The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. ESSA requires states to submit plans to the U.S. Department of Education (US ED) describing the state systems for evaluating school performance and holding schools accountable for improvement. States could submit their plans to the US ED by either April 3 or September 18, 2017. After receiving feedback on their plans from the US ED, states finalize their plans. State accountability systems take effect in school year 2017-18.

SREB developed this profile based on analysis of Florida’s plan, resubmitted to the US ED on April 20, 2018.

State Highlights: Expectations for College and Career Readiness

States are not required to include college- and career-readiness expectations in their accountability systems under ESSA. Many SREB states, however, did set college- and career-readiness expectations in their plans, in the form of long-term goals and school performance indicators. Florida included the following college- and career-readiness expectation in its plan.

1. School performance indicator: ESSA requires states to set an indicator for school quality or student success, which can but does not have to include such measures as school climate and safety, student engagement and college readiness. Florida’s indicator of school quality or student success awards points to middle grades schools and high schools for accelerating students towards readiness for college and careers in any of the following ways.
   • Middle grades
     • Proficiency on state high school end-of-course tests
     • Performance on Florida Career and Professional Education industry certification exams
   • High schools
     • AP exam score of 3 or higher; IB exam score of 4 or higher; or Advanced International Certification of Education exam score of 3 or higher
     • Completion of dual enrollment course with a letter grade of “C-” or higher
     • Attainment of Florida Career and Professional Education industry certification

Read about this expectation below in the profile.

Long-Term Goals

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires that states establish long-term goals for all students and student groups based on academic achievement, high school graduation rates and English language proficiency for English learners.

Florida established the following long-term goals.

Academic achievement

• Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the percentage of students who are proficient on Florida’s English language arts and math assessments will increase by 6 percent, to 58 percent.
• Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, achievement gaps for each student subgroup on state assessments in each content area will decline by one-third.

Graduation rate

• Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the percentage of students who graduate from high school in four years will increase by 7.1 percent, to 85 percent.
• Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the high school graduation gap for each student subgroup will decline by one-third.

English language proficiency

• Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, the percentage of English learners meeting annual growth targets on the state English language proficiency test will increase by 6 percent, to 66 percent.

School Performance Indicators

ESSA specifies a set of indicators that states must use to assess school performance. Indicators for all schools must include academic achievement as measured by proficiency on annual state assessments of English language arts and math in grades three through eight and once in high school. States must require 95 percent of students to participate on these assessments and factor this requirement into the school accountability system. States must also include two more indicators for all schools – English language proficiency for English learners and an indicator of school quality or student success, such as school climate and safety, student engagement and college readiness. For elementary and middle grades schools, states must include an additional academic indicator of the state’s choice, such as student growth on state assessments. For high schools, states must also include an indicator of four-year cohort graduation rate.

Florida established the following indicators of school performance.

Level	Indicators
All schools	Academic achievement: Schools must meet the 95 percent participation rate for all students and subgroups English language proficiency: Progress towards English proficiency on state assessment – WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 School quality or student success: Proficiency on state science assessments for elementary, middle grades and high schools – Florida Standards Assessments and end-of-course tests Proficiency on state social studies assessments for middle grades and high schools – Florida Standards Assessments and end-of-course tests
Elementary and middle grades	Academic achievement: Proficiency on state English language arts and math assessments – Florida Standards Assessments Other academic indicator: Student growth of all students and lowest-performing 25 percent of students on state English language arts and math assessments – Florida Standards Assessments Middle school acceleration Proficiency on state high school end-of-course tests Performance on Florida Career and Professional Education industry certification exams
High schools	Academic achievement Proficiency on state English language arts and math assessments – Florida Standards Assessments, and Algebra I and geometry end-of-course tests Student growth of all students and lowest-performing 25 percent of students on state English language arts and math assessments – end-of-course tests Graduation rate Four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate High school acceleration AP exam score of 3 or higher; IB exam score of 4 or higher; or Advanced International Certification of Education exam score of 3 or higher Completion of dual enrollment course with a letter grade of “C-” or higher Attainment of Career and Professional Education industry certification

Annual Meaningful Differentiation

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires that states use their performance indicators to differentiate the performance of all schools and to report performance for all students and all student subgroups. States have flexibility in assigning weight to their indicators, so long as their indicators of academic achievement, graduation rate and English language proficiency progress together receive much greater weight than their school quality or student success indicators.

Florida established the following framework for differentiating schools, weights for each indicator, and student subgroups.

Framework for differentiating schools in Florida

For state accountability, on an annual basis, schools receive an overall A through F letter grade, based on the sum of the points earned for each indicator (see possible points below). Under ESSA, Florida calculates a Federal Percent of Points Index at the overall school level and at the subgroup level. Both are used to identify schools in need of improvement (see identification criteria below). The Federal Percent of Points Index includes all the measures used to calculate school overall letter grades plus the English language proficiency progress indicator.

Weights assigned to each indicator in Florida

Instead of assigning weighted percentages to each indicator, Florida assigns the following possible points to each indicator.

Note. Progress toward English language proficiency is not used to determine school overall letter grades in Florida’s A-F letter grades system but is included in the Federal Percent of Points Index to identify schools for improvement under ESSA (see identification criteria below).

Student subgroups in Florida

• Subgroups: For state accountability, Florida will focus on 10 student subgroups – economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, English learners, American Indian or Alaska native students, Asian students, black students, Hispanic or Latino students, native Hawaiian or Pacific islander students, students of two or more races, and white students. Additionally, Florida will identify a subgroup of the lowest-performing 25 percent of students. By using this additional subgroup, Florida includes in accountability calculations low performing students from any of the subgroups, including those who might not have otherwise been included for schools that do not have enough students to meet the minimum number for a subgroup (see size of subgroup information below).
• Size of subgroups: In instances in which schools do not meet the threshold of 10 students (n-count) for any of the subgroups for an indicator, the school will not be held accountable for performance on that indicator.
• Use of subgroup data in overall school ratings: Florida uses subgroup performance data to identify schools for targeted support and improvement (TSI, see below) and publicly reports subgroup performance data for each indicator, as required by ESSA.

Identifying, Serving and Exiting Schools from Needs Improvement Status

ESSA requires that states establish a methodology for identifying low-performing schools. States must identify two categories of schools at least once every three years: those that need Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and those that need Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI). States may also establish other categories of schools, for example those not in need of improvement.

Florida established the following identification and exit criteria, and interventions to support schools.

Comprehensive Support and Improvement
How schools are identified	Identified annually beginning in 2018-19, any school that meets any of these criteria:  CSI schools: Schools with a current year overall grade of “F”; Schools with two consecutive overall grades lower than “C”; ​Schools receiving 31 percent or lower on the Federal Percent of Points Index CSI high schools: any school with a graduation rate of 67 percent or less TSI schools: TSI schools that Earn an overall “D” letter grade; Fail to move subgroup performance above 31 percent on the Federal Percent of Points Index within six years
Interventions to meet improvement needs	State will help local educational agencies and their schools by providing: Resource allocation review Regional field teams to support local leaders with strategic problem solving and capacity building Interventions through the state’s differentiated accountability system include the following. Site visits focused on data, problem solving and improvement planning Assistance with district and school improvement plans Guidance and support in developing and implementing a turnaround plan, monitoring progress, and conducting instructional reviews Professional learning Support in building relationships with stakeholders and between schools and districts After two years, schools not earning an overall “C” letter grade must close or turn over operations to a charter or external operator. Districts with these schools must implement a turnaround plan approved by the state Board of Education, which outlines either reassigning students to another school, school closure and charter conversion, or management by outside entity.
Criteria for exiting this category	After one year, schools can exit CSI status by: Achieving an overall “C” or above letter grade, and receiving more than 31 percent of possible points across all indicators
Targeted Support and Improvement
How schools are identified	Identified annually beginning in 2018-19, any school that meets any of these criteria: TSI and additional TSI schools: Receive a grade of “D” but did not receive a grade lower than a “C” in the prior year;   Receive between 32 percent and 40 percent of possible points on the Federal Percent of Points Index;   Have at least one subgroup with performance below 31 percent on the Federal Percent of Points Index, but for less than 6 years
Interventions to meet improvement needs	State will help local educational agencies and their schools by providing: Resource allocation review Regional field teams to support local leaders with strategic problem solving and capacity building Interventions through the state’s differentiated accountability system include the following. Site visits focused on data, problem solving and improvement planning Assistance with district and school improvement plans Technical assistance with identifying needs, developing a district or school improvement plan, monitoring progress, and conducting instructional reviews Professional learning Support with building relationships with stakeholders and between schools and districts District and school network collaboratives led by specialists from across the state education agency
Criteria for exiting this category	After one year, schools can exit TSI status by: Improving their overall letter grade, and receiving more than 40 percent of possible points across all indicators

This profile was prepared by Kim Anderson, SREB’s director of benchmarking college- and career-readiness standards, Mary Elizabeth Mira, SREB’s assistant director of benchmarking college- and career-readiness standards, Tiffany Harrison, SREB’s research associate for benchmarking college- and career-readiness standards and Jeff Gagné, SREB’s director of policy analysis. For more information, please contact Kim Anderson at kim.anderson@sreb.org or Jeff Gagné at jeff.gagne@sreb.org.