Council Of Chief State School Officers

Programs: The council of chief state school officers (ccsso) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the district of columbia, the department of defense education activity, the bureau of indian education and the five u. S. Extra-state jurisdictions. As an organization, we are committed to ensuring that all students participating in our public education system -- regardless of background -- graduate prepared for college, careers, and life. To realize this, ccsso brings together dedicated leaders and exceptional ideas to achieve measurable progress for every student. Our work includes supporting states as they implement new standards, reinvent systems that develop effective teachers, explore and adopt new technologies, and navigate political turmoil-all in the pursuit of helping students succeed. Successes include: *in 2015, under the leadership of wisconsin state superintendent and ccsso board president tony evers, ccsso made a renewed commitment to equity in education, specifically focusing work on ways we can eliminate achievement and opportunity gaps across the spectrum. *ccsso advocated for the passage of the every student succeeds act, which was signed into law in december 2015. The new law provides a long-term, stable federal policy that gives states additional flexibility and encourages states and schools to innovate, while at the same time holding us accountable for results. *as a membership organization, ccsso is taking the lead to offer support to all states as they implement the every student succeeds act. No matter what type of support a state needs, ccsso stands ready to help each of its member states, whether it is through our existing networks or more intensive, one-on-one technical assistance. *ccsso released equity starts early: how chiefs will build high-quality early education in march 2016 to demonstrate the progress states have made in improving early childhood education as well as critical actions we must take as a country to continue to meet the needs of all children at the earliest ages. *ccsso continues to help states in the implementation of higher standards and better assessments. In 2016, ccsso published a path of progress: state and district stories of high standards implementation, which highlights best practices around implementation at state and local levels. *ccsso's career readiness initiative has grown to support more than 40 states across the country to improve career readiness in k-12 education. Through a new partnership with the jpmorgan chase new skills for youth initiative in 2016, ccsso has been able to provide more intensive support to at least 24 states and d. C. In creating and implementing plans to advance career readiness. *ccsso's network for transforming educator preparation (ntep) expanded to 14 states and increased its number of national collaborators. A 50-state scan of teacher preparation policies shows that ntep states have made great progress over the past year in building educator preparation data systems. *ccsso, in partnership with the center for great teachers and leaders, provided support to all states as they developed new equity plans to ensure every child has access to a highly effective teacher. *ccsso's innovation lab network continues to support states in advancing innovations around competency-based education and personalized learning. One state, new hampshire, secured federal approval to pilot the use of locally-developed performance-based assessments for purpose of assessment and accountability, and expanded their pilot from four to eight districts. *ccsso has partnered with state chief information officers to create the student privacy & data security discussion framework for chiefs to use in ensuring their state agency has the necessary policies in place to protect student information. *ccsso has expanded its support to states around open educational resources (oer) practices at state and district levels. We recently created the www. Ccsso. Org/oer website to share stories, research and best practices.