ESSA is the
re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, formerly known
as ÒNo Child Left BehindÓ.
Note: An LEA is
either a school district or a charter school.
TITLE
VIII—GENERAL PROVISIONS (page 287 to 290, 298)
É
(21)
EVIDENCE-BASED.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as
provided in subparagraph (B), the term Ôevidence-basedÕ, when used with respect
to a State, local educational agency, or school activity, means an activity,
strategy, or intervention that—
(i) demonstrates a
statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other
relevant outcomes based on—
(I) strong evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented
experimental study;
(II) moderate evidence from at least 1 well-designed and
well-implemented quasi-experimental study; or
(III) promising evidence from at least 1 well-designed and
well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for selection
bias; or
(ii)(I) demonstrates a rationale
based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that such
activity, strategy, or intervention is likely to improve student outcomes or
other relevant outcomes; and
(II) includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of such activity,
strategy, or intervention.
É
(42)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The term Ôprofessional developmentÕ means
activities that—
(A) are an integral part of school and
local educational agency strategies for providing educators (including teachers, principals,
other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel,
paraprofessionals, and, as applicable, early childhood educators) with the
knowledge and skills necessary to enable students to succeed in a well-rounded
education and to meet the challenging State academic standards; and
(B) are sustained (not stand-alone, 1-day, or
short term workshops), intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven,
and classroom-focused, and may include activities that—
(i) improve and increase teachersÕ—
(I) knowledge of the academic subjects the teachers teach;
(II) understanding of how students learn; and
(III) ability to analyze student work and achievement from multiple sources,
including how to adjust instructional strategies, assessments, and materials
based on such analysis;
(ii) are an integral part of broad
schoolwide and districtwide educational improvement plans;
(iii) allow personalized plans for each
educator to address the educatorÕs specific needs identified in observation or
other feedback;
(iv) improve classroom management
skills;
(v) support the recruitment, hiring, and
training of effective teachers, including teachers who became certified through State and local
alternative routes to certification;
(vi) advance teacher understanding
of—
(I)
effective instructional strategies that are evidence-based; and
(II) strategies for improving student academic achievement or
substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of teachers;
(vii) are aligned with, and directly
related to, academic goals of the school or local educational agency;
(viii) are developed with extensive
participation of teachers, principals, other school leaders, parents, representatives of
Indian tribes (as applicable), and administrators of schools to be served under this Act;
(ix) are designed to give
teachers of English learners, and other teachers and instructional staff, the
knowledge and skills to provide instruction and appropriate language and
academic support services to those children, including the appropriate use of
curricula and assessments;
(x) to the extent appropriate,
provide training for teachers, principals, and other school leaders in the use of technology
(including education about the harms of copyright piracy), so that technology and
technology applications are effectively used in the classroom to improve
teaching and learning in the curricula and academic subjects in which the
teachers teach;
(xi) as a whole, are regularly
evaluated for their impact on increased teacher effectiveness and improved
student academic achievement, with the findings of the evaluations used to improve the quality
of professional development;
(xii) are designed to give
teachers of children with disabilities or children with developmental delays,
and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide
instruction and academic support services, to those children, including
positive behavioral interventions and supports, multi-tier system of supports,
and use of accommodations;
(xiii) include
instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct
classroom practice;
(xiv) include instruction in ways that teachers,
principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel,
and school administrators may work more effectively with parents and families;
(xv) involve the forming of partnerships with
institutions of higher education,
including, as applicable, Tribal Colleges and Universities as defined in
section 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)), to
establish school-based teacher, principal, and other school leader training
programs that provide prospective teachers, novice teachers, principals, and other
school leaders with an opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced
teachers, principals, other school leaders, and faculty of such institutions;
(xvi) create programs to enable
paraprofessionals (assisting teachers employed by a local educational agency
receiving assistance under part A of title I) to obtain the education necessary
for those paraprofessionals to become certified and licensed teachers;
(xvii) provide follow-up training to teachers
who have participated in activities described in this paragraph that are
designed to ensure that the knowledge and skills learned by the teachers are
implemented in the classroom; and
...
(50) TECHNOLOGY.—The term
ÔtechnologyÕ means modern information, computer and communication technology
products, services, or tools, including, the Internet and other communications
networks, computer devices and other computer and communications hardware, software applications, data systems, and other electronic
content (including multimedia content) and data storage