ERIC Number: EJ1360064
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Nov
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0195-6744
EISSN: EISSN-1549-6511
Helping Every Student Succeed? State Education Agency Roles and Responsibilities for Improving Underperforming Schools and Districts
Vangronigen, Bryan A.; Meyers, Coby V.; Brandt, W. Christopher
American Journal of Education, v129 n1 p1-27 Nov 2022
Purpose: This study investigated how state education agencies (SEAs) articulated their roles and responsibilities with respect to improving underperforming schools and districts after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. Research Approach: Using a conceptual framework rooted in incrementalism--a theory suggesting that policy makers often make decisions reflecting the status quo--we conducted a rigorous conventional content analysis on the plans that states created in response to ESSA. Findings: Our findings suggest that many SEAs practiced incrementalism with few changes in the categories of improvement supports that SEAs offered to their underperforming schools and districts and the methods by which SEAs offered those improvement supports. Similar to prior years, most SEAs focused improvement supports on improvement planning processes and appeared to provide those supports using mostly passive methods like online resource hubs and document templates. Implications: We discuss how SEAs--even if they lack capacity--occupy powerful positions to amplify the voices and needs of underperforming schools and districts. This study substantiates a scarce literature on SEAs and provides updated insight into how SEAs have espoused to respond to federal demands to improve underperforming schools and districts.
Descriptors: State Departments of Education, Agency Role, Educational Improvement, Educational Legislation, Elementary Secondary Education, Federal Legislation, Low Achievement, Underachievement, School Districts
University of Chicago Press. Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, IL 60637. Tel: 877-705-1878; Tel: 773-753-3347; Fax: 877-705-1879; Fax: 773-753-0811; e-mail: subscriptions@press.uchicago.edu; Web site: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/aje/about
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Every Student Succeeds Act 2015
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A