CEC Policy Insider

Learning Policy Institute Confirms Effectiveness of Preschool

The Learning Policy Institute (LPI)recently conducted a metanalysis on the benefits of the preschool programs in the Untangling the Evidence on Preschool Effectiveness: Insights for Policymakers. After reviewing 21 public preschool programs and multiple reports, LPI's results confirm the preponderance of evidence and demonstrates that high-quality preschool leaves children better prepared for school, especially in terms of their academic skill development. Fewer children were placed in special education beyond preschool and those with disabilities received fewer years of special education. The evidence supports moving beyond the question of whether preschool “works” and focusing instead on the more pressing question of how to design and implement programs that ensure public preschool investments consistently serving young children.

U.S. Department of Education Releases FERPA Q&A

The Federal Commission on School Safety’s final report observed that “substantial misunderstanding remains at the local level among officials and educators concerning the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and, in particular, its application to school-based threats.” In response, the Department recently issued a comprehensive set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on schools’ and school districts’ responsibilities under FERPA.

The document, titled “School Resource Officers, School Law Enforcement Units, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,” consolidates previously issued guidance and technical assistance into a single resource. Understanding the provisions of FERPA relative to circumstances that threaten the health or safety of individuals will empower school officials to act more quickly and decisively when challenges arise.

School Choice: President’s Only Mention of Education in SOTU

Once again, the President articulated a narrow vision for education, as the only priority in his State of the Union speech on February 5, 2019 was school choice. “To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America’s children,” President Trump said. No other details were shared about the initiative in the SOTU. It is likely the President’s school choice initiative will be through federal tax credits. In the 2017 tax overhaul Congress did not include any major provisions for federal tax credits in the bill and even Republicans did not have an appetite for it. Included in the 2017 tax overhaul law was a provision allowing parents to use 529 college accounts to cover the cost of private school tuition. It is not likely this initiative will get much traction in the 116^th Congress with Democrats in control of the House.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has tried unsuccessfully the last two years to move her school choice agenda through Congress and it will be a heavy lift in the 116^th Congress. “The President was exactly right tonight to remind the nation of his call to expand education freedom,” DeVos said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with Congress on ways to give students opportunities to pursue the education that engages their curiosity, unlocks their creativity and empowers them to reach their fullest potential. It’s time to do what’s best for kids and get to work.”

CEC has long advocated to keep public funds in public education. CEC will continue to urge Congress to support efforts that maintain and enhance the use of public funds for public education and services offered through public school districts. In addition, CEC will urge Congress to oppose the use of public funds for families to access private education through private school vouchers, tuition tax credits, direct tuition payments, taxpayer savings accounts, scholarships, and portability of public funds to private education entities for all students, including student with disabilities, as they are contrary to the best interest of students and their families ,the public school system, local communities, and taxpayers.

Read:

• CEC’s Issue Brief on Keep Public Funds in Public Education
• CEC’s Position on School Vouchers
• CEC’s Policy on Children with Exceptionalities in Charter Schools

The President’s State of the Union address once more, is a missed opportunity to prioritize important education issues for children and youth with exceptionalities, their families and the professionals who work on their behalf.

PTA Leads Letter on Rescission of 2014 School Discipline Guidance

CEC joined forty-eight other organizations who penned a joint letter to Secretary DeVos and Acting Secretary Whitaker in opposition to the rescission of the 2014 school discipline guidance. Without this discipline guidance organizations face mounting concerns that children and youth of color and students with disabilities will experience greater levels of exclusionary discipline practices, such as suspension, expulsion and other punishments that remove children and youth from the place created to support them and keep them safe.

Growth Data: It Matters, and It’s Complicated

Measures of student growth offer a richer understanding of student performance than a moment-in-time test score alone, but measures of student growth are not created equal. In their accountability plans for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), some states are using a sophisticated analysis of multiple data points that evaluate the impact of schools on student learning, while others are using simpler measures of change in student assessment results year to year. These different approaches to measurement answer different questions and tell different stories about what is happening in schools and classrooms. Therefore, the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) released a brief, Growth Data: It Matters, and It’s Complicated, describing the different ways states have committed to measuring student growth and what that means for education stakeholders and their understanding of student success.

DQC employed a systematic analysis to determine which states, as detailed in their ESSA accountability plans, will use a measure of student growth to calculate academic indicators and which specific measure(s) they will use. DQC developed a tracking spreadsheet with a list of common growth measures used for accountability, informed by subject matter experts and existing academic resources, to review each state’s approved ESSA plan.