SEA staff describe their role as providing both support and accountability to LEAs, and describe struggling to balance the two.¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? SEA leaders report providing both support and accountability to districts, a balance made harder as the SEA role has shifted from monitoring outcomes to providing resources and technical assistance. → Dunn 2019

Evidence¶

Dunn 2019¶

Dunn, L., & Ambroso, E. (2019). Balancing act: State and district roles in school improvement under ESSA. San Francisco, CA: WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED602966

q2 · i? · qualitative · r2

Interview finding across the 10 SEAs. Vermont leaders emphasized "forging relationships with LEA leaders and creating a safe environment in which people can be honest about school improvement efforts"; South Carolina prioritized clear expectations with support to meet them.

"SEA staff described their role as providing both support and accountability to LEAs. Several SEA leaders described the struggle of balancing these two roles"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Most state ESSA plans emphasized the district's role in school improvement over the state agency's role, a shift from No Child Left Behind. — related
• An analysis of 23 state ESSA plans identified four main categories of SEA and LEA roles in school improvement: LEA Independence, SEA Oversight, SEA Resource, and SEA–LEA Collaboration. — related
• The SEA-as-resource-provider role was the most commonly emphasized approach, named in 10 of 23 state ESSA plans. — related
• SEAs take on multiple, malleable roles in their work with LEAs, shifting based on identified needs, capacity, and context. — related
• SEAs differentiate support to districts based on the number of CSI/TSI-identified schools, district capacity, and district willingness to engage. — related
• SEAs are leveraging ESSA requirements and increased flexibility to specify SEA and LEA roles and push evidence-based, locally contextualized improvement strategies. — related
• Use of data to guide and refine SEA school improvement supports is nascent, with additional work needed to assess whether supports have impact — related
• SEA administrators report shifting from compliance monitoring and grants management toward meaningful support and capacity-building for identified schools — related