School & District Improvement FAQs
The School and District Improvement (formally known as Supports & Interventions) State
Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SDI SCASS) of the Council of Chief State
School Officers (CCSSO) focused its 2015-2016 work on defining effective school improvement
strategies and practices. To support themselves and other state education agency staff, the SDI
members created this series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents to define questions,
highlight examples, and include any considerations that SEA staff may need to consider as they
plan and implement policies and strategies. The FAQs are organized by topic.
The SDI SCASS is considering and reviewing the key components of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) and ESEA flexibility to be retained (and possibly even strengthened) for
future state work. Additionally, the new version of ESEA, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA),
provides significantly more authority directly to state education agencies (SEAs), and the SDI
members seek to
• Gather various approaches from states in one resource,
• Highlight lessons learned and considerations, and
• Codify practices and policies that appear effective.
SDI members are looking carefully at their current work and have determined four critical
components for supporting low-performing schools and districts:
1. Identification of Schools (including the lowest performing schools and schools with
persistently underperforming subgroups)
2. Differentiated Supports and Interventions
3. Transfer of Funds and Resource Alignment
4. Family and Community Engagement
State-specific examples are provided and hyperlinked (if available). The SDI SCASS hopes these
documents will be updated as additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Education
is released and as SEAs implement successful practices. Please note that regulations from
the U.S. Department of Education are pending and could adjust elements of the law that are
discussed within these FAQs. The state education agencies that participated in the creation of
these resources include Arkansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah,
Washington, and Wyoming. Staff from the Illinois Center for School Improvement and Virginia’s
state education agency also contributed.