Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos聽 has approved New York鈥檚 plan to implement the Every State Succeeds Act (ESSA) after what New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia has described as more than a year of collaboration and dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders. John Hildebrand noted in that DeVos approved 11 plans this week and that she has now approved 27 plans in total.
Hildebrand explains that the plan is intended to increase the number of students taking advanced courses and that it also intends to incentivize schools to have their students participate in mandatory state and math tests. He notes that the law requires that at least 95 percent of students participate in annual tests in English and math and states that the approval of the plan will mean a continuation of federal financial aid to the state, 鈥渨hich in New York State鈥檚 case totals about $1.6 annually.鈥�
According to the Department of Education鈥檚 announcing the approval of the New York plan, the state hopes to bolster teacher effectiveness by 鈥渟trengthening mentoring/induction programs, targeting professional development, or improving career ladders鈥� and also intends to promote opportunities for students to take advanced coursework by creating 鈥渁n advanced coursework completion measure in its accountability system.鈥�
Ian Rosenblum, executive director of Education Trust New York, explained to that 鈥渢he plan has a lot of potential to advance equity鈥� since it 鈥減rovides transparency for the first time on the school funding level gaps.鈥�
Implementation is expected to be implemented by the spring according to a statement from the New York State Education Department (NYSED).
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