The U.S. Department of Education issued guidance in October 2020 specifying how states can submit an addendum to their ESSA plans for one-year flexibilities related to states’ Every Student Succeeds Act state plans. This addendum process allows states to address specific issues arising from missing data from the 2019-2020 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ordered school building closures, and the cancellation of the spring 2020 assessments. 

  

The Department’s memo that outlines the details of each section and the draft of the official request are now available for review on the Department’s Every Student Succeeds Act website. 

It should be emphasized that the ESSA addendum process does not provide for a blanket waiver from federal accountability and report card requirements. Rather, it allows states to propose technical short-term changes to address the lack of 2019-20 data. The memo summarizes those limited flexibilities available to Ohio through the limited one-year ESSA addendum. The intent of Ohio’s proposal is to limit the consequences of any data generated during this school year to the extent allowable and make allowable technical adjustments to relevant aspects of the report card.

The Department would like to hear from interested stakeholders about the proposed usage of the one-year flexibilities for the Every Student Succeeds Act state plan. Please provide feedback by Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Please email all input to [email protected]. We look forward to receiving your comments.