May 2018
A collaborative publication of the Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) and The Advocacy Institute
This fact sheet is designed to accompany the Stakeholder Guide to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and gives you summary information about what ESSA requires in terms of report cards (both state and local). The fact sheet has the following sections:
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the most recent version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—the nation’s major federal law related to public education in grades pre-kindergarten through high school. Passed in December 2015, ESSA continues and greatly expands upon the previous requirement that both SEAs (states) and LEAs (local districts) receiving Title I, Part A funds prepare and widely disseminate an annual report card (ESEA section 1111(h)(1) and (h)(2)).
State and local report cards must include information about public schools related to a wide variety of student and school performance metrics, accountability, per-pupil expenditures, and educator qualifications, as well as any other information that the SEA or LEA deems relevant.
State and local report cards must be:
An SEA must make its report card available on a single webpage of the SEA’s website (ESEA section 1111(h)(1)(B)(iii)). For more information regarding accessibility of report cards, see ESSA State and Local Report Cards Guidance Non-Regulatory Guidance, Questions B-8-11.
Under ESSA, state and LEA report cards must include: (1) an overview section and (2) a detail section. These sections are described more fully immediately below.
The overview section must contain key metrics of state, LEA, and school performance and progress for all students as well as performance and progress data that are disaggregated for, at a minimum, economically disadvantaged students, students from each major racial and ethnic group, children with disabilities, and English learners. The information to be provided in the overview section includes:
NOTE: Disaggregated student achievement information for homeless children and youth, children in foster care, and students with a parent who is a member of the Armed forces on active duty must be included in either the overview or the detail section.
The detail section must contain all remaining information required by ESSA including:
Districts must issue annual report cards that provide the same information as the Annual State Report Card (except NAEP information) and must also provide information that shows:
The ESSA State and Local Report Cards Guidance Non-Regulatory Guidance provides a helpful checklist of all required elements of both state and local report cards in Appendix D. Access this non-regulatory guidance at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essastatereportcard.pdf
Communicating Performance: A Best Practices Resource for Developing State Report Cards | Council of Chief State School Officers, 2017 (November 22). Online at: https://www.ccsso.org/resource-library/communicating-performance-best-practices-resource-developing-state-report-cards
Show Me the Data 2017: States Can Improve Report Cards This Year | Data Quality Campaign. Online at: https://dataqualitycampaign.org/showmethedata/
School Report Cards Do Not Matter if Parents Can’t Find Them | Fordham Institute. Online at: https://edexcellence.net/articles/school-report-cards-dont-matter-if-parents-cant-find-them
ESSA State and Local Report Cards Guidance Non-Regulatory Guidance | U.S. Department of Education (January 2017). Online at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essastatereportcard.pdf
ESSA Dear Colleague Letter on Delayed Reporting of Per-Pupil Expenditures | U.S. Department of Education (June 28, 2017) | Letter allows an SEA and its LEAs to delay until the 2018-2019 school year ESSA’s requirement to report information on per-pupil expenditures of Federal, State, and local funds on annual report cards. Online at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/perpupilreqltr.pdf
CPIR offers additional fact sheets on ESSA that may interest you. They are:
Authorship | This guide has been produced in a partnership between the Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) and The Advocacy Institute under the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs No. H328R130014. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned herein is intended or should be inferred.
This product is public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. While permission to reprint this material is not necessary, the citation should be: Center for Parent Information and Resources (retrieval date). Amendments made to IDEA by ESSA (ESSA Fact Sheet), Newark, NJ: Author.
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