ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

ESSA, or the Every Student Succeeds Act, was signed into federal law on December 10, 2015 and became the first major renewal of education law since No Child Left Behind over a decade earlier. ESSA rolls back much of what has been viewed as overreach of the federal government and creates new requirements for state education accountability. States had until the 2017-18 school year to create plans for accountability and support. Where NCLB provided highly punitive measures for underperforming schools, ESSA allows the states to create systems to support schools that need assistance in meeting performance expectations. While NCLB was solely fixated on a single standardized test score for student performance, ESSA recognizes that school performance should be measured by a much more diverse set of criteria. 

Exemplary: Performance in the top 10% of all schools, High schools with graduate rate higher than 67%, no underperforming student groups or below the "all students" group in the lowest-performing 5% of all schools. Eligible to apply to serve as an IL Empower Learning Partner. Commendable: performance not in the top 10% of all schools, high schools with graduation rates higher than 67%, no underperforming student groups at or below the "all students" group in the lowest performing 5% of all schools. Eligible to apply to serve as an IL-empower learning partner. Underperforming- One or more student groups underperforming at or below the "all students" group in the lowest-performing 5% of all schools. Eligible to apply to serve as an IL-empower Learning Partner. Underperforming: One or more student groups underperforming at or below the "all students" group in the lower-performing 5% of all schools; groups must have at least 20 students in at least three indications. Student groups: economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, students formerly with a disability (coming soon), English Learners, former English learners. Racial and ethnic groups: Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, White, Two or more races, Complete a Work Plan for School Improvement and may choose to receive targeted support through IL-Empower process. Lowest-performing: In the lowest-performing 5% of Title I eligibility schools state wide. High Schools with graduation rates at or below 67%. Complete a Work Plan for School Improvement and receives comprehensive support through IL-EMPOWer process.

ESSA establishes four levels of school performance as described in the associated graphic. Starting in Fall 2018, all schools will be given one of the following designations: exemplary, commendable, underperforming, and lowest-performing.  Schools that are designated as under or lowest-performing will be able to seek assistance in the school improvement process and will have extra funding attached to these additional requirements. 


Instead of one test score to define the performance level for schools, ESSA identifies several indicators under the umbrella of academic and student success/school quality indicators. All of these criteria have a weight that adds up to 100%. The table below shows the criteria and the weight associated with each. While most educators will agree that these indicators give a more comprehensive view of school performance than a one-day snapshot that a standardized test provides, the metrics can be more complicated to track and more complex in understanding how the data comes together into a single designation. 

2022 Components of the Summative Designations for High Schools

Pie Chart pictured with pint 4. Being the biggest and the other numbers even. Academic Indicators (75%) 1. English Language Arts Proficiency 7.5% 2. Math Proficiency: 7.5% 3. Science Proficiency 5%, 4. Graduation (composite 4-, 6-, and 6-year graduation rate): 50% 5. English Learner Progress to Proficiency: 5%, School Quality and Student Success Indicators (25%) 6. Chronic Absences: 10% 7. Climate Survey: 6.67% 8. 9th-Graders on Track to Graduate: 8.33% 9. College and Career Readiness* 10. Fine Arts*

McHenry High School is particularly well positioned to transition to ESSA due to its very successful Distinguished Warrior Program. There are many criteria of ESSA’s College and Career Readiness Indicators that are similar or the same as the criteria for the DW honor. In the coming months, MCHS will transition some of the Distinguished Warrior criteria to align more closely with ESSA. Two other major criteria under Illinois’ ESSA plan are 9th grade on track and graduation rate. The State of Illinois has established the following two goals for high schools.  

  • 90% of 9th grade students will remain “on-track” for graduation with their classmates

  • 90% of all students will graduate college and career ready

MCHS monitors freshmen success closely and has a robust, summer school “get ahead” and remediation program. MCHS counselors and interventionists also work diligently to ensure students graduate on time and provide many remedial options as well as alternative programming.