The U.S. Department of Education has created a streamlined process for states to amend ESEA consolidated state plans to account for one-year changes (e.g., changes to how the SEA will hold schools accountable for the 2020-2021 school year) and two specific long-term changes:
- shifting forward timelines by one year for identifying schools and
- shifting forward timelines by one year for meeting measurements of interim progress (MIPs) and long-term goals due to COVID-19.
The MDE is proposing the following addendum to its state plan:
- Timelines for long-term goals will shift forward by one year for academic achievement, graduation rate, and progress toward English language proficiency (ELP).
- The ELP indicator will be excluded from calculations for the 2020-21 school year, and ELP indicator points will be redistributed to all other components in the model.
- School and district letter grades, as required by state law, will not be assigned based on 2020-21 assessment results, but rather letter grades from the 2018-19 school year will remain in place.
- Timelines for identification of schools for school improvement will shift forward to 2022-23 (based on data from 2021-22).
- Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools identified for graduation rate may exit after the 2020-21 school year if exit criteria are met.
According to ESSA, TSI schools must be identified annually. MDE will submit a waiver request indicating that TSI identification in the fall of 2021 will be based on data from the 2018-19 school year. Any comments can be submitted to mssucceeds@mdek12.org .