Official State of Rhode Island website

State of Rhode Island Department of Education

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a federal education law which includes both requirements and a great deal of flexibility for states in a number of key areas. This act, passed in 2015, reauthorized the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), replacing No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
 

Rhode Island's ESSA State Plan

Rhode Island’s ESSA State Plan is a consolidated plan RIDE submits to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) for approval, detailing how the state will meet certain federal requirements under ESSA such as academic standards, accountability, support for school improvement, student and educator support, and use of federal education funds. The U.S. Department of Education permits states to update their ESSA State Plans through an amendment process.
 

Now Open for Public Comment: RI’s 2024 ESSA State Plan Amendment

RIDE’s proposed changes to the state’s ESSA State Plan are now available at the link below. RIDE welcomes and encourages comments on these revisions through September 2nd at 5pm. Please send any comments by email to ESSA@ride.ri.gov.

RIDE will hold Zoom meetings for school and LEA leaders, MLL Directors, and data managers to review these proposed changes on August 22nd at 9am and August 28th at 1pm. Register here to attend. 

This amendment includes updates to the state’s accountability system for the coming 2024 results, including to the English Language Proficiency (ELP) measure. As part of RIDE’s ongoing strategy to improve outcomes for multilingual learners (MLLs), RIDE has substantially revised the ELP measure to more accurately reflect the trajectory of student language development and include expanded exit criteria for MLLs.

In addition to the revised ELP measure, this amendment includes updates to other components of the statewide accountability system—such as additional targeted support and improvement (ATSI) student subgroup identification and the denominator and cut scores for Rhode Island’s Diploma Plus measures—and updates to other programmatic sections of the plan.

Prior Versions, Addendums, and Waivers to Rhode Island’s ESSA State Plan

 

Documents from Initial ESSA State Plan Development Process