California Department of Education
Executive Office
SBE-003 (REV. 11/2017)
pptb-amard-mar18item01

 California State Board of Education
March 2018 Agenda
Item #04
Subject
Update on the Development of the California State Plan for the Every Student Succeeds
Act: Approval of the Revisions to the State Plan for Resubmission to the U.S.
Department of Education.

Type of Action
Action, Information

Summary of the Issue(s)
After 18 months of development, with extensive outreach to, and input from, California’s
education stakeholders, California submitted its Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Consolidated State Plan (State Plan) to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) on
September 15, 2017. ED provided an interim feedback letter on the State Plan on
December 21, 2017. The State Board of Education (SBE) approved a revised State
Plan for resubmission at its January 2018 meeting.
Following the January 2018 SBE meeting, staff members from the SBE and the
California Department of Education (CDE) worked in close collaboration with the goal of
obtaining the approval of the State Plan as expeditiously as possible so that California
can focus on the work of implementing California’s new public school accountability
system and system of support. California officials reached out to the ED to begin
discussions related to any outstanding issues raised in the ED’s December 2017 interim
feedback letter. In late February, Karen Stapf Walters, Executive Director, SBE; David
Sapp, Deputy Policy Director and Assistant Legal Counsel; Glen Price, Chief Deputy,
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, CDE; and Cindy Kazanis, Director, Analysis,
Measurement and Accountability Reporting Division, met with Jason Botel, Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Delegated the Authority to Perform the Functions and
Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education and other
senior officials from the ED in Washington, D.C.
During the in-person meeting at the ED, as well as in subsequent conversations, ED
officials clearly indicated that although they shared California’s goal of finalizing the
State Plan in order to transition to the work of implementation, they continued to have
concerns related to several of the proposed State Plan elements based on their
interpretation of the relevant statutory provisions of ESSA. Staff from the federal and
state agencies worked together and discussed potential language that would both meet
ED’s interpretation of federal statute and continue to align with the California Way.

 Based on the conversations with staff from the ED over the last several weeks, the CDE
proposes to make further revisions to the State Plan. The proposed revisions maintain
the core principles of California’s approach to accountability and continuous
improvement, which is based on the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and reflects
the extensive stakeholder input received over the past four years. As described below,
many of the changes are technical in nature; however, some substantive changes are
necessary to address ED’s interpretation of several ESSA provisions.
The CDE will host an ESSA Accountability Stakeholder Meeting on March 7, 2018, to
review the proposed changes to the State Plan included in Attachments 1 and 2.

Accountability Issues
Status and Change (Long-Term Goals & Indicators)
In general, ED interpreted that indicators for which states must establish long-term
goals can be based on current year only. California can address this interpretation of
statute by treating the Status component of the relevant indicator on the California
School Dashboard (Dashboard) as the indicator for purposes of ESSA plan, with the
goal set relative to Status, and with Change serving as a separate indicator. The two
indicators combine to provide a color-coded performance level, such that there is no
material impact on the Dashboard, any of the cut-scores for Status and Change for the
five-by-five grids that are used to determine color-coded performance levels for
Dashboard indicators within the California Model, or how the color-coded performance
levels differentiate local education agencies (LEAs) and school performance. The
Change component of the Dashboard indicator can serve as an additional academic
indicator or indicator of student success, as described below.
Academic Achievement Indicator
In order to meet the ED’s interpretation of the federal statute, California proposes to
adjust the academic achievement indicators to be inclusive of grades three through
eight (3–8) for elementary and middle schools, and grade 11 for high schools. For the
purposes of this Plan, the academic achievement indicator consists only of the “Status”
component of California’s Academic Achievement Indicator on the Dashboard for
grades 3–8. For grade 11, the Academic Achievement Indicator includes both Status
and Change, as authorized by ESSA, Section 1111(c)(4)(B)(i).
The CDE proposes no changes to the College/Career Indicator (CCI); as described
below, the CCI would serve as an indicator of student success.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iii.a.1, A.4.iv.a, A.4.iv.b, A.4.iv.e
Attachment 3 item number: 1, 7, 8
Graduation Rate Indicator

 The CDE recommends that for the purposes of the ESSA State Plan, the Graduation
Rate consists only of the Status component of California’s Graduation Rate Indicator on
the Dashboard.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iii.b.1., A.4.iv.c
Attachment 3 item number: 3, 9
English Learner Proficiency Indicator
The CDE recommends that for the purposes of the ESSA State Plan, the English
learner proficiency indicator consists only of the Status component of California’s
English Learner Progress Indicator (ELPI) on the Dashboard.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iv.d
Attachment 3 item number: 10
Other Academic Indicator for K-8
The CDE recommends that for the purposes of the ESSA State Plan, the Change
component of California’s Academic Indicator for grades 3-8 serve as an additional
academic indicator.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iv.b
Attachment 3 item number: 8
School Quality or Student Success Indicators
In addition to the Suspension Rate Indicator, the CDE recommends that the “Change”
component for California’s Graduation Rate and ELPI are added as additional student
success indicators.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iv.e
Attachment 3 item number: 9, 10, 11

Indicator-specific issues
College/Career Indicator
The CDE recommends the CCI be categorized as an indicator of student success for
high schools. The calculation of the CCI will remain as adopted by the SBE, and the
performance standards will be established prior to the initial year of school identification
in 2018–19.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iv.e
Attachment 3 item number: 7
English Language Proficiency Indicator

 Despite significant stakeholder input and support for the current Dashboard indicator,
the CDE recommends modifying the English language proficiency indicator to meet the
ED reading of the ESSA Statute, in which only students who are English learners in the
current school year can be included in the calculation.
Accordingly, the updated ELPI would be based only on performance of the English
language proficiency test, currently the California English Language Development Test.
The component of the current ELPI calculation that accounts for students reclassified
the prior year, with a weighting factor for long-term English learners who were
reclassified, would be removed.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iii.c.1, A.4.iv.d
Attachment 3 item number: 5, 6, 10

Weighting of indicators
Additional information about this section will be posted the week of March 5, 2018.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.v.b
Attachment 3 item number: 12

Measurements of interim progress
States must establish measurements of interim progress for the indicators with longterm goals (academic achievement, graduation rate, English learner proficiency). CDE
recommends adding to the tables included in the January 2018 version of the State
Plan that provide the statewide baseline data for all students and student groups on
these indicators two columns that show the average annual improvement and a midway
benchmark to meet the goal within the seven-year period, calculated for all students and
each student group.
When staff initially proposed a seven-year period for meeting the ESSA’s long-term
goals, the proposed indicators, goals, and measurements of interim progress were
based on the five-by-five color-coded grids for the relevant Dashboard indicators. The
SBE intends to update the color-coded grids at least every seven years to reflect overall
progress statewide as LEAs, schools, and student group performance improves and
more attain the Green performance level over time. The seven-year period was a
natural timeframe for the ESSA goals to align with this continuous improvement
framework. In light of the ED’s interpretation of the statutory provisions, the proposed
approach for addressing these ESSA requirements has shifted materially. Rather than
being based on Status and Change and grounded on performance standards that will
be updated regularly, the current approach is based on static targets. The SBE may
therefore wish to reconsider whether the seven-year period for meeting the long-term
goals for these indicators remains appropriate.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.iii.a.2, A.4.iii.a.3, A.4.iii.b.3, A.4.iii.b.4
Attachment 3 item number: 2, 4

 School identification
Additional information about this section will be posted the week of March 5, 2018.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.vi.
Attachment 3 item number: 14, 15, 16

Exit Criteria
CDE recommends updating the sections describing the exit criteria for comprehensive
support and for additional targeted support to clarify that schools meet the exit criteria
only if their Status has not declined on the relevant indicators.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.vi.c, A.4.viii.a, A.4.viii.b
Attachment 3 item number: 17, 18

N-size
CDE recommends adding language to this section identifying the ongoing support and
programmatic oversight provided to small schools that have fewer than 30 students for
any Dashboard indicator (and therefore receive no color-coded performance levels).
The State Plan removes the reference to the alternative school model, which is under
development and subject to final SBE action. California will update, as appropriate,
pending final SBE action this fall.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.4.v.c
Attachment 3 item number: 13

Other Issues
Disproportionate Rates of Access to Educators
The CDE recommends that the State Plan be updated to include a number of steps
outlined in Section A.5 to ensure that low-income and minority children enrolled in
schools assisted under Title I, Part A are not served at disproportionate rates by
ineffective, out-of-field, or experienced teachers, beyond the evaluation and public
reporting of equity gaps. Further, this section will be updated to add a table to provide
the most recent year of analyzed teacher data, disaggregated by Title I schools.
ESSA State Plan Sections: A.5
Attachment 3 item number: 19
Title III, Part A, Subpart 1: English Language Acquisition and Language
Enhancement, Entrance and Exit Procedures

 The CDE suggests this section of the State Plan be supplemented to add additional
details of the timeline to be undertaken to standardize English Learner Entrance and
Exit Criteria for English learners in California, including: the adoption by the SBE of a
new English Language Proficiency Assessment for California reclassification criteria, the
development of the standardized Language Observation Tool and Parent Involvement
Protocol, and work with the Legislature to begin to change the reclassification criteria in
California Education Code.
ESSA State Plan Sections: E.1
Attachment 3 item number: 22
Title VII, Subtitle B, Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program,
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Assistance from Counselors
Based on feedback from the ED, the CDE suggests that the revised State Plan clarify
and describe how homeless youths will receive specific assistance from counselors to
advise such youths and prepare and improve the readiness of such youths for college.
ESSA State Plan Sections: I.7
Attachment 3 item number: 24

Recommendation
The CDE recommends that the SBE approve the revised State Plan for submission to
the ED, pending the SBE Executive Director approval of final revisions requested by the
SBE and correction of any typographical errors.
The CDE further recommends that the SBE discuss whether to pursue waivers on any
areas of the State Plan that are modified to meet ED’s reading of the ESSA statute and,
as appropriate, delegate authority to CDE, subject to approval of the SBE Executive
Director, to pursue any such waivers as expeditiously as possible so they can be
resolved prior to release of 2018 Dashboard.

Brief History of Key Issues
ESSA was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015, and
went into effect in the 2017–18 school year. The ESSA reauthorizes the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s federal education law, and replaces the
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
The ESSA maintains the original purpose of ESEA: equal opportunity for all students.
Departing from the NCLB reauthorization, ESSA grants much more authority to states,
provides new opportunities to enhance school leadership, provides more support for
early education, and renews a focus on well-rounded educational opportunity and safe
and healthy schools. The reauthorization of ESEA provides California with a number of

 opportunities to build upon the State’s new direction in accountability and continuous
improvement.
California is committed to aligning state and federal education policies to the greatest
extent possible to develop an integrated local, state, and federal accountability and
continuous improvement system grounded in the LCFF. This will promote coherence
across programs to better serve the needs of LEAs, schools, educators, and students;
recognize the diverse and multidimensional characteristics of LEAs, schools, educators,
and students, and provide support accordingly; and systematically and collaboratively
identify and resource opportunities to build the capacity of local, regional, and state
educators and leaders to better serve students and families.

California’s Consolidated ESSA State Plan
After 18 months of developing the ESSA Consolidated State Plan, California submitted
the SBE-approved State Plan to the ED on September 15, 2017.
ESEA Section 8451 requires the ED to issue a written determination within 120 days of
a State’s submission of its State Plan. As previously stated, the ED provided posted the
interim feedback letter on December 22, 2017, to their Web site at
https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/stateplan17/map/ca.html.
The interim feedback letter is part of the ESSA approval process, which all states are
undertaking. California’s letter is similar in length and scope to those received by many
other states.
Attachments 1 and 2 reflect the proposed changes to the State Plan. Attachment 1 is
formatted to be accessible to individuals with disabilities as required by Section 508 of
the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The content of Attachment 2 is identical to
Attachment 1, and is formatted using tracked changes to show revisions as required by
the ED. Attachment 3 includes the interim feedback provided by the ED and crossreferences the pages numbers for the submitted version of the State Plan with the
revised versions of the State Plan.

Ongoing Communication and Engagement
Since the ESSA became law, the state has engaged in public state board and advisory
group meetings, webinars, regional stakeholder meetings, stakeholder surveys, and
targeted consultation. Thousands of Californians have contributed to the State Plan.
More information regarding these stakeholder engagement activities is available on the
CDE ESSA State Plan Development Opportunities Web page at
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/es/essaopptopart.asp.
The most current information regarding California’s transition to the ESSA is available
on the CDE ESSA Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/essa. Interested stakeholders
are encouraged to join the CDE ESSA listserv to receive notifications when new
information becomes available by sending a blank e-mail message to
join-essa@mlist.cde.ca.gov. Questions regarding ESSA in California may be sent to
ESSA@cde.ca.gov.

 Summary of Previous State Board of Education
Discussion and Action
January 2018: CDE staff presented to the SBE a revised version of the State Plan
based on the content of the interim feedback letter from the ED. The SBE discussed
and approved the revised ESSA State Plan for submission to the ED, with a revision to
replace the proposal related to the identification of the lowest performing schools with
revised language indicating the SBE will consider a proposed State Plan supplement at
its March 2018, meeting for submission to the ED that further describes the approach.
September 2017: CDE staff presented to the SBE a summary of the feedback from
stakeholders and a set of proposed revisions to the draft August 2017 State Plan. The
SBE discussed and approved the ESSA State Plan for submission to the ED.
July 2017: CDE staff presented to the SBE a summary of feedback from the California
Practitioners Advisory Group and feedback collected during the 30-day public comment
period for the draft State Plan. Based on this feedback and new information regarding
ED’s application of the State Plan Peer Review Criteria, staff presented a set of
proposed revisions to the draft plan. The SBE discussed and approved most staff
recommendations, directing staff to make additional adjustments to the State Plan.
May 2017: CDE staff presented to the SBE the first complete draft of the ESSA State
Plan. SBE members engaged in discussion regarding the draft and approved the draft
to go out for public comment pending edits and additions to the sections regarding
primary language assessment and long-term goals to be approved by the SBE
Executive Director. SBE members also voiced concerns that the draft did not fully
demonstrate the State’s commitment to equity and directed staff to solicit from
stakeholders ways the draft could be improved to promote equity.
March 2017: CDE staff presented to the SBE an update on the development of the
State Plan including a status update on issues that need to be addressed in the State
Plan and stakeholder feedback regarding State Plan policy decisions. SBE members
engaged in discussion regarding the policy decisions and provided feedback to staff to
consider in the State Plan draft. Additionally, CDE staff recommended that the SBE
review and approve any required ESSA assurances and authorize the SBE President to
sign and submit the assurances to the ED by the due date established by the ED. The
SBE unanimously approved and authorized these recommended actions.
January 2017: CDE staff presented to the SBE an update on the development of the
ESSA State Plan including proposed guiding principles and recommended approach for
ESSA State Plan development. The SBE unanimously approved the guiding principles.
November 2016: CDE staff presented to the SBE an update on the development of the
ESSA State Plan including the ESSA Consolidated State Plan Development Draft
Timeline; the first draft sections of the ESSA Consolidated State Plan; and the
communication, outreach, and consultation CDE staff conducted in September and
October 2016. The first draft sections of the ESSA Consolidated State Plan included the
sections addressing Consultation and Coordination, Challenging State Academic
Standards and Academic Assessments, and program specific requirements. SBE

 members approved CDE staff recommendations to authorize the SBE President to
submit a joint letter with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in response to
ESSA regulations for supplement, not supplant under Title I, Part A.
September 2016: CDE staff presented to the SBE an update on the development of the
ESSA State Plan including an overview of ESSA programs, an overview of ESSA
Consolidated State Plan requirements and related decision points, a preliminary status
of various decisions, and areas where final regulations will be needed to address plan
requirements. The update included information regarding use of federal funds and a
description of stakeholder outreach and communications activities. Further, CDE staff
reviewed Phase I of stakeholder engagement around ESSA, which was provided to the
SBE as an August Information Memorandum. In addition, CDE and SBE staff presented
to the SBE an update regarding the development of a new accountability and
continuous improvement system, which led to the SBE approval of key elements of the
system that will be used to evaluate schools and districts in ten areas critical to student
performance, including graduation rates, readiness for college and careers, academic
achievement, and progress of English learners.
July 2016: CDE staff presented to the SBE an update on the development of the ESSA
State Plan including opportunities in the ESSA to support California’s accountability and
continuous improvement system, an update on proposed ESSA regulations, and a
description of stakeholder outreach and communications activities. SBE members
approved CDE staff recommendations to authorize the SBE President to submit joint
letters with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in response to ESSA
regulations for accountability, data reporting, submission of state plans, and
assessments. Additionally, CDE and SBE staff presented to the SBE an update
regarding the development of a new accountability and continuous improvement
system, which led to the SBE approval of a measure of college and career readiness, a
methodology for establishing standards for state priorities, inclusion of a standard for
use of local climate surveys, an Equity Report within the top-level summary data
display, and the development of a timeline through the 2017 calendar year addressing
upcoming developmental work.
May 2016: CDE staff presented to the SBE an update on the development of the ESSA
State Plan including Title I State Plan requirements described in the ESSA, outreach
and consultation with stakeholders, and a draft State Plan development timeline. CDE
and SBE staff presented to the SBE an update regarding the development of a new
accountability and continuous improvement system, which led to the SBE approval of
specific design elements of the LCFF evaluation rubrics and direction to staff to prepare
recommendations and updates concerning standards for the LCFF priority areas and
feasibility of incorporating additional indicators. The SBE also approved the ESSA
2016–17 School Year Transition Plan and two federal ESSA waiver requests to address
double testing in science and Speaking and Listening assessment requirements. The
SBE also heard a presentation of the Final Report from the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction’s Advisory Accountability and Continuous Improvement Task Force.
March 2016: CDE and SBE staff presented to the SBE an update regarding
development of a new accountability system including information regarding the Local
Control and Accountability Plan and annual update template, evaluation rubrics, the
ESSA State Plan, and the revised timeline for transitioning to a new accountability and

 continuous improvement system. The SBE approved appointments to the California
Practitioners Advisory Group.
January 2016: CDE staff presented to the SBE an update on issues related to
California’s implementation of the ESEA, including information regarding ESSA, and the
implications for state accountability and state plans.

Fiscal Analysis (as appropriate)
California’s total kindergarten through grade twelve funding from the 2017–18 California
Budget Act is $92.5 billion:
State

$55.4 billion

Local

$29.0 billion

Federal

$8.1 billion

ESSA funds are a portion of the total federal funding amount. The ESSA was
implemented in 2017–18. The ESSA became effective for non-competitive formula
grants in the 2017–18 school year, and for competitive grants as instructed by the ED,
but largely in the 2017–18 school year as well.
The following fiscal information relates specifically to the programs included in the ESSA
Consolidated State Plan. Federal allocations to states for fiscal years 2016–17 and
2017–18 are preliminary estimates based on currently available data. Allocations based
on new data may result in significant changes from these preliminary estimates. The
2016–17 amounts provided below are based on actual grant awards, but are also
subject to change.
The 2017–18 amounts provided below are based on the ED’s State Tables which are
based on Public Law 115-31, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. These
numbers may be updated as the final numbers for the fiscal year become available, but
we do not anticipate significant changes to funding levels at this time. There are,
however, a number of changes to various formulas that may impact funding as ESSA
goes into effect this year.


For Title I, minor changes to the amount of Title I funds that flow through each of
the four parts will be made, but the state grant formula overall is unchanged.



Title I, Part A: Improving Basic Programs Operated by State and Local
Educational Agencies: California currently receives approximately $1.768 billion.
The CDE anticipates that California will receive $1.831 billion in Title I, Part A
funds in 2017–18.

 Attachment(s)


Attachment 1: Proposed Revisions to California’s Consolidated ESSA State Plan,
Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Version
(This attachment will be posted the week of March 5, 2018.)



Attachment 2: Proposed Revisions to California’s Consolidated ESSA State Plan,
Tracked Changes Version (149 pages)



Attachment 3: Matrix of the U.S. Department of Education’s Interim Feedback
Cross-Referenced with California’s Consolidated ESSA State Plans (This
attachment will be posted the week of March 5, 2018.)