Dive Brief:
- Now that the 2016 legislative season is beginning, experts say that legislators in many states will now convene task forces to study what's possible under ESSA and how their newfound flexibility dovetails with constituents' desires.
- States described as potential "hotspots of expected activity" by Education Week include Wyoming, Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Dakota, and West Virginia due to budgetary stressors; Washington, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, and Delaware due to funding formula shakeups; and Oklahoma, Indiana, Wisconsin, and California due to teacher shortages.
- Finally, legislators in Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Tennessee are all expected to discuss recommendations over student testing and performance.
Dive Insight:
It will be useful to compare and contrast the findings from panels and task forces in the 16 states expected to debate recommendations over student performance and testing, and to evaluate how partisan politics in each state sculpts how such analysis is enacted (or not). In Connecticut, for example, some state exams have already been abandoned due to perceived overtesting.
A "perfect storm" of budgetary and political factors leading to chronic teacher shortages have plagued various states — including Arizona and Kansas, both of which were not mentioned by Education Week in relation to shortages. The Kansas school year began with an estimated 450 vacant positions and a ranking as the state with the worst teacher pay. In Indiana, results from a study of the problem are expected soon.
