 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

4 I believe the next speaker was due to be Erin

5 Prangley from the American Association of University Women,

6 but I do not believe she is here. I just want to check if

7 that is the case.

8 (No response.)

9 MR. ROONEY: Okay. So we will move on to the next,

10 which is Kim Musheno from the Consortium for Citizens with

11 Disabilities Education Task Force.

12 Kim Musheno

13 Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Education Task Force

14 MS. MUSHENO: Hi. My name is Kim Musheno, Director

15 of the Public Policy at the Association of University Centers

16 on Disabilities and incoming chair of the Consortium for

17 Citizens with Disabilities, a coalition of over 115 national

18 organization representing all disabilities. We really

19 appreciate this opportunity.

20 This is an important time for the Department of

21 Education to be proactive in supporting states and school

22 districts in implementing this new law. AUCD and CCD

23 respectfully request the Department to pay special attention

24 to providing regulations and/or guidance in the following

25 areas.

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1 Under accountability, meaningful inclusion of

2 students with disabilities in state accountability systems

3 continues to be a priority for us. The Department must

4 further clarify important details to ensure quick action by

5 schools and states when students with disabilities and other

6 minority groups are underperforming. 

7 The Department must also reinforce that students

8 with disabilities are not separated from the general

9 population of students when it comes to accountability, as

10 has been proposed by some states. More specifically, the

11 Department should provide the states with guidelines as to

12 how they define terms such as consistent, underperformance,

13 substantial weight, and much greater as the terms relate to

14 the weight of indicators in states accountability systems and

15 how schools are differentiated as performing well or not. 

16 The Department should also provide guidance

17 regarding technical requirements for additional indicators of

18 school quality or student success to ensure that these

19 indicators are meaningful and contribute to assessing the

20 effectiveness of schools and educating students with

21 disabilities. AUCD and CCD are in the process of developing

22 recommendations for the so-called fifth indicator for states

23 to use as an example and will be sharing our thinking with

24 you by the 21st.

25 Additionally, it is critical to provide guidance to

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1 states on the methods by which a state identifies

2 consistently underperforming subgroups and measures progress

3 toward goals and establishes a timeline for action when

4 subgroups of students are not making progress. Also, the

5 minimum number of students often referred to as the N-size,

6 this number should be as small as possible, no more than 15,

7 to ensure the greatest number of schools and grade levels are

8 included in the state's accountability reporting.

9 Ensuring the 95-percent participate rate in the

10 annual measurement achievement of students, and when a state

11 uses a measure of student growth, such measures must include

12 all students. Individual or student subgroups should not be

13 excluded for any reason.

14 On the one-percent cap, AUCD and CCD are very

15 pleased that the law requires a statewide cap not to exceed

16 one percent on the total number of students in a state who

17 are assessed using the alternate assessments aligned to

18 alternate achievement standards. We urge the Department to

19 reinforce this requirement, as well as the criteria for

20 requesting secretarial waiver to exceed the cap.

21 Given the well-researched and documented high

22 incidence and detrimental consequences of the use of

23 restraints and seclusion with students with disabilities and

24 students from other minority groups, AUCD and CCD are

25 especially pleased with the new state and local plan

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1 requirements regarding helping states to reduce the use of

2 aversive behavioral interventions. The Department should

3 clarify and strengthen the Congressional Conference Committee

4 report language specifying that this language includes the

5 use of restrains and seclusion. The Department should also

6 help states improve learning through reducing incidents of

7 bullying and harassment, as well as examining overuse of

8 discipline procedures. 

9 Regarding teacher quality, AUCD and CCD urge the

10 Department to issue regulations and guidance that reinforce

11 the importance of ensuring students from disadvantaged

12 backgrounds are not disproportionately taught by ineffective,

13 inexperienced, and out-of-field educators. We urge that

14 inexperience be defined as three years of experience or less. 

15 We urge the Department to promote the state consideration of

16 the distribution of beginning teachers who have not yet

17 completed their preparation before coming the teacher of

18 record and the distribution of teachers who are fully state

19 certified.

20 While LEA plans are required to address teacher

21 distribution based on students from low income and minority

22 backgrounds, AUCD and CCD believe that the Department must

23 take this opportunity to recognize that students with

24 disabilities also come from low income and minority

25 backgrounds and analyze the access of all students with

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1 disabilities to well-prepared educators.

2 AUCD and CCD urge the Department to promote ways

3 and provide examples of how states include students with

4 disabilities, parents with disabilities, advocates and other

5 stakeholders as early as possible in each of the states'

6 processes of developing their state plans. 

7 In closing, AUCD and CCD recognize there will be

8 many additional provisions of ESEA, including others within

9 Title I that will require the Department's strong voice and

10 regulatory presence to ensure students with disabilities are

11 meaningfully included. We will be active partners with you

12 as you address the implementation of all provisions of ESSA.

13 AUCD and the CCD Education Task Force are

14 developing thorough written comments that will be submitted. 

15 And we pledge to continue to work with the Department to

16 include the views of people with disabilities, families,

17 educators, employers, experts, and advocates working to

18 ensure high expectations are held for all students with

19 disabilities.

20 Thank you.

21 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

22 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

23 Next is Jenny Collier from the RFK Juvenile Justice

24 Collaborative. 

25

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1 Jenny Collier

2 RFK Juvenile Justice Collaborative

3 MS. COLLIER: Good afternoon. Thank you. My name

4 is Jenny Collier again, and I am the Project Director of the

5 Robert F. Kennedy Juvenile Justice Collaborative, which is a

6 project of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights in D.C. and the

7 Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps, a direct service

8 provider in Massachusetts. And it is a D.C.-based project

9 focused exclusively on youth reentry policy issues for young

10 people coming from the juvenile justice system.

11 Stakeholders nationwide collectively advocated for

12 changes to ESEA, now ESSA, regarding access to education for

13 young people involved in the juvenile justice system. It is

14 an area of great concern, because each year tens of thousands

15 of young people leave secure residential facilities,

16 including juvenile justice facilities, jails, and prisons

17 following adjudication. And approximately two thirds of

18 those young people do not make it make to an appropriate

19 education or a career in technical training program. So that

20 is two out of three young people.

21 And so stakeholders are really demanding more focus

22 on this area. So in 2013, the Collaborative in partnership

23 with the Juvenile Law Center, who is here today, and several

24 other organizations released policy recommendations on how to

25 improve access to and quality of education and career

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1 technical training for young people involved in the justice

2 system and upon their reentry to the community. Those regs

3 were based on eight listening sessions nationwide and were

4 signed by 128 organization, including the National Education

5 Association, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human

6 Rights, and the American Probation and Parole Association, so

7 really a wide range group of organizations.

8 And these recommendations helped to inform the

9 requirements that we see now in the ESSA. And we are really

10 thrilled to see those reflected in some of these changes. 

11 But we think that the devil is in the details, and so

12 implementation is critical.

13 So the bill provides, as I said, many opportunities

14 to help ensure access to education for juvenile justice15 involved youth by emphasizing, in particular, smooth

16 transitions from community school districts to actual

17 correctional facilities and then back to the community. 

18 State, in particular, who are receiving Title I, Part D,

19 funds must ensure increased coordination between correctional

20 facilities and school districts and protections in the new

21 law to ensure this will include a wide range of things: 

22 Educational assessments for young people when they enter

23 juvenile justice facilities, when practicable; records

24 transfers so that records transfer with young people to the

25 facility; reentry planning to ensure that a youth's education

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1 is not interrupted; timely and appropriate reenrollment so

2 that we know that they are going to education programs or

3 career in technical training programs that best meet their

4 needs; credit transfers so that credits earned while in

5 custody are recognized by schools in the community; and

6 emphasis on high school diplomas, so that state agencies and

7 correctional facilities must really assist youth in attaining

8 these traditional high school diplomas; and also a new

9 emphasis on dual status youth so young people, both in the

10 foster care child welfare and juvenile justice systems. And

11 so for the first time states must keep records of youth who

12 are involved in both of these systems and in its educational

13 institutions and actually allow for the use of funds to

14 provide targeted services for those dual status youth, which

15 is a very important change. 

16 However, we have some implementation concerns that

17 we will be documenting and submitting for official comment in

18 writing. But I also want to raise just a few of them here

19 that we have heard from community members with whom we are

20 speaking on a regular basis.

21 First, we want to ensure that students are not put

22 into alternative schools unnecessarily under a blanket

23 argument that such school is an appropriate reentry program

24 that best meets the needs of the student. This is something

25 that jurisdictions have done for a long time in many places. 

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1 And this practice creates what we call a dumping ground for

2 many young people and does not really increase their

3 opportunity for success, but in fact may increase their

4 opportunity for dropout.

5 We want to also ensure that state educational

6 agencies emphasize credit-bearing secondary and post7 secondary course work and just career and technical training

8 or education. That's important. It should be both. We want

9 to ensure opportunities for students both in and returning

10 from the juvenile justice system to participate in credit11 bearing course work. Currently the law seems left to

12 interpretation on this matter. And we think that it is

13 important that youth in custody are provided with these

14 opportunities, as well, upon their reentry. It seems

15 inconsistent to make it one versus the other.

16 DOEd, we really encourage you to review and align

17 your December 2014 guidance on correctional and reentry

18 education for youth in the juvenile justice system that you

19 co-released with the Department of Education and review and

20 align it with ESSA and then think about the dissemination,

21 education, and enticement and enforcement activities needed

22 to really follow up on what has been done already, to make

23 sure that the memos of law, as well as best practices that

24 were very detailed and documented in that guidance, are

25 actually implemented at the state and local level nationwide.

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1 And then finally, during implementation we

2 encourage you to have continued collaboration between

3 Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of

4 Labor, Health and Human Services, et cetera. Students and

5 children are multifaceted and not siloed. And so we can't

6 treat their life and their education as siloed either. So we

7 encourage this type of cross collaboration between the

8 agencies. We have been really pleased to see it already.

9 So thank you so much. Again, we will be submitting

10 comments for the record. But we really appreciate you having

11 this forum today. Thank you.

12 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

13 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

14 Next is supposed to be Kathryn Young from the

15 Education Council, but I believe she also is unable to join

16 us this afternoon. Just checking that she is not in the

17 audience. 

18 (No response.)

19 MR. ROONEY: Okay. So we will move to the next,

20 who is Kathy Beery. Is Ms. Berry here today?

21 (No response.)

22 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Then we will move on to the

23 next person, Katherine Burdick from the Juvenile Law Center

24 Katherine Burdick

25 Juvenile Law Center

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1 MS. BURDICK: Good afternoon. That works out well

2 to follow Jenny. I am so grateful to be here. Thank you for

3 this opportunity. I'm Kate Burdick. I am a staff attorney

4 at Juvenile Law Center. And I am here to underscore the

5 critical importance of effective implementation of the ESSA

6 provisions relating to youth in the foster care system and

7 juvenile justice system.

8 Juvenile Law Center is the oldest, multi-issue,

9 nonprofit law firm for children in the country. We just

10 celebrated our fortieth anniversary. We just the law to

11 ensure that youth, particularly those in the foster care and

12 juvenile justice systems, receive fair and developmentally

13 appropriate treatment. And ensuring access to education and

14 other opportunities is a central part of our mission. We are

15 partners in the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education

16 and now in a new legal center focused on education and

17 juvenile justice. For many years, we have advocated with our

18 partners for better educational opportunities for the

19 hundreds of thousands of youth in foster care or juvenile

20 justice across this country. 

21 To pick up on comments from my colleagues earlier,

22 spoken earlier today, and that you also hear this afternoon,

23 we are thrilled that ESSA includes provisions to help

24 children in foster care and the juvenile justice system. 

25 Also, I will say that although we don't work directly on

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1 issues of homelessness, youth in the foster care and juvenile

2 justice systems cycle in and out of homelessness on a regular

3 basis. And we are grateful for the attention to that issue

4 in the ESSA, as well.

5 These are kids who are essentially forgotten. The

6 systems don't provide the safety and protections that they

7 need. But they are still just kids and all kids want to

8 learn. Education can light a path to future success. School

9 is a place that provides consistency when their lives are

10 otherwise chaotic and builds the skills that allow them to

11 overcome poverty and other adversity.

12 ESSA makes significant progress to help these

13 youth. When youth are removed from their homes due to

14 juvenile justice involvement, ESSA recognizes the need for

15 high quality education, not just when they are in placement

16 but upon return to the community. When youth are removed

17 from their homes due to abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and

18 put in a foster home or other placement, ESSA recognizes the

19 critical importance of allowing them to remain in the same

20 school or make a smooth move to a new school, if that's what

21 best for them, including as they move from one foster home to

22 another. ESSA also recognizes the need to track graduation

23 rates and achievement of students in care so we can measure

24 progress over time and put effective interventions into

25 place. 

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1 The Department of Education must act swiftly and

2 comprehensively to ensure meaningful implementation of these

3 new provisions. I have three specific suggestions. And my

4 colleagues and I would be happy to be a resource to the

5 Department on this issue moving forward.

6 First, ESSA leaves substantial gray areas that must

7 be clarified by regulation and program guidance to avoid

8 confusion on the ground. We will be working with our

9 partners to provide written comments that get more specific

10 on this, but by way of example, we need clarification that

11 the child welfare agency is responsible for making the

12 decision of which school is in the child's best interest of a

13 child in foster care to continue attending, clarification on

14 the process for making decisions about which school or

15 reentry program is best for students returning from

16 correctional facilities so kids don't continue to be shunted

17 to inferior alternative schools upon reentry, guidance on how

18 child welfare and education can successfully work together to

19 share student data for the reporting provisions while still

20 protecting confidentiality and complying with FERPA.

21 Second, there is much work to be done beyond

22 regulations and guidance, including highlighting models from

23 the jurisdictions that were already effectively supporting

24 court-involved youth before at ESSA, providing technical

25 assistance on implementation to specific jurisdictions and

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1 discretionary grants so districts have the resources they

2 need for implementation, devoting needed resources to

3 continue to help jurisdictions implement the December 2016,

4 sorry, December 2014 correctional education guidance package.

5 Third, although ESSA is an education law, the

6 Department of Education must continue to collaborate with HHS

7 and DOJ and other federal partners as it develops guidance

8 around these provisions. Not only must these agencies

9 communicate to align the guidance, and especially so as to

10 not contradict the guidance HHS put out after the passage of

11 the school stability provisions in the Federal Fostering

12 Connections Act of 2008, but these federal agencies should

13 also collaborate to serve as role models for effective cross14 systems collaboration that ESSA now requires at the state and

15 local levels, the kind of collaboration that is critical for

16 these children that are served by multiple systems.

17 In particular, DOEd should swiftly hire a staff

18 person or team to work on issues affecting vulnerable youth

19 in the foster care and juvenile justice systems and who are

20 experiencing homelessness. We hope that HHS, DOJ, and DOL

21 would do the same and that those individuals would work very

22 closely together to make progress on this issue. 

23 In closing, I again urge you not to forget about

24 the youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems

25 when rolling out the many regulations and other

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1 implementation efforts ESSA requires. They are some of our

2 most educationally at risk students, and their needs must be

3 prioritized. They are resilient young people who want to

4 learn, and with the right supports they can excel. 

5 Thank you.

6 MS. ROONEY: Thank you.

7 Before we go on to the next person who signed up, I

8 want to just let you all know that we are getting close to

9 the end of the people who signed up for this session. And it

10 looks like we will have a little bit of time left over. So

11 if anyone is interested in signing up to speak who did not,

12 let us know ahead of time. I ask again that you go to the

13 registration desk and please sign in there, so we can go

14 through everyone on a first-come/first-serve basis.

15 And with that, I will ask Kelly Vaillancourt

16 Strobach from the National Association of School

17 Psychologists.

18 Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach

19 National Association of School Psychologists

20 MS. STROBACH: Good afternoon. I am Kelly

21 Vaillancourt Strobach. I am the Director of Government

22 Relations from the National Association of School

23 Psychologists. And I thank you guys for the opportunity to

24 provide feedback regarding the Every Student Succeeds Act. 

25 We will be providing more detailed recommendations in our

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1 written comments that we will submit through the online

2 process.

3 NASP is hopeful that ESSA will result in improved

4 opportunity and outcomes for all students. This law sets the

5 stage to ensure that all students have access to

6 comprehensive and rigorous curriculum, high quality

7 instruction, and comprehensive learning supports that are

8 essential to successful learning. In particular, we are

9 really pleased that ESSA replaces the current overly punitive

10 and narrow focus on students' performance on high stakes

11 testing with a more comprehensive accountability system that

12 values school climate and safety, as well as other indicators

13 of school quality, that ESSA requires evidenced-based

14 interventions for low performing schools and comprehensive

15 learning supports for those students who are most at risk of

16 school failure, and that ESSA recognizes that comprehensive

17 school-based mental health services, including prevention and

18 early intervention is an evidenced-based, whole school

19 improvement and targeted intervention strategy.

20 ESSA also authorizes significant funding to allow

21 states and districts to implement and scale up initiatives,

22 including mental health supports and other services to meet

23 the academic, social, emotional, and mental and behavioral

24 health needs of our students.

25 School psychologists have specific expertise in

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1 these areas, and we look forward to working with the

2 Department, as well as states, districts, and individual

3 schools to help them implement and scale up these

4 comprehensive learning systems for all students.

5 To ensure that the intent of this new law is

6 fulfilled as it is implemented, the Department of Education

7 can and should issue regulations, guidance, and technical

8 assistance. Specifically, we ask the Department address

9 specific provisions related to the accountability systems. 

10 First regarding the indicators of school quality,

11 NASP has long advocated for the indicators of school quality,

12 such as school climate and safety, when determining school

13 success. Many school districts are currently collecting and

14 using this data to drive school improvement efforts, but

15 using this data for accountability purposes is new territory

16 for the majority of districts in our country.

17 We ask the Department provide clarification to

18 ensure that the indicators of school quality are meaningful,

19 are related to improved achievement, and can drive effective

20 improvement efforts. The validity and reliability of various

21 measurements of school quality vary. Measures should be

22 efficient, useable, psychometrically sound, and provide data

23 to inform meaningful school decision-making. However, not

24 all measurements that meet these criteria produce

25 disaggregated data, as required by ESSA, that are appropriate

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1 to be included in an accountability system. 

2 The Department can and should support states'

3 efforts to select indicators of school quality and

4 appropriate ways to measure these indicators that drive

5 school improvement efforts and reliably identify critical

6 areas of improvement. 

7 Secondly, we ask clarity regarding the term much

8 greater. ESSA requires that academic factors carry a much

9 greater weight than indicators of school quality. What

10 constitutes much greater and how will we appropriate balance

11 be assured to ensure that we don't return to the era of

12 basing most of our decisions on single test scores? We do

13 not believe that the law prevents the Department from issuing

14 regulations or guidance related to this issue.

15 We also ask for clarification regarding the

16 identification of schools with subgroups of students

17 considered consistently underperforming. States and

18 districts and ultimately our students would benefit from

19 guidance regarding appropriate criteria to determine that

20 subgroups of students or an entire school is considered

21 consistently underperforming.

22 It is important that the Department allow

23 flexibility for states and districts to design new and

24 innovative systems, but it is imperative that appropriate

25 parameters are set to ensure that accountability systems and

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1 school improvement plans address the needs of all students,

2 especially those who are typically left behind, including

3 students with disabilities, students in poverty, and racial

4 and ethnic minorities. 

5 Lastly, as the co-chair of the National Alliance of

6 Specialized Instructional Support Personnel, I am pleased

7 that ESSA contains numerous explicit references regarding the

8 importance of specialized instructional support personnel and

9 services. SISP include a full complement of professionals

10 that include, but are not limited, to school psychologists,

11 speech language pathologists, audiologists, school nurses,

12 school counselors, occupational therapists and creative art

13 therapists. These professionals work with all students. And

14 in addition to the supports they provide for individual

15 students and groups of students struggling with barriers to

16 learning, they consult with administrators, teachers, and

17 families, and are integral to implementing school-wide

18 initiatives, such as multi-tiered systems of support,

19 positive behavior interventions and supports, social ---

20 learning programs, college and career planning, and violence

21 and bullying prevention. We are pleases that ESSA recognizes

22 the important contributions of these professionals in our

23 schools and communities. 

24 Although the term specialized instructional support

25 personnel has been included in previously introduced

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1 legislation and has been a part of the education jargon for

2 some time, ESSA marks the first time that this term has been

3 codified into law. Therefore, we urge the Department to

4 issue guidance and technical assistance and materials

5 regarding effective utilization of specialized instructional

6 support personnel and services. 

7 ESSA requires consultation and collaboration with

8 these professionals in the development and implementation of

9 local and state Title I plans, as well as school improvement

10 efforts. Additionally, Titles II and IV contain several

11 provisions regarding these professionals, as well. 

12 Development of this guidance has been a long-standing, multi13 year request from NASP. And given the focus on SISP and SISP

14 services, we believe this guidance is now necessary to help

15 states and districts transition from NCLB to ESSA.

16 Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments. 

17 And we will contain -- our written comments will contain a

18 lot more detail about what has been discussed.

19 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

20 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

21 Okay. The last name on our list for this session

22 is Laura Montas from the D.C. Office of the State

23 Superintendent of Education. I am not sure she is here.

24 (No response.)

25 MR. ROONEY: Go back and look to see if Kathy Beery

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1 has come into the room since we called her name earlier.

2 (No response.)

3 MR. ROONEY: Okay. At this point I don't think we

4 have anyone who has asked to speak, who didn't sign up ahead

5 of time. So we will do a last call to see if anyone who has

6 not registered to speak would like to speak for a few

7 minutes, for five minutes.

8 (No response)

9 MS. WHALEN: So seeing none, I just want to do a

10 few reminders. One just as a quick reminder that the

11 transcript from today's session will be posted on our website

12 in a few days. 

13 The second thing I just wanted to let people know

14 is to address the concern of one of the previous speakers,

15 this dias actually does have a ramp for wheelchair

16 accessibility. It is over here to our right just in case

17 there are any questions or concerns. We just wanted to make

18 sure the record was straight on that issue.

19 And finally, I just wanted to remind people that we

20 are coming together at 2:30 Eastern time. So we will be

21 taking a quick break. Excuse me, 2:45 Eastern time. I

22 apologize. We will be taking a break until then. At 2:45 we

23 will have another set of speakers registered to speak. If

24 anybody in this room again has not registered to speak and

25 would like to, we will be accepting additional walk-ins.

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1 So thank you. And we will see you guys all back

2 here at 2:45.

3 (Whereupon, a brief recess was taken.)

4 Welcome and Overview

5 by Ann Whalen

6 MS. WHALEN: Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome

7 back. If everybody can take their seats, we will go ahead

8 and get started. I am not going to do the full overview but

9 just want to do a few updates for people who are new to the

10 room. 

11 So my name is Ann Whalen. I am Senior Advisor to

12 the Secretary, Delegated the Duties and Functions of the

13 Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. 

14 I am really pleased to have you all here today and look

15 forward to your comments and feedback.

16 Just as quick reminder, the Department is

17 soliciting advice and recommendations regarding regulations

18 and guidance needed to implement programs under Title I of

19 ESSA, both in person and electronically. This provides

20 stakeholders with an opportunity to identify areas that could

21 particularly benefit from regulations and provide specific

22 feedback on what those regulations should establish and

23 require.

24 As part of this process, we are accepting

25 electronic comments through the Federal E-rule-making portal,

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1 as described in the Federal Register Notice published on

2 December 22, 2015, as well as written comments via postal

3 mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We strongly

4 encourage everyone participating in today's meeting to also

5 submit comments through our comment process. You may submit

6 comments on or before January 21, 2016. Again, the deadline

7 for us receiving comments is January 21, 2016.

8 First let me introduce you to a few of my

9 colleagues up on the panel. To my right is Patrick Rooney,

10 Acting Director of the Office of State Support. And to my

11 left is Kay Ripling, a program attorney in the General

12 Counsel's Office.

13 We are also holding this and one other regional

14 meeting to solicit advice and recommendations from

15 stakeholders. The second meeting will be held on January 19

16 at the University of California, Los Angeles. At these

17 meetings we request your advice and recommendations regarding

18 topics for which regulations or non-regulatory guidance may

19 be necessary or helpful, as states and districts transition

20 to the new law. Programs under Title I of the law are

21 designed to help disadvantaged children meet high academic

22 standards. Comments provided at these meetings should be

23 focused on these issues. 

24 As a reminder, the purpose of these hearings and

25 comment period is for us to listen and learn. Therefore, we

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1 will not be at this time providing individual or general

2 responses or reflections to the testimony made today. We

3 will use this thoughtful feedback to inform our work as we

4 implement the new law moving forward. 

5 Let me turn it over to Patrick to remind people

6 about the logistics for public commenting.

7 Logistics and Plan for the Day

8 by Patrick Rooney

9 MR. ROONEY: Hi again, everyone. And I appreciate

10 that a lot of you have been here all day, so this is the

11 third time hearing this spiel. But I think it is important

12 to go through, so I will just to remind everyone. I will go

13 through logistics. If people have questions, there are

14 people right outside the door on my right. That is the

15 registration table that they can answer any additional

16 questions you have once we get started. 

17 You will see that we have -- from the agenda that

18 got handed out, there are three two-hour blocks. We are now

19 in the third block. Everyone who signed up ahead of time has

20 been assigned a spot in one of the blocks. So you can use

21 that to gauge when you are going to go in this session. And

22 so please take that into account when thinking about when you

23 are going to be called. But know that this session will

24 change a little bit depending on if people aren't here. So

25 you may get called sooner than you show up on this sheet. So

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1 please be flexible and patient with us. 

2 If you did not register and you would like to speak

3 before the end of the day today, I do actually foresee that

4 we will probably have a little bit of time to take walk-ins

5 on a first-come/first-serve basis. So please, if you are not

6 on the agenda but would like to speak and you want your time,

7 please go to the registration table and sign in so we can

8 make sure we have everyone on the list that we can call. 

9 Each speaker will get five minutes. And we ask

10 that when your name is called, that you come up here to the

11 podium. And as you start, your time will begin. There is a

12 clock that will show you how much time you have left. It

13 starts green. When you get down to a minute left, it turns

14 yellow. And then as your time runs out, it turns red. We do

15 ask that you be respectful of your time limit, so that way we

16 can make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. And we will

17 ask you to close it up after your five minutes is over. 

18 If you have any written copies or comments that you

19 would like to provide to us today, you can hand those in at

20 the registration table outside. And we are happy to take

21 those from you at that time. 

22 And as a reminder, the event is being live

23 streamed. So any member of the public may watch and listen

24 to your remarks. We will be making information about this

25 meeting publicly available on our website, including the

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1 names and the organizations or affiliations from all of our

2 speakers. And we will post a transcript on our website that

3 will probably take a few days until we have that up on our

4 website. And it is possible any of your submitted comments,

5 if you provide them to us, may also be made publicly

6 available. 

7 So again, please don't hesitate to ask any of our

8 colleagues here in the room. There are several Department

9 colleagues who have name badges on with, I think, blue

10 ribbons. And our contractors who are helping us with

11 organization of the meeting today have name tags with, I

12 think, purple ribbons. Please ask them any questions that

13 you need answers to. 

14 And with that, we will go ahead and get started. 

15 And the first speaker is Harold Jordan from the ACLU of

16 Pennsylvania. 

17 Harold Jordan

18 ACLU of Pennsylvania

19 MR. JORDAN: Good afternoon, folks. I am Harold

20 Jordan, Senior Policy Advocate with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. 

21 I am also a member of the Coordinating Committee of the

22 Dignity in Schools Campaign, which is a national coalition of

23 100 organization working to end the school-to-prison

24 pipeline. 

25 I have had the privilege of working with various

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1 parts of the Education Department over the last several years

2 through the school discipline guidance process, supportive

3 school discipline initiative, and last summer participated in

4 the Rethink Discipline Summit at the White House. So I have

5 had a lot of communication with the Department of Education.

6 In Pennsylvania, our work is statewide. We address

7 both school-administered discipline and the use and misuse of

8 law enforcement in schools, so both aspects of that in all

9 500 districts in Pennsylvania, believe it or not. Our

10 current work is both in two districts working to revise

11 policing policies and in Philadelphia, where I serve on an

12 advisory committee for a Department of Ed-funded project

13 intended to reduce disproportionality and discipline.

14 The Every Student Succeeds Act poses some

15 challenges for the Department and for state education

16 agencies, in part largely because there is sort of a partial

17 shifting, reassignment, restructuring of accountability

18 mechanisms generally in the direction of placing more in the

19 state. But I want to emphasize that much of the core work

20 that the Department has already been doing under the

21 Supportive Schools Discipline Initiative in the areas of

22 school discipline, et cetera, remain intact, that the

23 responsibilities and the powers to enforce and monitor civil

24 rights laws is intact. Technical assistance, guidance,

25 issuing guidances and some small bits of funding, those

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1 systems are intact, and that work should continue.

2 In addition, there is also the biannual reporting

3 requirement for data, known as the Civil Rights Data

4 Collection. Those things should continue and step up and

5 continue to be robust, even though some responsibilities are

6 now in the hands of state administrators. So the Department

7 should not shy away from enforcement and using the tools in

8 its toolbox. 

9 And indeed, because responsibilities have now been

10 created at the Department, excuse me, at the state level, I

11 think the Department has some new ways of working. For

12 example, encouraging state agencies to take more

13 responsibility for implementing the school discipline

14 guidance, which I don't think has happened quite enough. 

15 So I want to address briefly in the time left sort

16 of two portions of the Every Student Succeeds Act and make

17 some recommendations for the Department.

18 The Every Student Succeeds Act permits states to

19 adopt school climate and safety as an indicator of school

20 quality. This is an important thing, and we hope that many

21 states will do that. I hope that all states will do that. 

22 But there is a right way and there is a wrong way to do that. 

23 Many of us suffered through the sort of whole persistently

24 dangerous school labeling, which was done in a decentralized

25 way, which resulted in wildly inaccurate and inconsistent

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1 measures of the climate of schools and of school districts.

2 So our recommendations here are that the Department

3 share best practices for data collection and monitoring when

4 it comes to school climate, because we know which kinds of

5 data are important to monitoring and how to do that just

6 based on past practice. And that the best practices also be

7 shared with how to use data to identify problems and address

8 them constructively. And once again, the Department has a

9 lot of experience with that, both in the monitoring part, the

10 enforcement part, working with districts, et cetera. So

11 there is a lot that can be shared with state education

12 agencies.

13 The Department should also work with state agencies

14 to ensure that data is collected in a way that is consistent. 

15 One of the things that we found is what school districts

16 report to the Federal Government and the state government is

17 wildly inconsistent. And I can tell you that when it comes

18 to expulsion statistics and things, expulsion data, et

19 cetera. 

20 Our concerns grow in part out of what we have seen

21 in Pennsylvania where, unlike a lot of other states, there

22 has been a requirement that districts turn in school

23 discipline data since 1997. But the purpose of the

24 requirement was to make sure that kids were being punished

25 for certain acts of misconduct and not to look overall at how

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1 discipline was being administered. So it was only eight

2 years into the data process that you actually had overall

3 figures for suspension rates, which indeed show that

4 suspensions are mostly used not for serious acts or reported

5 acts of misconduct. So it is very important that the

6 Department use its experience in this area to help states

7 understand these issues and how they can be monitored

8 effectively and challenged.

9 I will stop because my time has run out. But I

10 guess the final thing I would say is that if the Department

11 does this, it might even make the enforcement a little

12 easier. If the states can begin to take more responsibility

13 for understanding and implementing the school discipline

14 guidance, it might make your load a little bit easier.

15 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

16 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

17 Next is Maura McInerney from the Education Law

18 Center.

19 Maura McInerney

20 Education Law Center

21 MS. McINERNEY: Thank you very much for this

22 opportunity to speak today, to address the Every Student

23 Succeeds Act and the opportunities that it creates for all of

24 us to improve educational outcomes for our most vulnerable

25 children. My name is Maura McInerney, and I am senior

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1 attorney at the Education Law Center in Pennsylvania. We are

2 statewide, nonprofit public interest law firm that advocates

3 on behalf of educationally at risk children. That includes

4 children with disabilities, those in foster care and in

5 juvenile justice system, children who are English language

6 learners, and children living in poverty.

7 ELC will submit comments on January 21, but today I

8 would like to focus my comments on three areas: One,

9 improving educational outcomes for children in the foster

10 care system; second, improving and expanding educational

11 opportunities for children in the juvenile justice system;

12 and finally, addressing school climate.

13 The Education Law Center advocates every day on

14 behalf of children in the foster care system. But we are

15 also a member of the Legal Center for Foster Care in

16 Education, which is a nationally based organization that

17 advocates to improve educational outcomes for these students. 

18 We know from our experience in individual cases and systemic

19 work, as well as from research studies, that ensuring that

20 children can stay in the same school when they change foster

21 care placement dramatically improves their academic outcomes,

22 improves graduation rates, and is in their best interest. 

23 We are very thrilled that ESSA has now ensured

24 school stability for these very vulnerable children and also

25 supports immediate enrollment and the prompt transfer of

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1 records for those who change schools. However, to make

2 school stability a reality for these children, we need the

3 Department to undertake significant guidance and to issue

4 regulations on the following topics.

5 First, through regulations to clarify definitions

6 of school of origin and child in foster care, to expressly

7 state in regulations that LEAs must provide school stability

8 once a best interest determination is made by a court or a

9 child welfare agency with the input of LEAs, to address the

10 discretionary use of Title I funding to support

11 transportation, direct state education agencies to issue

12 guidance regarding transportation, tuition reimbursement, and

13 the continuing implementation of preexisting laws that

14 support school stability for children in foster care and

15 aligned now with federal mandates, and also to adopt -- to

16 have LEAs publish and adopt policies on prompt transfer of

17 records, immediate enrollment, and collaborative

18 transportation with child welfare agencies, and finally to

19 support education and child welfare agencies working in a

20 collaborative manner to ensure not only that transportation

21 is provided but also that the data collection requirements of

22 the law are fully implemented.

23 With regard to children in juvenile justice system,

24 we know again from our work on the ground, as well as our

25 national work, that it is so critical that these students do

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1 not lose ground, which they so often do when placed in a

2 juvenile justice facility that provides an inadequate

3 education and that they are denied equal access to a quality

4 education upon their return to school.

5 We applaud ESSA for strengthening reentry

6 protections for these very vulnerable students. But to make

7 this a reality and makes these goals effective, we recommend

8 the following: Clarify what entity is responsible for making

9 the best interest determination upon a student's reentry,

10 define the components of education planning, mechanisms for

11 credit transfer, and timely reenrollment in appropriate

12 educational placement for youth transitioning from

13 correctional facilities to local education agencies and

14 programs.

15 And finally, we ask the Department to direct states

16 to issue guidance to ensure that course work provided in a

17 juvenile justice facility is fully aligned with challenging

18 state academic standards and that students earn real credits

19 that they can then transfer back to school. We also ask the

20 Department to consider offering discretionary grants so

21 districts have the resources that they need to implement

22 these protections. 

23 And finally, turning to school climate, we are

24 pleased that ESSA recognizes school climate as one of the

25 indicators states can choose to measure school quality and

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1 success, because it is in fact a very key indicator. We know

2 from our experience that students who are pushed out due to

3 overly punitive disciplinary practices, including suspensions

4 and expulsions or being placed in inferior educational

5 programs, are far more likely to drop out of school and far

6 more likely to be retained in grade, and that it impacts

7 their entire life outcome.

8 In addition, we know that students who have been

9 pushed out or counseled out have been subject to that

10 sometimes due to poor test scores. We have to stop

11 incentivizing pushing children out and support schools to

12 retain these students in our schools and support them to

13 learn. To that end, we urge the following: First, to ensure

14 that LEAs needs assessment specifically addresses school

15 climate issues in their school. Secondly, we urge LEAs to

16 report school discipline data in a disaggregated by student

17 group to ensure that we are not disproportionately pushing

18 out children with disabilities and children of color, et

19 cetera, and English language learners.

20 We ask that for states that include school climate

21 as one of the optional indicators, that you identify

22 appropriate metrics, you clarify that state's plan to improve

23 school climate must be sufficiently detailed, promote

24 positive and inclusive school climates, and proactively

25 respond to the school discipline disparities that are shown

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1 in reported data that is accurate.

2 Finally, we ask that you provide a clear definition

3 in regulation of what constitutes the overuse of discipline

4 practices that remove students from the classroom and

5 specifically address aversive behavioral interventions and

6 what that means. 

7 We also ask that you issue school climate guidance

8 that highlights effective preventive programs and trainings

9 that trauma informed, culturally competent, positive

10 classroom management, and offer targeted discretionary grants

11 to support these vital programs. 

12 In closing, I thank you for this opportunity. And

13 we would welcome the opportunity to work with the Department

14 to support effective implementation of ESSA's provisions to

15 advance educational opportunities for children in foster

16 care, those in the juvenile justice system, and to promote

17 truly positive school climate.

18 Thank you. 

19 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

20 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

21 Next we will hear from Tim Boals from WIDA at the

22 Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

23 Tim Boals

24 WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research

25 MR. BOALS: Hi. I am Tim Boals, Founder and

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1 Director of WIDA, an English language learner consortium of

2 38 state education agencies located the University of

3 Wisconsin Madison. I am speaking today in my capacity as

4 WIDA director and ELL researcher, not on behalf of the states

5 we serve. 

6 I will begin by highlighting positive provisions

7 with suggestions for strengthening the education of ELLs

8 through the upcoming guidance. I endorse the Every Student

9 Succeeds Act inclusion of language proficiency data alongside

10 academic achievement data as a more appropriate way to

11 measure English language learner growth and achievement and

12 urge the Department to highlight through guidance the

13 critical role of academic language development is assuring

14 the long-term success of this growing population of students. 

15 Consistent with strong research findings, I would

16 urge the Department to provide guidance that encourages

17 schools to assess student progress in all languages of

18 instruction so that schools that offer services in multiple

19 languages can demonstrate meeting the dual goals of

20 bilingualism and academic development. 

21 I endorse ESSA's requirement for challenging

22 standards in core domains, in English and for English

23 language proficiency. Additionally, I urge the Department to

24 support the use of language development standards in

25 additional languages to guide English language learners'

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1 instruction and assessment when the partner language is the

2 medium of instruction. As a result, we can more effectively

3 educate ELLs so that they are college and career ready and

4 our Nation is prepared for the global challenges and

5 opportunities of this century.

6 Furthermore, developmentally appropriate language

7 development standards for early childhood in English and the

8 languages learners speak at home are essential as language

9 development in the early years is fluid, dynamic, and

10 anchored within families and communities. Research

11 demonstrates that support for the primary languages and

12 cultures of young dual language learners is essential to

13 long-term success in English medium U.S. schools. These

14 developmentally and linguistically appropriate language

15 standard should be used in conjunction with states' early

16 learning standard and early learning frameworks. 

17 Now for troubling provisions, as I see it. I am

18 concerned that there is no accountability for language

19 development or attainment for ELLs from graduates K through

20 2, which account for over 40 percent of ELLS throughout the

21 Nation. I urge the Department to issue guidance that

22 stresses the importance of quality programs in the early

23 grades that promote academic language development and

24 culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy, thus laying

25 a strong foundation for academic success.

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1 Accountability for ELLs under ESSA appears to have

2 shifted from districts to schools. Most schools have too few

3 ELLs to meet minimum N-sizes, which could lead to ELLs

4 disappearing from view in accountability systems. Guidance

5 should encourage states to encourage LEAs to keep track of

6 ELL progress and maintain documentation on the performance of

7 former ELLs for four years post-being reclassified to ensure

8 stability and more valid achievement of the subgroup.

9 Thank you for this opportunity to speak today and

10 for all that you do in supporting our Nation's growing

11 population of culturally and linguistically diverse English

12 language learners.

13 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

14 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

15 Next is Randi Weingarten from the American

16 Federation of Teachers.

17 Randi Weingarten

18 American Federation of Teachers

19 MS. WEINGARTEN: Thank you very much. My apologies

20 for my cold. Thank you for holding these hearings and for

21 allowing me to speak on behalf of the 1.6 million members of

22 the AFT to discuss the Department's role in the

23 implementation of ESSA. I know that several members have

24 already spoken, and I love when rank and file folk are here,

25 actually really making sure that people understand what is

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1 going on in schools.

2 So ESSA provides the opportunity to reimagine

3 schools, to recreate a love of learning and infuse that into

4 the opportunities student need to be prepared for life,

5 college, and career. The law is about helping students. It

6 has the potential to be the reset to ensure that every public

7 school is a place that parents want to send their kids, where

8 students are engaged, and where educators want to teach,

9 where the curriculum is rich and where there is a joy of

10 teaching and learning. Let's not squander the opportunity.

11 As I said in the letter to Acting Secretary King

12 this past Friday regarding opt-out and testing participation

13 requirements, the overwhelmingly bipartisan passage of ESSA

14 is a signal that the page must be turned on the

15 Administration's policies, yes, and on the No Child Left

16 Behind policies, that created a culture of over testing and

17 punishment. Let's move to support and improve and make that

18 our North Star.

19 Educators are closely watching what is happening

20 with ESSA. Frankly, shortly after the law passed in

21 December, the AFT held a nationwide conference call for our 

22 members. And although it was right before the holidays at

23 the end of a workday, we had over 172,000 educators who

24 joined that call. There is great hope that ESSA will turn

25 the page on the failed No Child Left Behind policies.

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1 But after the call, we conducted a follow-up poll. 

2 And we asked: What is your biggest fear about the new law? 

3 We asked some positive things, as well. And the number one

4 response was that nothing would change, that schools would

5 not get the adequate resources and supports and would

6 continue business as usual. 

7 And the number two response was that the testing

8 fixation would continue. These two responses totaling 70

9 percent of all responses showed that we have a long road to

10 regain trust of America's educators. But the poll also found

11 that teachers want the latitude and the supports to teach. 

12 Educators want what they have always wanted, to do their best

13 and to be giving the supports to do their best.

14 It is a false choice to pit accountability against

15 support of teaching and learning. We can do both. I will

16 give you two quick examples. Project-based learning provides

17 supports and holds schools accountable for learning and

18 enables time in the curriculum for music and the arts. 

19 Attention to climate will help enormously keeping kids in

20 school, as some of the speakers have already said. 

21 So two or three more quick things. Assessments

22 should be used to help improve schools and inform

23 instruction, not arbitrarily measuring them. School

24 accountability should be based on a number of reasonable

25 factors that align with the needs of students. Teacher

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1 evaluation should be used to grow and strengthen the

2 profession, not sort and punish. And there needs to be more

3 time for teaching and learning in schools.

4 Finally, I encourage the U.S. Department of

5 Education to follow the frame of the members of Congress who

6 overwhelmingly passed ESSA and ensure that any guidance and

7 regulations are workable in America's classrooms and reflect

8 the voice of educators and parents and those who are closest

9 to kids. Do we think that everything that states will do

10 will be perfect? Of course not. But the intent of the law

11 is clear. We owe it to states to let them try to do what is

12 their best for their schools and communities. Many states, I

13 hope, will learn from the failure of No Child Left Behind and

14 give teachers the latitude and the resources to deeply engage

15 students and to focus on the whole child.

16 Any regulations or any regulating around

17 interventions -- and this will be the last point I will

18 make -- should allow for truly supportive interventions, such

19 as community schools. One of the exciting aspects of the new

20 law is that schools identified as in need of support and

21 improvement will have resource equity plans and that states

22 and districts must assist with these plans. Your enforcement

23 of this requirement that states and districts be held

24 responsible for resource equity in schools could be one of

25 the Department's most helpful acts in meeting the original

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1 purpose of the law.

2 So at the end of the day we need to give people the

3 room to breathe, to have robust accountability systems, so

4 that we can really align measurement with what kids need to

5 know and be able to do, so they will be prepared for their

6 lives, so that they can not only dream their dreams but

7 achieve them.

8 Thank you very much.

9 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

10 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

11 Next we will hear from Drew Franklin. Is

12 Mr. Franklin here?

13 (No response.)

14 MR. ROONEY: Okay. The next is Denise Marshall

15 from the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.

16 Denise Marshall

17 Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates

18 MS. MARSHALL: Where is the little indicator?

19

20 MR. ROONEY: It is right there in front of you. 

21 Look straight down.

22 MS. MARSHALL: Oh, okay. Great, 

23 Thank you for this opportunity to speak today. I

24 am Denise Marshall, Executive Director of the Council of

25 Parent Attorneys and Advocates. COPAA is a national

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1 nonprofit who works to protect the civil and legal rights of

2 students with disabilities and their families. And we work

3 to secure excellence in education on behalf of the 6.4

4 million children with disabilities in our Nation's public

5 schools. 

6 COPAA has worked alongside of parents and their

7 advocates to ensure that every student counts. We have

8 worked long and hard for that, and we appreciate the fact

9 that ESSA continues the accountability and continues to take

10 steps to make sure that students are learning.

11 As you know, as a result of this and of the

12 provisions of the ESSA and of idea, students with

13 disabilities are mastering grade-level work, graduating high

14 school with a regular diploma. While there is still a long

15 way to go, the expectations and outcomes have never been

16 higher. And we really appreciate ESSA's continued focus on

17 that.

18 Students who are eligible for special education are

19 general education students first and with the right

20 resources, services, and supports can learn to read and can

21 learn to master math and learn to master a lot of different

22 kinds of subjects, but they have remain in school to be able

23 to do that. So I want to echo the comments of our friends in

24 the Dignity in Schools Campaign and the Education Law Center

25 to say that we have got to pay attention to the school

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1 climate issue. We have got to make sure that the data that's

2 being reported is accurate and that there is action taken

3 about that data.

4 COPAA's overarching recommendation today is to urge

5 the Department to use every inch of its legal authority to

6 continue to regulate and provide guardrails. We also

7 understand that there has been too much testing. We

8 certainly do not want to continue that. The only purpose for

9 testing is to find out if students are learning. And if they

10 are not, it is important to do something about that. So we

11 want to make sure towards that end that the basis of a good

12 accountability system is a reliable N-size. States have to

13 assure the subgroup data used as the basis of their

14 accountability determinations and reporting truly reflects

15 the students attending school while still protecting their

16 privacy.

17 Also, Title I is about closing achieving gaps. 

18 Again, there is no purpose to test if we are not going to do

19 something about it and quickly, while the student is still in

20 the grades or at least in the level of school that they are

21 in. We want to make sure that regulations define new terms,

22 outline realistic and meaningful timing and implementation

23 expectations with those safeguards to provide all the

24 necessary parameters to assure that students who are

25 underperforming receive the targeted intervention they need.

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1 For assessment, you must update the one-percent

2 regulation on the alternate assessment to make sure that the

3 statute caps the actual number of students with the most

4 significant cognitive disabilities by subject at one percent

5 of those students. 

6 Also clarify that districts have the flexibility to

7 exceed that cap, if necessary, with state approval and create

8 strict federal parameters under which a state may apply for a

9 waiver of that cap. 

10 We have worked very hard to ensure that that school

11 climate indicator is in there for the reasons I have said

12 before. And we also now are very thrilled that there is the

13 expectation that aversive interventions, which we know

14 includes restraints and seclusion, will no longer be used in

15 schools or that schools will at least have to minimize their

16 use. We hear every day of students, or as soon as yesterday,

17 who were dragged through the halls, having their septums

18 deviated trying to be put into seclusion rooms. And the

19 Department of Ed has to elevate its principles and make them

20 guidance and take action to make this stop.

21 Lastly, I want to address the Pay for Success

22 programs. This is something we are very concerned about. 

23 Regulations must specify that states are prohibited from

24 implementing these pay for success programs in a way that

25 conflicts with rights and with the current statutes. We

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1 cannot incentivize districts for failing to serve our kids.

2 In conclusion, this Administration has made great

3 progress in supporting the alignment of general education and

4 special education law, policies, technical assistance, and

5 funding. I urge you to continue in this vein. The new law

6 must help target every available resource on closing

7 achievement gaps for students and assure school systems are

8 inclusive and supportive of every child so they can meet the

9 challenging state standard, achieve post-secondary success,

10 learn, and grow.

11 Thank you very much.

12 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

13 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

14 Next is Miles Sandler from the National League of

15 Cities. Is Mr. Sandler here?

16 (No response.)

17 MR. ROONEY: Okay. The next is Joyce Parker from

18 the Citizens for a Better Greenville.

19 Joyce Parker

20 Citizens for a Better Greenville

21 MS. PARKER: Good afternoon. I want to say thank

22 you, also, for this opportunity. I think you all are

23 modeling what it is going to take for this bill to do what it

24 needs to do, regardless of the intent of it. And I think the

25 intent is that every student succeeds. I know when No Child

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1 Left Behind came out, parents started telling me later on,

2 maybe two years, three years, four years, even as late as

3 these years now that children are being left behind. We

4 don't want this bill to be one, though, saying that every

5 child succeeds at, and most of our children don't. 

6 We also know that Title I really applies to

7 students who are in the wealthy communities. So when we have

8 the conversation and talk about what is needed, then we have

9 to look at those other children. Many times in the work that

10 I do in my community as a community organizer working with

11 parents and students, I will be asked sometime, "Well, tell

12 us why you'll always want to know about the problems of the

13 children that are not doing well." The answer is that those

14 that doing well is good. So if I want to work with those

15 that don't do well, then we have all of them covered.

16 And I think we can go into that with that kind of

17 an attitude. Just saying what Frederick Douglas said, that

18 it is really easier to strengthen or make strong children

19 than it is to fix or repair broken men. And when you look at

20 the narrative about the stream going and all these babies are

21 in there and somebody stands in the middle pulling them out

22 as they come, and then someone goes upstream, and they say,

23 well, now come back and help me pull them out. No. Let me

24 go down here to see why they're there. 

25 I think that's what we are asking you to do. We

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1 are saying that you do have the right and obligation to

2 really regulate and to also look at what works and what

3 doesn't work. I agree with Harold. You all have done a lot

4 of work. And over the last five years, when I first started

5 this work, I graduated from college, but I didn't even know

6 how city council members were elected. I didn't know how the

7 school board was elected. Because in our community that just

8 wasn't a priority. 

9 After integration a lot of things changed. The

10 thought process changed. So we cannot assume that everybody

11 is doing the same thing and is at the same point. I have

12 talked to people in my community. I have talked to people

13 across the state that we work with. I have talked to my

14 local superintendent, who has been there four years doing

15 some amazing things. But now we are in that clip meeting, as

16 they call it, you know. I didn't know what it was. But

17 that's where we do our planning. So we are in there. But

18 one evening from 5:00 to 7:00 or 5:30 to 6:00 is not long

19 enough. 

20 So we are asking you to make some recommendations

21 in terms of how this can work and talk about using the

22 language of focus groups. Use the language of retreats, of

23 summits, that include community members. Just like we are

24 here today, this has been amazing. But guess what? We have

25 been here all day, and look how much we have learned. So

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1 none of us could have done this in five minutes. And a lot

2 of times that is all we have on the school board agenda or

3 that is all we have in an advisory meeting. Or someone said

4 about making it convenient for parents and students to be

5 there.

6 One of the things that you can do is recommend that

7 when they turn in their plan, because the secretaries, they

8 can turn it down. Is that right? So then why not say that,

9 hey, we want to help you make the best plan that you can, so

10 we will give you some recommendations. But we need to have

11 students that can attend and even let it be an educational

12 piece. Because that teacher that talked this morning about

13 teaching political science, some children should have been

14 here today as an educational opportunity. 

15 But also, we want to share with you, I think

16 everybody who came here said that we will help you. I

17 recognize this is one of those big pieces of puzzles with 500

18 pieces to it or 1,000 pieces, bigger and bigger. I never

19 could do that. I can't even do the little ones that say --

20 anyway, but we can make that puzzle because this is a puzzle. 

21 But you've got so many people that say they will help you,

22 because guess what? On the national level you don't have the

23 capacity. But guess what? On the state level they don't

24 have the capacity. 

25 I applaud our state superintendent, Carey Wright. 

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1 I will give a shout out to her. If you notice, Mississippi

2 was at the bottom of everything. Well, we have moved up one. 

3 Okay? In something. And I don't care. Laugh, I don't care. 

4 But the bottom line is, guess what, we moved up one, but we

5 had to be doing something right. Because you know how much

6 it takes to even move. Well, at least we aren't there again. 

7 And then when we talked about growth and

8 improvement, we even up at the top, they are showing that in

9 Mississippi, I think in language or reading, that were, I

10 think, like number 16 in terms of showing growth. We are

11 doing something right. But she is a superintendent that

12 said, "I do this because I'm concerned about the ones that we

13 lost." And when she said that, hey, you've got the right

14 spirit about this. Because it's not just the ones that we

15 got, it's the ones that we lost.

16 Our superintendent just came in. He works with us. 

17 We are in meetings with him, with parents. We know as much

18 about the law as anyone else. Because like I said, I didn't

19 know what was going on when I first started this work. 

20 Everything I know now is because spaces were opened up. 

21 Meetings and trainings were opened up. You have to do that. 

22 There is nothing wrong with you all saying: Hey, look, if

23 you want a model that works, then this is what you do. 

24 Because I think we are talking about tomatoes and tomatoes

25 when we say strengthening and supporting versus, what

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1 prescribed and dictate. If we are expecting certain things,

2 we have to be willing to what? Inspect it. 

3 And we need you all to keep doing what you have

4 done. I know you all have spent five years, because I have

5 been coming back and forth for that long. And some of the

6 spaces that you all have brought people together, and I have

7 had conversations and I have learned stuff. But guess what? 

8 You all have taken some of my opinions, some of my

9 suggestions.

10 We have a lot of folks that want to do that. And

11 if nothing else, if we don't get nothing else -- and I really

12 applaud you all, too, the staffers. I really applaud you all

13 because we have learned a lot from you all, as well. And

14 when we get in a spot and you all shake your head, we know

15 keep talking, keep talking, you know, because they need the

16 stories, as well.

17 And all we are saying to you is that you have

18 something that works. This law will work if we work it. And

19 you have people that say they will volunteer to help you. 

20 There are foundations out there that fund a lot of our

21 organizations, but they fund education work, too. So when 

22 you need money to say, hey, look, we need to bring some

23 people together, talk to us. Let's figure out if these

24 foundations will say you all have a change in policy, yes,

25 but we need your help. We have folks that want to change

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1 policies, but they don't have the resources to do it. We

2 need to help them.

3 So, I mean, you know, I could say a lot more. Did

4 you get it? You all got that? Thank you.

5 (Laughter)

6 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

7 MR. ROONEY: Thank you. 

8 MS. PARKER: Let me just show one map, though. Let

9 me just show one tool, just one tool, just one tool, because

10 somebody is probably not here that is going to need their

11 time. This map here, can you all see the colors here? Can

12 you see the colors here? You all are giving money to

13 universities. This was a community-based organization,

14 Subject Echo* build this map. And this map on this page

15 here, it shows in Mississippi where our critical teacher

16 shortage areas are in the red. 

17 Over here on the next page it shows about where

18 your -- here it is right here. In the -- I think this one

19 here talks about the poverty level. But when you look at the

20 colors, even from there, you can look at areas where your low

21 poverty areas are over here. Well, those were the same ones. 

22 But guess where your F schools are? They are in those same

23 areas. And this report is called "Explaining Disparity and

24 Student Performances."

25 You can get universities to give our communities

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1 capacity. When you get the data, we can get them, rather

2 than just telling them to do whatever they do with the money,

3 tell them to help us, help our communities. Because when you

4 paint a picture like this, you do create public will for

5 something to work.

6 Thank you.

7 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

8 (Applause)

9 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Next is Darren Cambridge from

10 the National Council of Teachers of English. 

11 Darren Cambridge

12 National Council of Teachers of English

13 MR. CAMBRIDGE: You are going to be hard to follow.

14 (Laughter)

15 MR. CAMBRIDGE: My name is Darren Cambridge, and I

16 am the Director of Policy Research and Development at the

17 National Council of Teachers of English. NCTE is the

18 Nation's oldest and broadest organization focused on literacy

19 and English studies. Our members range from early childhood

20 teachers to university faculty and include both classroom

21 teachers and researchers. Many are experts on designing and

22 evaluating assessments that improve instruction. And all

23 have important classroom experiences with what assessment can

24 do to support performance. So while we are going to submit

25 written, more broader comments, we will focus on assessment

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1 today.

2 Drawing on this body of expertise, NCTE offers the

3 Department five recommendations on ESSA title regulations

4 related to assessment. First, ED should require states to

5 include teachers and principals as core members of teams that

6 develop their state assessment plans. Asking them for

7 feedback on plans that have already been created is not

8 sufficient. Creating assessment systems that are fair to all

9 students and that have the potential to contribute to student

10 achievement, as well as measure it, must be guided be

11 practitioner knowledge from the very beginning.

12 Only teachers and principals have the depth of

13 knowledge about student work, student culture, and

14 instructional practice together needed to fully understand

15 the consequences of assessment practices and the ways in

16 which it might contribute to greater student achievement.

17 Second, ED should require that states document how

18 the design of their assessment and accountability systems is

19 grounded in the best research on assessment of the specific

20 skills being assessed. For example, beyond the generalized

21 body of research about educational measurement, scholars,

22 including teacher researchers and university faculty outside

23 of the field of education, have produced a significant body

24 of evidence on how to most fairly and productively assess

25 reading, writing, speaking, and listening. These are all key

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1 components to English language arts, but each poses its own

2 distinctive challenges for effective assessment.

3 Evaluation of the validity of any academic

4 achievement measure must consider its consequential validity;

5 that is, the actual effects on students of choices made using

6 testing results. 

7 Third, ED should require that states provide

8 evidence that they have chosen measures of academic

9 achievement in their assessment systems that are most likely

10 to support increased student achievement, not just those that

11 are the easiest to measure. ED should strongly encourage

12 states to consider incorporating measures of academic

13 achievement other than standardized tests or extant data like

14 graduation rates. The broader body of research on assessment

15 of English language arts, to which we recommend attention,

16 suggests that alternative approaches, such as portfolio

17 assessment, could provide much more useful information to

18 teachers, administrators, policymakers, parents, and

19 community members about how to improve student achievement.

20 Recent improvements in technology allow for use at

21 levels of scale that have been previously difficult to

22 implement and sustain. Any system of peer review of

23 assessment measures should be designed to fairly evaluate

24 these alternative measures in addition to traditional tests.

25 Fourth, ED should hold states accountability for

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1 providing sufficient guidance, resources, and technical

2 assistance to effectively implement assessment systems at the

3 local level. Currently the capacity of state education

4 agencies to provide such support is widely varied and lacking

5 in many states. Robust state support is particularly crucial

6 in states granted authority to implement assessments at the

7 local level. Local innovation as the potential to

8 dramatically improve assessment, if it is grounded in

9 research, integrally involves teachers and principals and

10 other stakeholders in design, and is adequately funded.

11 In addition, ED should strongly encourage states to

12 limit the amount of time during the school day spent on

13 testing and test preparation and to ensure that

14 accountability oriented assessment is aligned with formative

15 assessment designed at the school and classroom levels. 

16 Research demonstrates that genuine formative assessment can

17 have a substantive impact on student achievement.

18 Finally, ED should clarify that standardized tests

19 be used in state assessment systems only for the purpose for

20 which they have been validated. Test designed for evaluating

21 school performance should not be used as the primary measure

22 for evaluating the performance of individual teachers. 

23 Teacher evaluation systems must use multiple measures

24 appropriate to the local context.

25 Thank you for this opportunity to share NCT's

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1 recommendations. We look forward to continuing to be part of

2 the conversation about implementation of ESSA.

3 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

4 MR. ROONEY: Thank you. 

5 Next we will hear from Kathy Lally from the

6 Communities in Schools, who will be speaking for Gary

7 Chapman.

8 Kathy Lally

9 Communities in Schools, Inc.

10 MS. LALLY: Good afternoon. I actually wanted to

11 follow Ms. Parker and give a shout out to Care Wright, who I

12 worked with in Montgomery County, Maryland, and DCPS and did

13 great work there, and I know she is doing great work in

14 Mississippi. But I am really pleased to be here to offer

15 comments on the Every Student Succeeds Act. My name is Kathy

16 Lally. I am Vice President for Growth and Impact at

17 Communities in Schools.

18 Communities in Schools is the Nation's largest and

19 most effective dropout prevention organization. Operating in

20 more than 2,400 schools in the most challenged communities of

21 25 states and the District of Columbia, Communities in

22 Schools serves nearly 1.5 million young people and their

23 families each year. Communities in Schools' unique model

24 positions site coordinators inside schools to meet the needs

25 of the whole child by assessing their needs and providing

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1 them with the resources that will help them stay in school

2 and succeed in life.

3 We partner with nearly 400 school districts and

4 17,000 partners, like local businesses, social service

5 agencies, and healthcare providers to mobilize 40,000

6 volunteers. Whether it is providing food, school supplies,

7 healthcare providers to mobilize 40,000 volunteers,

8 Communities in Schools is there to help. This local and

9 school-based approach has been proven effective at removing

10 academic and nonacademic barriers to student achievement by

11 increasing graduation rates, lowering dropout rates,

12 increasing academic achievement, and increasing attendance. 

13 Communities in Schools is excited about the

14 opportunities in ESSA for evidenced-based practice and

15 integrated student support services. We would like to

16 provide the Department with two recommendations regarding

17 Title I. Congress deliberately ESSA to include opportunities

18 for states and districts to promote academic success and

19 discourage student dropouts by developing, securing, and

20 coordinating supports that target academic and nonacademic

21 barriers to achievement. 

22 Our first recommendation, ESSA explicitly allows

23 states and districts to use Title I dollars on integrated

24 student supports and other evidence-based strategies. 

25 Previous iterations of the Elementary and Secondary Education

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1 Act lacked clarification with regard to Title I and student

2 supports, creating conflicting interpretations that

3 discourage local and state education agencies to use Title I

4 dollars for integrated student support activities.

5 Communities in Schools encourages the Department to

6 circulate guidance clarifying that local and state education

7 agencies are permitted to use Title I dollars for these

8 activities. Furthermore, the Department should work to

9 educate local and state education agencies on how ESSA

10 provides opportunities for the use of integrated student

11 supports and furthers the communities school model.

12 Secondly, the Department should refrain from

13 issuing guidance or regulation that has the effect of taking

14 stewardship of Title I funding away from states and

15 districts. States and districts must be allowed to utilize

16 the student support strategies that they view as working best

17 for their students in their communities, including those that

18 reduce systemic obstacles to learning and provide a holistic

19 approach to K through 12 education.

20 With that in mind, we urge the Department to tread

21 carefully when considering regulation or guidance that may

22 undermine local flexibility and prevent states and districts

23 from using Title I dollars that they deem fit.

24 On behalf of the 200 local and state CIS

25 organizations, the 1.5 million students that we serve, and

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1 the 9 million additional students in poverty who will benefit

2 from these modifications in ESSA, thank you so much for the

3 opportunity to comment and consider our two very clear

4 recommendations.

5 Thanks so much.

6 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

7 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

8 Next we have Melissa Tomlinson.

9 Melissa Tomlinson

10 MS. TOMLINSON: Hi. My name is Melissa Tomlinson,

11 and I'm a special education teacher in New Jersey. And

12 honestly, what Karen just got done saying is basically a lot

13 of what I have to say, only she did 100 times better. I have

14 seen maybe two, three, four teachers in the audience today. 

15 And that's a fact right off the bat that concerns me, when

16 teachers are the ones that see, that are on the front lines,

17 that know what our students are dealing with on a daily

18 basis.

19 So as the Department works towards outlining the

20 regulations that will guide the implementation of ESSA, I

21 urge you to keep one thing in mind, who is really central at

22 the decision-making that will be taking place? The students

23 that walk through our doors come attached with many

24 identifying labels that help drive the collection of data,

25 homeless, foster child, previously incarcerated youth,

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1 disabled, English language learner, and many more. 

2 And while I do not deny the need for collection of

3 data to recognize gaps and implement programs, I hope you do

4 not fail to recognize a few things. First and foremost, the

5 number of students in our country that have experienced one

6 or more traumatic events is at an all-time high. This is a

7 concern that we, as a Nation as a whole, have failed to

8 acknowledge. While our education system has been doing a

9 good job recognizing needs and working towards providing

10 supports and services, we will not experience the growth that

11 we seek until more emphasis is placed on preventative

12 measures that seek to address the needs of a child as a

13 whole.

14 And as those hierarchy of needs, the basis of

15 motivational and education theory has been in existence since

16 1943. The 1970s brought additional needs into the hierarchy. 

17 But one fact has remained, effective learning will not occur

18 without specific basic needs being met first. Biological and

19 physiological, safety, love and belongingness, and esteem. 

20 Until complete attention is given to this basic human

21 concept, we cannot create policy. We cannot analyze data. 

22 We cannot teach. But we will not be highly effective. 

23 This is why I am urging for guidance to be

24 developed that provides pathways for LEAs to build,

25 strengthen, and sustain partnerships on local levels with

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1 other agencies that collaborate to create a comprehensive,

2 wrap-around system of services that benefit not only the

3 child but also the family and the community. I ask for

4 provisions of transparency and funding be put into place, as

5 I see thousands of dollars funneled into schools only to be

6 used for consultants and products, while the children see

7 merely a trickle of the funds.

8 Lastly, I ask that you remember that who we are

9 truly here for is the children and not the corporations. I

10 encourage devotion of time towards truly considering what

11 educators and parents are telling you and how their needs can

12 be met.

13 Thank you.

14 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

15 MR. ROONEY: Next is Irene Holtzman from Focus D.C.

16 Irene Holtzman

17 Focus DC

18 MS. HOLTZMAN: Good afternoon. Thank you for the

19 opportunity to comment on the future regulations of Every

20 Student Succeeds Act of 2015. My name is Irene Holtzman, and

21 I am the Executive Director of Friends of Choice in Urban

22 Schools, a nonprofit that provides support to public charter

23 schools in Washington, D.C. Prior to Focus, I was a

24 traditional public school teacher, a teacher in a public

25 charter school, and a central office administrator for a

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1 successful charter network here in our Nation's Capital.

2 Focus is encouraged by many of the ESSA provisions. 

3 We support the continuation of the testing requirement, the

4 focus on academic achievement of all student subgroups, and

5 the ability of states to set accountability goals that are

6 meaningful in their particular context. Focus also supports

7 the negotiated rule-making on standards assessments and

8 supplement not supplant. Finally, in a city where publicly

9 funded early childhood education is a current reality, ESSA

10 is highly supportive of early child education. 

11 On the charter school side, we are pleased with the

12 continuance of the charter school program, in particular,

13 dedicated funding for the replication and expansion of high14 performing schools, increased flexibility, and allowable

15 costs for startup schools, more flexibility for the use of a

16 weighted lottery to increase charter access for the most

17 disadvantaged students, and the meaningful inclusion of

18 charter representatives and implementation of ESSA at the

19 state and local level.

20 In thinking about regulations that will assist

21 states in meaningfully implementing the provisions of ESSA,

22 it is important that the Department carefully consider the

23 interaction of federal law with state charter law. The

24 success of public charter schools in Washington, D.C., is

25 partially due to its congressionally enacted charter law, the

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1 School Reform Act of 1995. Its principles of autonomy and

2 equity shouldn't be abridged by any regulations. In

3 particular, our authorizer, the Public Charter School Board,

4 is widely considered to be one of the strongest authorizers

5 in the country due in no small part to its independent

6 nature. 

7 Regulations should clarify that ESSA does not

8 supersede existing law regarding what entity is responsible

9 for monitoring and holding accountable public chartering

10 agencies.

11 Finally, with my teacher hat on, the guidance on

12 accountability provisions should be mindful of not creating

13 incentives to over assess students. The flexibility to

14 include interim assessments, computer-adaptive assessments,

15 or other innovative assessments is helpful. However, the

16 temptation to use these as an "in addition to," as opposed to

17 "a part of" cannot be ignored and should be addressed.

18 In addition, the inclusion of a fifth indicator of

19 school quality and student success beyond achievement in high

20 school graduation is helpful, but not if it detracts from

21 instructional time or puts additional work on already

22 overburdened teachers. Regulations should encourage the

23 measurement of already existing efforts, as opposed to

24 burdensome systems that detract from the most important work

25 of educators.

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1 Thank you for the opportunity to comment. We will

2 follow up with more detailed written comments at a later

3 time.

4 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

5 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

6 I believe the next person, Megan Wolfe from ASCD,

7 is not here. I just want to double check before we move to

8 the next person. 

9 (No response.)

10 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Next is Edgar Cahn from

11 TimeBanks USA.

12 (No response.)

13 MR. ROONEY: All right. It looks like Mr. Banks is

14 not here, or Mr. Cahn is not here. Sorry. So the next will

15 be Sarah Davis.

16 Sarah Davis

17 MS. DAVIS: Good afternoon. Thank you for the

18 opportunity to participate in this legislative process. I am

19 a parent. I have five children. My husband is active duty

20 in the military and has served in Afghanistan and Iraq and in

21 Pakistan. Of our five children, four are children with

22 disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, vision

23 impairments, and other disabilities.

24 I am also a member of SECAC, which is the Special

25 Education Citizens Advisory Council for Anne Arundel County. 

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1 And in my experience, in our family's military -- let me

2 start again. Our family's military service has allowed me to

3 advocate for my children across multiple states and to

4 discover that academic expectations and the allowed level of

5 parent involvement varies greatly from state to state and

6 from local school to local school. 

7 Working with other families of children with

8 disabilities has brought to light the same concerns of the

9 inequitability in academic expectations and parental

10 involvement based on assigned school. Particularly

11 enlightening is the difference in the level of parental

12 involvement accepted by the school for my typical child and

13 my special needs children.

14 For my typical child, I am cheerfully welcomed into

15 his classroom. And my support for his educational progress

16 is applauded. The school climate is markedly different from

17 my special needs children. The schoolhouse door is closed,

18 and my parental involvement is met with suspicion and polite

19 but collective rejection. 

20 Fundamentally I believe my disabled children are

21 entitled to receive equal educational opportunity and benefit

22 from their public education as my non-disabled children and

23 to be held to the same high academic standards as their non24 disabled peers. This is not the education offered by the

25 school, a fundamental disagreement in our educational belief

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1 perpetuating the ongoing tension in the parent-school

2 relationship broadly experienced by parents of students with

3 disabilities, including myself. 

4 We applaud lawmakers in working together to enact

5 the ESSA to provide all children the opportunity to receive

6 fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to address

7 the substantial educational achievement caps between disabled

8 children like mine and their non-disabled peers through

9 ensuring annual state report cards measure performance of

10 student subgroups and establish ambitious goals for annual

11 progress.

12 We also applaud the ESSA for addressing the

13 necessity of parental involvement in all stages of the

14 educational process, from the establishment of

15 multidisciplinary teams naming parents as required

16 participants in the development of state plans to the

17 implementation of family engagement centers focused on

18 enhancing systemic and effective family engagement policies

19 and programs at state and local levels. 

20 We urge regulators to use all authority to ensure

21 meaningful progress is realized towards closing the achieving

22 gap for at-risk children like mine by providing clear

23 regulatory guidance for the definition of underperforming,

24 specifying time frames for necessary intervention action when

25 subgroups of students are not achieving to ensure students

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1 like mine do not experience multi-year delays in their

2 educational progress, as is currently the norm in special

3 education, mandating students with disabilities be assessed

4 at their enrolled grade level and continuing that from No

5 Child Left Behind, and taking the critical step of regulating

6 statistically sound best practice standards and establishing

7 the minimum number of students, or also known as N-size, to

8 be included in the state accountability system to ensure

9 states provide meaningful accountability data, and all

10 schools are held accountable for all student progress.

11 We urge regulators to provide clear regulatory

12 guidance in ensuring progress data is published in an

13 accessible format and provided to families in a timely manner

14 to allow for meaningful and timely intervention in their

15 children's educational programs. We also urge regulators to

16 provide clear guidance to ensure the implementation of

17 systemic and comprehensive improvements in healthy school

18 climates, including a reduction in bullying, as experienced

19 by my language disabled daughter, identifying and reducing

20 the alarming use of harmful restraints and seclusions, and

21 forcefully addressing the well-established school-to-prison

22 pipeline disproportionately experienced by children with

23 disabilities.

24 Above all, we urge regulators to use all authority

25 to regulate and ensure meaningful and equitable parental

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1 involvement across all states, within all school districts,

2 and in every local school, including parents at every level

3 of the educational planning and implementation process. We

4 are a necessary voice in our children's education and a voice

5 that is too often sidelined in deference to educational

6 expertise, but the educational experts lack the expertise

7 regarding our individual children and lack the high

8 expectations that parents hold for their children.

9 Our disabled children must have equal opportunity

10 to have the benefits of education as their non-disabled

11 peers. And ensuring that parental involvement is included at

12 every step of the process is the only way to make this a

13 reality.

14 Thank you very much.

15 (Applause)

16 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

17 MR. ROONEY: Thank you.

18 Next is Melanie Mendonca from the Community

19 Education Council District 23.

20 (No response.)

21 MR. ROONEY: All right. Narric Rome from the

22 Americans for the Arts.

23 And before Mr. Rome starts, I just want to remind

24 everyone that we are getting close to the end of the list. 

25 So if anyone who has not spoken who would like an opportunity

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1 to speak, please sign at the registration desk so we can make

2 sure we have your names. And we will call you up, because it

3 looks like we will have some time.

4 Go ahead, Mr. Rome. 

5 Narric Rome

6 Americans for the Arts

7 MR. ROME: Good afternoon. I am Narric Rome, Vice

8 President of Government Affairs and Arts Education at

9 Americans for the Arts. As a former appointee here at the

10 Department in the Legislative Affairs Office, I appreciate

11 very much the work that you are doing. Thank you for your

12 patience and also for the time of staff on Capitol Hill, as

13 well. 

14 I am pleased to be here to speak for arts and arts

15 education stakeholders, including all of the arts

16 disciplines, such as theater, dance, music, media arts, and

17 visual arts. Nationally speaking, we have seen some exciting

18 moments for arts education. Just recently, the student that

19 introduced the President at the signing of the Every Student

20 Succeeds Act cited his own arts education experiences in his

21 remarks. And the new acting Secretary, Mr. King, has also

22 talked about how his theater education was important to his

23 remarkable personal story as a young student. 

24 We see about a dozen places in the legislation, in

25 the ESSA legislation, where the arts have been addressed. 

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1 And in some cases there is progress being made in these

2 provisions. For years, arts educators have had to combat the

3 unintended consequences of No Child Left Behind's adequately

4 yearly progress and testing. And our hope is that we have

5 turned the corner on those problems.

6 Today at this hearing addressing the Title I

7 section, it is the pursuit of education equity for all

8 students that Americans for the Arts joins with many of the

9 stakeholders, if not all of them, that you are hearing from

10 today. And I would like to focus on the impact the

11 Department's guidance has had and will have on education

12 providers and leaders downstream in the states, in the school

13 districts, in the schools, and in the classrooms.

14 We are pleased to see that arts was included in the

15 definition of a well-rounded education. And the arts

16 education field is further pleased to note that the Senate

17 report language stated, "For the purposes of this definition,

18 the term arts may include the subjects of dance, media arts,

19 music, theater, and visual arts, and other arts disciplines,

20 as determined by the state or local educational agency." We

21 hope that the Department will continue its support in its way

22 so that all of the arts disciplines can be supported through

23 Title I and no discipline stands alone or is left out.

24 As arts education advocates recognize, and I am

25 sure you do as well, that providing a curricular subject like

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1 the arts in a school and district is obviously a local

2 education decision. But resourcing it through Title I,

3 providing clear eligibility for it to serve as a solution for

4 states and local education agencies to use, is a federal

5 responsibility. Your new Title I guidance should make an

6 explicit statement that the arts are an eligible use of Title

7 I funds and can help to achieve Title I goals.

8 Not only have previous secretaries made similar

9 points, but the Department's arts education program, newly

10 reauthorized in this legislation, has provided over $400

11 million in federal support over a decade showing just that,

12 that arts education can help schools achieve their Title I

13 goals. And that is evidence-based.

14 The casemaking for this point is even clearer at

15 schools identified as within the lowest performing five

16 percent. The new ESSA law has shifted the federal support

17 for school improvement programs into Title I. And states

18 will be taking on the responsibility for addressing those

19 schools. 

20 Now let me tell you a little bit about the

21 turnaround arts program. It is a public-private partnership

22 led by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities

23 in partnership with the White House, the U.S. Department of

24 Education, and several private foundations. And it is

25 managed by Americans for the Arts.

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1 Turnaround arts works in 27 school districts in 15

2 states and has a cohort of the lowest performing five percent

3 of America's elementary and middle schools. A three-year

4 program evaluation of turnaround arts pilot schools found

5 significant improvement in academic achievement, reduction in

6 disciplinary referrals, and increases in attendance among

7 their findings. And in addition, the study also found that

8 turnaround arts schools outperformed comparable schools in

9 their city or state that also receive federal funds for

10 school improvement, the SIG schools. We are talking about

11 22-percent better scores in math and 13-percent better scores

12 in reading and language arts. 

13 And as I reach the end of my five minutes, I thank

14 you for this opportunity to share this feedback with you and

15 look forward to the continued communications on how the

16 Department's work ahead can also support arts education

17 nationally and allow states and school districts to support

18 the arts through Title I.

19 Thank you.

20 MS. WHALEN: Thank you.

21 MR. ROONEY: All right. Abby Ayoub from the

22 Optical Academy.

23 (No response.)

24 MR. ROONEY: Let me go back through the people I

25 called earlier just to make sure they didn't come in and miss

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1 their turn. Drew Franklin?

2 (No response.)

3 MR. ROONEY: Edgar Cahn?

4 (No response.)

5 MR. ROONEY: Melanie Mendonca?

6 (No response.)

7 MR. ROONEY: Okay. Do we have any -- okay.

8 So this is will be our last call if anyone else

9 would like to take five minutes to talk to us about your

10 thoughts or suggestions for us. We are happy to have a last

11 final call for anyone.

12 (No response.)

13 MS. WHALEN: Hearing none, let me take this

14 opportunity to thank everybody both here in person and on the

15 live stream for your attention today. For those who came in

16 person, we really appreciate your thoughts, your feedback,

17 and your priorities. They were extremely valuable. And it

18 was a great pleasure to be able to participate in today's

19 meeting with you guys today.

20 A couple of reminders, today's transcript, as well

21 as the list of all public speakers and their associations,

22 will be available on our website. We are receiving and

23 encourage you to submit public comments by January 21, 2016. 

24 And that is through the Federal E-rule-making website within

25 the Federal Register. I believe the actual website is

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1 www.regulations.gov. And you can get to the E-rule-making

2 portal from that place.

3 Also, for those of you on live stream, if today's

4 meeting was so exciting you have to be there in person in

5 L.A., please register by tomorrow, January 12, 2016. And you

6 can do so by registering, my e-mailing

7 essa.publichearing@ed.gov. Again, you can register by

8 tomorrow, and that meeting will be held on January 19, 2016,

9 in Los Angeles.

10 Thank you guys all for your time. And we really

11 appreciate all you are doing on behalf of the students of

12 America. Thank you so much.

13 (Applause)

14 (Whereupon, the meeting adjourned at 3:58 p.m.)

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C E R T I F I C A T E

Audio Associates, hereby certifies that the

attached pages represent an accurate transcript of the

electronic sound recording of the ESSA Public Input Meeting

held on January 11, 2016 at the Department of Education,

Washington, DC.

________________________________

Lisa Burns Date

Reporter

________________________________

Gail Williams Date

Certified Transcriber

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 Lisa Burns 1/27/2016 Gail Williams 1/27/2016