The Education Policy Hotlist
Top news in U.S. education policy for the week of April 3 - 7
Welcome back to the Education Policy Hotlist!
In this issue, we cover the latest developments in education policy at the state and federal levels. From the U.S. Department of Education’s request for comments on the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) program to proposed changes to federal standards for collecting and presenting data on race and ethnicity, there is a lot to keep up with.
We also delve into state-level debates on 3rd-grade reading requirements and how districts might mitigate the potential impacts of the pandemic on learning.
On a personal note, community colleges are an important part of my family’s story and access to higher education. April is Community College Awareness Month. I was fortunate to grow up in a rural town with a thriving community college at its heart. My grandfather taught math there and later owned a restaurant called The Study, where he continued to foster community connections. Many of my family members have benefited from Oregon’s strong community college system. Community colleges offer many students access to quality education and pathways to further higher education or the workforce.
Follow #CCMonth on Twitter to learn more about and celebrate community colleges across America.
THE WEEKS AHEAD
On Monday, April 10 at 3:00 p.m. (EST) The Hunt Institute is hosting a webinar about Early Literacy Instruction for Multilingual Learners [Register here].
On Tuesday, April 11 at 9:00 a.m. (EST) CCSSO is hosting Imagining More: A Summit on Modernizing Our Education System. The Summit will address issues such as rethinking how students experience learning during the day, considering how to engage with partners beyond the traditional school walls, and questioning how we define when a student is ready to progress in learning and life beyond high school [Register here].
On Tuesday, April 11 at 3:00 p.m. (EST) The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is hosting a webinar called Beyond the ESSER “Funding Cliff”: Local Supports to Sustain High-Impact Tutoring [Regsiter here].
On Tuesday, April 18 at 3:00 p.m. (EST) AASA and EAB iare hosting a webinar called How to (Finally) Succeed with Science of Reading: Research-Backed Strategies for Early Literacy [Register here].
FEDERAL EDUCATION POLICY
The U.S. Department of Education is requesting comments on three questions to clarify and improve the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) program [USED].
A new rule proposed by the USDA may increase access to free healthy meals for students by reducing the percentage of students required to qualify for free and reduced lunch in order for schools to receive funding for school meals [K12 Dive].
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released an initial set of recommended revisions to the federal standards for collecting and presenting data on race and ethnicity for all federal reporting. The revisions aim to update the standards so they better reflect the diversity of the American people [The White House].
Seven states and the District of Columbia have received approval from the U.S. Department of Education to extend their spending timelines for their ESSER funds [K12 Dive].
READ BY GRADE THREE
States are debating how and when to hold students back if they don’t meet 3rd grade reading requirements. Red states have embraced allowing students to take another year as they deal with pandemic-era learning loss, while Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is poised to roll back her state’s retention law. (Pluribus News) The Florida House approved a bill extending vouchers to all students, regardless of income. (Orlando Sentinel)
In Tennessee, state lawmakers are considering amending the law stating students should be retained if they are not passing standardized reading measures. The debate is over how the pandemic impacted student’s outcomes and the law may no longer be applicable to typical learning trajectories [The74].
A new brief from the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative focuses on the potential disparate implementation of Michigan’s Read by Grade Three Law in the 2020-21 school year, especially for traditionally disadvantaged students [EPIC].
Another EPIC report summarizes the impacts of Michigan’s literacy coaching practices [EPIC].
STUDENT AND FAMILY WELL-BEING
The Biden administration released a formal letter stating they, “ [do] not support H.R. 5 in its current form because the bill does not help parents support their children at school [White House].”
Cardona wrote a dear colleague letter to governors, chiefs, district and school leaders urging them to end corporal punishment [USED].
Polly Stansel, from Committee for Children and a former teacher, argues that family voices should be central in SEL programming [The74].
Students pursue legal action against the Department of Education regarding a regulation “penalizes Fulbright-Hays applicants if they grew up speaking the language of their proposed country for research. Lawsuits have followed,” [NYT].
SCHOOL CHOICE
A dozen states now have K-12 education savings account, or ESA, policies that allow families to use a portion of state education funds to customize their children’s education. Families can use money drawn from an ESA to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, homeschool curricula, special needs therapy, and more. In five states, every K-12 student has or will soon have access to ESAs or ESA-like programs [Education Next].
Citizen Stewart breaks down the back-and-forth between Quintana and Allen [Always Learning].
A new policy brief addresses charter opponents’ concerns about whether they have a negative fiscal and academic impact on district schools [Fordham].
DATA
The Indiana Department of Education created a longitudinal dashboard to compile and share education data from early childhood education to postsecondary in one tool [ECS].
The first-ever major study from a massive statewide database, released on Tuesday, provides deeper insight and more precise numbers into a well-known problem in Oregon: a chronic shortage of nurses and nurse educators [OPB].
Data Quality Campaign released a 101 book for policymakers and leaders interested in knowing the basics of education data and reporting [DQC].
PANDEMIC LEARNING LOSS
Connecticut is spending $10 million of its American Rescue Plan funds to provide local education agencies resources for the Connecticut High Dosage Tutoring Program in Grades 6-9 for mathematics [CT].
Retention in early grades may be a cost-effective way to address missed learning during the pandemic. However, the authors caution that schools should consider the potential impact on the social and emotional outcomes of students, especially students of color, before implementing this approach [Brookings].
ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
More than a dozen states are designing, piloting, or implementing versions of this model to replace their current end-of-year tests for federally mandated accountability. The Center for Assessment released a paper that outlines the benefits and conceptual, technical, and practical challenges and tradeoffs [NCIEA].
A new report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities includes findings from surveys and focus groups with educators, caregivers, and students to understand their perceptions toward statewide summative assessments. For example, the report finds that “caregivers see more value than educators in statewide summative assessments as a measure of school quality and as data for educators and families to support student learning.” The report finishes with a set of principles that policymakers and assessment designers should consider when developing new assessments [NCLD].
ICYMI
Jocelyn Pickford facilitated a robust conversation about Delaware’s high-quality instructional models.
John Bailey and Marc Porter Magee discuss the implications of AI used in education.
Dr. Christine M. T. Pitts serves as Senior Policy Fellow at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, where she oversees policy leadership and external affairs. With a background as a teacher and researcher, Christine previously led research and evaluation for Portland Public Schools and served as Policy Advisor at NWEA, where she oversaw state and federal policy to advance equity and innovation in educational assessment. Follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter for updates.