From ruby.sandberg at state.or.us Thu Jun 23 14:39:30 2016 From: ruby.sandberg at state.or.us (SANDBERG Ruby - ODE) Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2016 21:39:30 +0000 Subject: [SE-Dir] Oregon Will Not Rate Schools in 2015-16 Message-ID: TO: District and ESD Special Education Directors The message below is being sent to you on behalf of: Sarah Drinkwater, Ph.D. Assistant Superintendent Office of Student Services ______________________________________________ June 23, 2016 Subject: Oregon will not rate schools in 2015-16 Background In December 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and offers states greater flexibility in the areas of assessment, accountability, school improvement, and educator effectiveness, among others. This flexibility encourages states and schools to innovate, while at the same time maintaining a focus on accountability, an emphasis on improving underperforming schools, and a focus on a more balanced assessment system. Under ESSA, states are responsible for creating a State Plan, and Oregon is committed to ensuring our State Plan reflects Oregonians' shared vision and values for students and schools. Work Underway As part of creating a State Plan, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) has been facilitating community forums, meeting with stakeholder groups, and convening work groups to think deeply about how best to design a State Plan that will ensure all Oregon students are successful. On May 31 the U.S. Department of Education published draft regulations that help guide the implementation of ESSA and inform the development of State Plans. These regulations clarified many sections of the law and the timeline for its implementation. Transition to a New Accountability System ESSA requires Oregon's school and district accountability system to be expanded to include measures of progress of English learners acquiring proficiency in English, as well as School Quality/Student Success indicators that go beyond the traditional "academic" measures based on statewide assessments and graduation. Oregon is well positioned to expand the current set of accountability indicators, as ODE already collects and reports a number non-academic measures on school report cards. The new accountability system must be in place for the 2016-17 report cards, which will be used to identify the next cohort of schools for comprehensive supports and interventions. The 2015-16 school report cards will be designed to support the transition to a new accountability system in 2016-17, with the following characteristics: * ODE will continue to provide "Indicator" ratings for achievement, growth (at elementary and middle school only), and graduation, since data on these indicators will continue to be reported in 2016-17. * ODE will not provide schools with an overall rating in 2015-16. * Once the ESSA State Plan has been approved by the U.S. Department of Education, ODE will release data on the new accountability indicators and use 2015-16 data to provide districts with a preview of the 2016-17 school accountability system. If you have any questions, please contact Derek Brown (derek.brown at state.or.us) at 503-947-5841. Please visit www.ode.state.or.us/go/ESSA for more information about ESSA and Oregon's State Plan. This page will be updated regularly with new information and resources. As always, thanks for your leadership, partnership, and dedication to serving Oregon students. Salam Ruby Sandberg, Executive Assistant Office of Student Services Oregon Department of Education 503-947-5738 l FAX: 503-378-5156 l ruby.sandberg at state.or.us The Oregon Department of Education is an equal opportunity agency and employer. Messages to and from this email address may be made available to the public under Oregon law. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: