What’s the Right Thing to Do for Every Child to Succeed?

New
America is proud to partner with the
Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) on this blog series highlighting early learning
opportunities and challenges under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In this week’s post, Lori Connors-Tadros and Laura Bornfreund explain how ESSA provides flexibility and opportunity to states and districts to address the needs of young learners.

The Every Student Succeeds
Act (ESSA) provides both significant flexibility and opportunity to state and
local education agencies to increase access to high quality early learning
programs, align and coordinate birth to third grade programs, and prepare and
support highly effective teachers. These strategies, and others, that address
the needs of young learners–particularly those most at risk of school
failure– are exactly the right things to do. Evidence suggests these
strategies can help reduce the achievement gap, help avoid more costly interventions in later
grades, and are highly valued by the public. 

ESSA
both strengthens and expands opportunities for early learning, birth through
third grade. But as with the previous versions of the law, it remains up to
state and local authorities to decide whether to invest. Earlier this year, New
America and the BUILD Initiative released a paper that explored major provisions of
ESSA and the implications for our nation’s youngest learners. Early education
is mentioned throughout the law, but the most important opportunities for state
and local leaders are in the following sections:

·      
Title
I: Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged

·      
Title
II: Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High-Quality Educators

·      
Title
III: Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students

·      
Title
IX: Preschool Development Grants

Under
Title I, ESSA focuses new, or in some cases renewed, attention to state support
for local ECE programs, transition planning between ECE programs and
kindergarten, family engagement, and school accountability for kindergarten
through second grade. For the first time in Title II, early childhood educators are included in the
definition of professional development, which means teachers of young children
can be included in activities under Title II, whether they are teaching in a
community or school setting. Title III provides states with formula grants to
support education of dual language learners (DLL) starting at age three and to support development and implementation of
effective preschool language instruction programs funded by local education
agencies. This can include bilingual education programs. Additionally, Title
III can be used to facilitate family engagement and provide teachers with
professional development and capacity building to implement and sustain
effective language instruction programs. Title IX includes Preschool
Development Grants, a brand-new component of ESSA articulating a new framework
for the federal approach to pre-K including 1) supporting strategic planning
for high-quality early learning; 2) encouraging partnerships to deliver
programs; and 3) maximizing parental choice in a mixed-delivery system.

In
most places, incorporating early education into ESSA planning will not come
naturally. ESSA puts the opportunity in place, but states and localities will
need to develop and carry out implementation plans. In November 2016, CEELO Project
Director, Lori Connors-Tadros proposed this challenge —  “…what if every state submitted an ESSA
state plan that prioritized resources and strategies on children preschool to
third grade?” in “Putting the ‘Every’ in ESSA: How
States Can Prioritize PreK to Grade 3.” Some things have changed since
November — the U.S. Department of Education’s November 2016 regulations on accountability
and state plans including a specific requirement to engage early learning
stakeholders in state plans have been rescinded; and the simplified state plan
template no longer specifically addresses early learning.  But we note the momentum and sense of urgency
to prioritize our youngest learners has not waned in many states and
localities. So far, about 14 states have
submitted state plans to the U.S. Department of Education, with the final group
of states submitting plans in September, 2017. 

This
is the right time for states to articulate how early learning priorities are
aligned with their vision and long-term goals for student success. Children
begin on their path to third grade reading proficiency and college and career
readiness from birth, not when schools begin testing them. States clearly articulating a priority on
early learning in their long range goals and describing linkages throughout
their state plan to early learning priorities will be sending a clear message
to stakeholders that they value children’s success from the start. A few early submitters have done just
that.

New Mexico Public Education
Department submitted its state plan
to the U.S. Department of Education on April 3, 2017, stating: “New Mexico places
a high priority on the early years, before kindergarten entry, to launch
children on a path to school success. …These efforts in the early years are
important strategies to achieving the goals established in “Route to 66”,
ensuring that all children begin kindergarten with an equal opportunity.” Ashley
Eden, Director of Strategic Initiatives for NMPED, and lead on the NM ESSA state plan development process, took pride in their stakeholder engagement process
and worked closely with partners to embed early learning in their state
plan.   

Delaware Department of
Education’s state plan
also establishes this vision, declaring a goal of  “Every learner ready for success in college, career,
and life” and including “high-quality early learning opportunities as one of 5
priorities” established at the outset of the plan.  Tennessee also has developed a vision
for student achievement in its strategic plan, Tennessee Succeeds, with early foundations and literacy as one of five priorities of its
state plan.

These states are clearly leading the way in putting early education at the forefront of school
improvement and student success.  We will
share some of the more promising strategies included in state plans on early
learning policy in this blog series in the coming weeks. Look for posts on:

·       family engagement by Melissa Dahlin,
CEELO

·       young children with special needs by Donna Spiker and
Kathy Hebbeler, DaSy

·       chronic absence by Hedy Chang and
Sue Fothergill, Attendance Works

·       transitions by Michelle
Horowitz, CEELO

For further information on ESSA see CEELO’s ESSA webpage  and New America’s Early and Elementary Education Team’s ESSA webpage.