Results for America and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) recently released Leverage Points, a new report that spotlights 13 opportunities for states to accelerate their use of data and evidence to improve K-12 schools.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires in some parts (and encourages in others) the use of evidence-based approaches and continuous improvement to help leverage greater student success with federal funds. ESSA represents a shift from the compliance-based frame of the No Child Left Behind Act to one premised on state and local authority to take evidence-based actions and continuously improve education systems and student outcomes over time.
Implemented well, these evidence and continuous improvement provisions can increase the return on education investments, as more resources are invested in policies, programs, and practices that are likely to have a positive impact and as those activities are periodically reviewed and continuously improved over time. Although LEAs and schools will play critical roles in this work, SEAs have a key opportunity to set a vision and establish enabling policies in support of evidence-based, results-driven solutions via their consolidated ESSA state plans. Further, at various points in the act, ESSA requires that initial state strategies be periodically reviewed and improved throughout the implementation of state and local plans—supporting a shift from compliance-oriented to learning-oriented systems that use evidence to inform action and continuous improvement.
To read the report, see http://results4america.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/R4A_levPTs.pdf
