As we previously reported, on December 10, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”), which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA” or “NCLB”). On December 18, 2015, the U.S. Department of Education (“ED”) issued a Dear Colleague Letter to provide initial guidance for schools, school districts, and states to facilitate the transition to programs authorized by the ESSA. While the majority of this initial guidance is directed to states, this alert includes a summary of the issues addressed in the initial guidance that directly impact schools and school districts.

AMOs and AMAOs

Under the ESSA, states are required to “establish ambitious State-designed long-term goals . . . for all students and separately for each subgroup of students” instead of AMOs. AMOs are goals that states were required to set annually under NCLB to define a minimum percentage of students who must meet or exceed standards on their assessments. To assist states in preparing for this change, the ED will not require states to submit AMOs for school years 2014-2015 or 2015-2016 in January 2016, nor will the ED require states to report performance against AMOs for the 2014-2015 or 2015-2016 school years. Also, the ED will not require states to hold districts accountable for their performance against AMAOs 1, 2, and 3 under Title III of NCLB for the 2014-2015 or 2015-2016 school years. AMAOs are achievement objectives for English Language Learners.

States and school districts, however, are still required to publish report cards, including for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years, and beyond. While report cards must continue to include most of the information that was required under NCLB, report cards need not include information required under NCLB section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii), which pertains to comparison data related to AMOs.

NCLB Flexibility

Under the ESSA, waivers granted through NCLB flexibility remain effective through August 1, 2016. The ED expects states that are currently approved to implement NCLB flexibility to continue to meet all NCLB flexibility principles during the 2015-2016 school year. But given that NCLB flexibility terminates on August 1, 2016, the ED will not seek or review requests to extend NCLB flexibility beyond the 2015-2016 school year, nor will the ED review or approve requests for NCLB flexibility from a state that does not already have an approved flexibility request.

During the NCLB flexibility renewal process, the ED renewed some states subject to certain follow-up actions and conditions described in the renewal letter. Given that NCLB flexibility terminates on August 1, 2016, a state will not be required to submit follow-up responses to the ED regarding areas of NCLB flexibility that are not required under both NCLB and ESSA. Rather, the ED will continue to provide technical assistance to states and districts in these key areas. If a follow-up action relates to areas that are required under both NCLB and ESSA, a state must submit follow-up responses as detailed in its NCLB flexibility renewal approval letter.

A state may continue to request amendments affecting activities required under the ESSA through August 1, 2016, and the ED will review the amendments and make determinations. The ED will not formally process amendment requests or decisions on their approval that relate to areas that are no longer required under both NCLB and ESSA. Instead, the ED will continue to provide technical assistance.

For additional information related to the topics addressed above, you can visit www.ed.gov/essa, email questions to essa.questions@ed.gov, or contact your contact in the ED’s Office of State Support.