This brief examines state-defined long-term goals for improving achievement in states' Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans as of January 2018, and offers early insights into the varied approaches states have taken in setting long-term goals, timelines, and trajectories to reach their goals.

As states consider how their accountability systems will change under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), they face important decisions about which high school assessments to incorporate, what content their assessments will measure, which tests all students will take, and how rigorous those assessments will be. The purpose of this brief is to…