Analyzing State ESSA Plans for English Learner Accountability: A Framework for Community Stakeholders
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Highlights
The federal Every Student Succeeds Act's English Learner provisions give community stakeholders tools to evaluate state plans and hold schools accountable for student progress.
- The Every Student Succeeds Act, enacted in 2015, requires states to provide greater public information on English proficiency progress and academic achievement for English Learner (EL) students than the predecessor No Child Left Behind Act required.
- This issue brief offers a structured framework for community members to evaluate whether state plans meet required EL accountability elements—covering long-term goals, proficiency indicators, and school identification criteria.
- The law encourages states to consult community stakeholders during plan development. This framework helps advocates assess whether EL groups were consulted and whether their input was reflected in final state plans.
- Information gathered using the framework can monitor state plan implementation and evaluate the efficacy of policy choices affecting EL students.
The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to develop and submit a state education accountability plan to the U.S. Department of Education. ESSA, which was enacted in 2015 and is still being implemented, mandates that states provide greater information to the public regarding English proficiency progress and academic achievement for English Learners (ELs) in K-12 education.
The new law also encourages states to engage with a variety of community stakeholders during the development of these accountability plans to ensure community needs are reflected. This issue brief offers community members a useful framework to evaluate state plans to determine if they meet required EL accountability elements.
The brief points readers to sections in state plans where EL accountability components have been identified. The questions posed in each section of the framework provide guidance on what these key elements might look like and where they can be found in state plans for further analysis. The information collected using this framework may be used to monitor implementation and adherence to state plans and to evaluate the efficacy of policies chosen by the state.
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
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