ESSA State Plan

Overview

On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law, reauthorizing the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and replacing the most recent reauthorization of ESEA, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). With few exceptions, ESSA took effect at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year. The law includes provisions to help ensure improved outcomes for all students receiving elementary and secondary education, including the following:

States must establish high academic content standards, and schools must teach all students those standards to help prepare them for college and careers
States, districts, and schools must share information with families, students, and communities regarding annual statewide assessments that measure students' progress toward these high standards
States and districts must establish systems of accountability and support for all schools, and provide particular support to the lowest-performing schools, schools with low-performing subgroups, and schools with low graduation rates

Massachusetts ESSA State Plan

Massachusetts Consolidated State Plan Under ESSA — Approved September 21, 2017
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education collected public comment on our ESSA State Plan through March 9, 2017 and submitted our plan to the U.S. Department of Education on April 3, 2017.
Massachusetts ESSA Plan: Executive Summary
Massachusetts ESSA Plan: Executive Summary — Spanish
Required Revisions to Massachusetts ESSA Plan — revised May 10, 2017
Following submission of our initial consolidated state plan on April 3, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education required certain revisions, which are detailed in this document. As our plan proceeds through the review and approval process, we anticipate the possibility that further adjustments to the plan may be required.

Last Updated: May 6, 2022