Activity Based Guidance for Strengthening Teacher Preparation Under ESSA

ESSA Opportunities to Support NTEP Priorities

Activity Based Guidance Image

In 2012, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) published Our Responsibility, Our Promise: Transforming Educator Preparation and Entry into the Profession, a report that outlined ten high-leverage recommendations for states to improve educator licensure, preparation program accountability and use of data to inform related policy and decision-making. In 2015, CCSSO followed up on Our Responsibility, Our Promise with Promises to Keep: Transforming Educator Preparation to Better Serve a Diverse Range of Learners, which articulated in more detail the types of actions state chiefs and state education agencies (SEAs) can take to ensure educators are prepared to support the learning of all students, including students of color, those living in poverty, those with disabilities, English learners (ELs), or students with other behavioral needs.

With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states now have additional opportunities to pursue the recommendations and associated activities outlined in Our Responsibility, Our Promise and Promises to Keep. States have been developing their Consolidated State Plans for many months, and may have already considered and incorporated many of these opportunities into their plans. However, as states engage stakeholders and peers from other states to review their Consolidated State Plans, there is an additional chance to consider capitalizing on the funding, authority, and flexibility provided under ESSA to improve educator preparation and licensure.

The purpose of this document is to serve as a “crosswalk” that links opportunities under ESSA and associated regulations to the recommendations and suggested activities in the two CCSSO reports named above. While it will likely not be feasible to incorporate each of these opportunities into state plans, our hope is that this crosswalk may help states to critically reflect on their own plans and to provide actionable feedback to fellow states on their plans to ensure that every possible opportunity to improve educator pre-service systems has been considered.


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