Promising Practices: Engaging for Equity
1. REPRESENTATION :Reach the Unreached
Prioritize the needs, participation, and leadership of communities that have historically been marginalized and underserved by political decision-making processes.
2. TRANSPARENCY: Show Your Work
Make your decision-making process transparent: all communities should be able to easily see when and how to participate, as well as how participation is valued and has real impact.
3. SUSTAINABILITY: Stick With It
Engagement efforts must begin at the earliest planning stages, continue throughout implementation in structured, regular ways, and occur at all levels (federal, state, and local).
4. COLLABORATION: Maximize Your Resources
Work with outside partners to strengthen your engagement efforts. This can add resources, staff, intellectual capital, and new perspectives.
5. ALIGNMENT: Double Down
Aggregate and analyze community feedback from separate and parallel efforts to identify areas of agreement, amplify the voices of the underserved, and build support for reform.
More Resources & Tools on Engagement & ESSA
10/04/2018
Learn More About Your School — To Change It!
COFI/POWER-PAC IL, ACT Now, and Partners for Each and Every Child (a project of the Opportunity Institute) hosted more than 100 people in-person and online for sessions on the new information we can learn about Illinois schools — through the Illinois School Report learn more >
05/22/2018
Engaging around Local Planning in California — 5 Pillars 
The Local Control Funding Formula:
Why Engagement is Essential for Educational Equity
The advancement of equity and excellence for California’s students depends on the ability of counties, districts, and schools to create meaningful stakeholder engagement practices that address the unique needs of their constituents.
This document offers actionable ways learn more >
05/22/2018
Process and Protest — California
How are Districts Engaging Stakeholders in LCAP Development?
Process and Protest — California examines the efforts of several California districts to fulfill the stakeholder engagement requirements of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in the development of their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs).
Read the Report
Our analysis starts from the premise learn more >
07/25/2017
Meaningful Local Engagement Under ESSA: A Handbook for LEA and School Leaders
Read the Handbook!
Partners for and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) are excited to share our new resource: Meaningful Local Engagement Under ESSA: A Handbook for LEA and School Leaders.
As state ESSA plans are well underway and learn more >
07/11/2017
Process and Protest – Summer 2017 Report
Click to Read the Report!
Have State Engagement Efforts Under ESSA Been Meaningful?
We are excited to share Process and Protest, a report exploring how thoughtful, meaningful, structured, and ongoing engagement among a variety of stakeholders is essential to learn more >
12/11/2016
The District Guide to ESSA and the Importance of Meaningful Engagement: Participation, Preparation, and What Comes Next
Partners for and our state Partners have collaborated to produce A District Guide to ESSA and the Importance of Stakeholder Engagement – a guide to support districts and schools as they participate in state-level decision-making, and begin to prepare for what learn more >
12/06/2016
EngageforSchools.org
Engage For Schools is an online platform for stakeholders to engage in the education policy process. Initially used to support the Illinois State Board of Education in soliciting feedback on their State Plan, Partners for began testing out this new way of engaging with learn more >
12/06/2016
Illinois ESSA State Plan Draft #2 – Reader’s Guide
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released its second ESSA State Plan draft on November 22, 2016. ISBE and Partners for jointly developed a second Reader’s Guide to accompany the draft plan #2.
As part of ISBE’s efforts to gather feedback learn more >
11/01/2016
Illinois ESSA State Plan Draft #1 – Reader’s Guide
On August 25th, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) posted their ESSA State Plan Draft #1 for public comment. On September 1st, Partners for released a Reader’s Guide for the ISBE ESSA State Plan Draft #1. The Reader’s Guide is designed to assist ISBE learn more >
10/07/2016
Strengthening Stakeholder Engagement in Illinois: Recommendations for ISBE’s ESSA State Plan Development
In an effort to support the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to strengthen their stakeholder engagement efforts around the ESSA State Plan, Partners for submitted formal comment to their open invitation for feedback on their ESSA state plan first draft in October 2016.
Read our Recommendations learn more >
10/01/2016
NJDOE ESSA Handouts
In an effort to support the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) as they engaged with a group of stakeholders with representatives from across the education landscape, Partners for produced a series of “Handouts” focusing on sections of ESSA of particular relevance to their input learn more >
10/01/2016
LCFF: How Can Local Control Keep the Promise of Educational Equity in CA?
LCFF: How Can Local Control Keep the Promise of Educational Equity in CA?
In October 2016, Partners for Each and Every Child (Partners for) and Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) co-hosted an event intended to:
Build understanding and engage in conversations around the current impact of learn more >
09/07/2016
Leveraging ESSA: Policy Opportunities for Community Schools Strategies
The passage of the ESSA includes important accountability provisions that advance the principle that student success and school quality are measured by more than just academic test scores. Rather, a comprehensive approach to school improvement requires intentional investment in a whole-child, whole-school effort, where students, learn more >
09/07/2016
Leveraging ESSA: Policy Opportunities for English Learners in Illinois
Leveraging ESSA: Policy Opportunities for English Learners in Illinois
The passage of the ESSA includes important accountability provisions regarding English learners (ELs) that further emphasize that the educational experience of and goals for EL students are not an isolated set of challenges. Rather, the ways learn more >
06/30/2016
A Handbook for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement
The SEA Handbook is a comprehensive tool designed to be used by all states to assess current stakeholder engagement efforts and further develop their engagement strategies. A Handbook for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement: A Tool to Support State Education Agencies in Planning and Implementation of ESSA was learn more >
06/20/2016
“In Consultation With…” The Case for Meaningful Engagement
Written to accompany the SEA Handbook for Meaningful Engagement, this document examines why the stakes are high, why equity MUST drive accountability—and ESSA— decisions, and how an examination of stakeholder engagement promising practices and cautionary tales can help illustrate the need for efforts to learn more >
06/14/2016
WEBINAR – ESSA: Implications for Illinois and Equity
Held on June 14, 2016, this live panel webinar included a presentation by Illinois State Board of Education Superintendent Tony Smith on stakeholder engagement and ESSA implementation, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Ralph Martire, Executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. learn more >
06/07/2016
Recommendations for the California Department of Education on stakeholder engagement for ESSA
As California considers its own contexts, needs, and priorities in ESSA implementation, the voices and experiences of families, students, and communities are crucial in protecting and advancing equity. Given the wide latitude that ESSA has allowed for states to ensure equitable access and excellence for learn more >
06/01/2016
ESSA: Implications for Equity
In an effort to understand the implications of ESSA in our Anchor States, Partners for developed a series of reports summarizing expectations and opportunities under ESSA and their implications in the Pre-ESSA landscape in each state.
California
Colorado
Georgia
Illinois
Mississippi
New Jersey
Ohio
05/25/2016
Letter to the US ED: Recommendations on Guidance for Community Schools
Monique M. Chism, Ph.D.
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
Re: Community Schools Recommendations for U.S. Department of Education, Non-Regulatory Guidance
Dear Dr. Chism,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the ESSA Request for Non-Regulatory Guidance.
Partners for Each and Every learn more >
04/14/2016
ESSA: Implications for Equity in Ohio
On April 14, 2016, Partners for co-hosted a live webinar conversation with Ohio stakeholders to explore the implications for equity in Ohio and the role of stakeholders in implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
The webinar included presentations by Lonny Rivera, Interim Superintendent of learn more >
02/25/2016
WEBINAR – ESSA: Implications for Equity in Mississippi
On February 25th, we heard from voices around Mississippi on the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and its implications for issues of educational equity in the state. This webinar was an opportunity for some of Mississippi’s key stakeholder representatives to talk through learn more >
01/12/2016
WEBINAR – ESSA: Implications for California and Equity
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, EdSource and Partners for Each and Every Child hosted a webinar to examine the implications of the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act on California and the effort to ensure that every child has an equal learn more >
Letters to US ED
In an effort to participate in state and national efforts around ESSA implementation, Partner for has made an effort to make both our opinion and our advice publicly available. To the extent useful, Partners for has taken several opportunities to submit formal comments.
To that end, learn more >
Posted in Accountability & Governance, Engagement, ESSA, National Work, Public Comment