Technical Assistance
As outlined in the August 2016 Dear Colleague Letter on ESSA Transition Technical Assistance and Resource, the Office of State Support (OSS), in collaboration with other OESE programs, offers technical assistance across grant programs to address State needs through one-on-one individualized support for States to problem solve specific State needs; through peer-to-peer interactions that provide opportunities for collaboration with peer States, communities of practice, and interstate working groups around relevant issues and challenges; and through building awareness of information and resources in response to needs identified in the field through ongoing guidance and technical support to all States.
Technical Assistance Resources
The sections below provide links to technical assistance resources and supports across multiple priority areas. Priorities align with consolidated State plans and support State capacity building, standards and assessments, teachers and leaders, accountability and support, and unique student populations. Highlighted resources include websites, webinars, guidance documents, resources, and tools created by the Department and other technical assistance partners. Click on each topic to explore available resources and supports.
“New English Learner Resource Page is now available”
Consolidated State Plans
These resources provide assistance to States for preparing and submitting consolidated State plans. Additional information about ESSA consolidated State plans may be found on the Department’s ESSA Consolidated State Plans webpage
Tools
- Revised Consolidated State Plan Template
- Crosswalk of Consolidated State Plan Requirements
- Press Release
- Fact Sheet
- Secretary DeVos’ letter regarding updated consolidated State plans (March 13, 2017)
- Secretary DeVos’ letter to States regarding consolidated State plans (February 10, 2017)
Presentations
- Webinar presentation: Revised State Plan Template (March 15, 2017)
TA Partners
Consultation, Performance Management, Capacity Building
These resources provide assistance to States and school districts to enhance systems and build capacity, including tools to build strong performance management systems, plan for sustainability, communicate and engage with stakeholders, and leverage federal funds to implement education programs.
Tools
- Dear Colleague Letter on Stakeholder Engagement (June 22, 2016)
- Reform Integration Framework and Resource Guide
- Sustainability Rubric and Accompanying Resources
- Great State Leaders: A Competency Framework for Growing Talent in a State Education Agency
- School Turnaround Performance Management Toolkit
- Strategic Communications Resources
Presentations
TA Partners
Academic Assessments
These resources can help education leaders address common challenges related to challenging academic standards, including support for English Learners, teacher professional development around standards/lesson planning, and the development of high-quality assessments.
Tools
- Title I, Part A Assessment Regulation
- Title I, Part B Assessment Regulation
- Fact Sheet for Final Regulations: Title I, Part A and Part B
- Presentation: Assessment Regulations, Title I, Parts A and B (January 11, 2017)
- Use of Federal Funds for Assessments Guidance
- Assessment Peer Review
- President’s Testing Action Plan
- Assessment Design Toolkit (from the Reform Support Network)
- A Quality Control Toolkit for Student Learning Objectives (from the Reform Support Network)
- English Learner Tool Kit
TA Partners
- Center on Standards and Assessments Implementation
- Center on College and Career Readiness and Success
- National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition
Accountability Systems
These resources can help improve the effectiveness of differentiated recognition, accountability, and support systems designed to close achievement gaps for all students
Tools
- Long-Term Goal-Setting: Examples and Development Considerations For Use by State Educational Agencies in Addressing ESEA Requirements
- Timeline for identification of schools for support and improvement
- English Learner Tool Kit
TA Partners
Archived Information
Evidence-based Interventions and Supports for School Improvement
These resources address the identification and implementation of evidence-based school improvement strategies and interventions designed to support schools designated for improvement.
Regulations and Guidance
- Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments (September 16, 2016)
- Education Department General Administrative Regulations: Technical Revisions Fact Sheet (October 16, 2017)
- ESSA Assessment Use of Funds Guidance (December 7, 2016)
Communities of Practice
- School Turnaround Performance Management Toolkit (from the Reform Support Network)
Resources
- Needs Assessment Guidebook: Supporting the Development of District and School Needs Assessments
- Evidence-Based Practices in School Improvement– These profiles of promising practice focus on understanding how each profiled site followed steps of an evidence-based decision-making cycle (as defined in the Department’s non-regulatory guidance for strengthening education investments).
- Synthesis of Resources– This synthesis of resources presents a literature base that can be used when starting to research evidence-based practices for school improvement.
- Profiles of School Turnaround Strategies in Selected Sites (School Improvement Grants)
- Championing Effective Instruction: A Discussion Paper on State Innovations for Prioritizing and Improving Instruction in Turnaround Schools (School Improvement Grants)
Tools
- Supporting Decision Making for Evidence-based Literacy Interventions (National Title I Conference presentation, February 2018)
- What Works Clearinghouse: Find What Works
- School Turnaround Performance Management Toolkit (from the Reform Support Network)
Webinars
- ESEA Sec. 1003 Funding for School Improvement & ESEA Sec. 1003A Direct Student Services Webinar (July 18, 2018)
- SEA Webinar Using Evidence in State Education Agencies to Strengthen Education Investments and Achieve Student Outcomes (November 16, 2016 )
- LEA Series Webinars:
- LEA Series Webinar 3: Measuring Success: Using Evidence to Examine and Reflect on What Works (December 08, 2016)
- LEA Series Webinar 2: Ensuring Success: Using Evidence to Plan for and Implement Interventions to Achieve Student Outcomes (December 01, 2016)
- LEA Series Webinar 1: Planning for Success: Using Evidence to Identify Local Needs & Select Relevant Evidence-Based Interventions (November 17, 2016)
TA Partners
Supporting Excellent Educators
These resources can help education leaders address supports for teachers and leaders, including strategies to ensure that all students have access to excellent educators and recruiting, preparing, training, and supporting high quality teachers, principals and other school leaders.
- ESSA Title II, Part A Guidance – Supporting Educators
- ESSA Webinar Audio Recording (October 13, 2016)
- Equitable Access to Excellent Educators
- Promoting More Equitable Access to Effective Teachers: Problems and Root Causes (from the Reform Support Network)
- Equitable Access Implementation Playbook (from Center on Great Teachers and Leaders)
- Crafting a New Generation of Leaders: A Discussion Paper on State Initiatives for Developing Effective Turnaround Principals (from the Reform Support Network)
- Teachers & Leaders Community of Practice Resources (from the Reform Support Network)
TA Partners
- Center on Great Teachers and Leaders
- Equitable Access Support Network
- Regional Comprehensive Centers
Support for All Students
These resources are geared toward helping States support all student populations, (including English Learners, Students with Disabilities, Children in Foster Care, Homeless Youth, Migrant Students, and Recently-Arrived Youth), and social-emotional and engagement supports for all students.
Tools
- Serving All Students: With a Focus on English Learners and Children with Disabilities (National Title I Conference presentation, February 2018)
- Resource Guide: Accountability for English Learners Under the ESSA
- Title III English Learner Guidance
- ESSA Webinar Audio Recording (October 5, 2016)
- Dear Colleague Letter: English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents
- Students in Foster Care Program Page (includes Guidance and Toolkit)
- Homeless Students Program Page (includes Guidance)
- Early Learning Guidance
- Title IV, Part A Guidance – Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program
- Improving Outcomes for All Students: Strategies and Considerations to Increase Student Diversity
- Recently Arrived English Learners: A Guide for States
- ELSTAR User Guide
TA Partners
- The National Center for Homeless Education
- The Neglected or Delinquent Education Technical Assistance Center
- Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes
- National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments
- Equity Assistance Centers
Fiscal and Program Management
These resources provide guidance applicable to cross-cutting requirements around fiscal and program management of ESSA Title programs
Tools
- Financial Transparency and Reporting Readiness Assessment Tool, and District Example (DISCLAIMER)
- School-level Resource Allocation: Communicating for Transparency and Equity (National Title I Conference presentation, February 2018)
- Title I Allocation Formulas: A Discussion of the Factors that Affect Allocation Amounts, Including Why School District Allocations Changes Across Years (National Title I Conference presentation, February 2018)
- Ombudsmen and ESEA Equitable Services: Building Partnerships Between SEAs, LEAs, and Private School Officials (National Title I Conference presentation, February 2018)
- Fiscal Changes & Equitable Services Guidance
- Schoolwide Guidance
- State Educational Agency Procedures for Adjusting Basic, Concentration, Targeted, and Education Finance Incentive Grant Allocations Determined by the U.S. Department of Education
- Applying the Title I and School Improvement Hold-Harmless Requirements when Allocating
- Funds to Newly Opening and Significantly Expanding Charter School LEAs
- Local Educational Agency Identification and Selection of School Attendance Areas and Schools and Allocation of Title I Funds to Those Areas and Schools
- The Community Eligibility Provision and Selected Requirements Under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as Amended
- Title I Fiscal Issues: Maintenance of Effort; Comparability; Supplement, not Supplant; Carryover; Consolidating Funds in Schoolwide Programs; and Grantback Requirements
- Title IX, Part E Uniform Provisions, Subpart 1—Private Schools
- Serving Preschool Children Through Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as Amended (April 16, 2012)
TA Partners
Data and Reporting
These resources provide guidance for cross-cutting data and reporting requirements for ESSA Title programs.
Tools
- Instructional Improvement & Data Systems Community of Practice (from the Reform Support Network)
TA Partners
Equitable Access to Excellent Educators
These resources provide guidance for cross-cutting equitable access to excellent educators requirements for ESSA Title programs.
Support for English Learners
These resources contain information about requirements related to English Learners(ELs) in the ESEA, and provides links to resources to support States in developing and implementing programs and services for ELs.
If you have questions about any information on this page, please contact OSS.TechnicalAssistance@ed.gov or your State contact.
OSS Meeting and Conference Presentations
The section below links to presentations that OSS staff have presented at meetings and conferences hosted by either the U.S. Department of Education or OSS’ partner organizations. (As appropriate, each of the resources below has also been included in the relevant priority area listed under this page’s “Technical Assistance Resources” header.) If you have any questions about these resources, please reach out to your OSS State contacts.
2018 National Title I Conference | February 8-11, 2018
2018 National Title I Conference | February 8-11, 2018
Staff from the Department, including OSS, the Office of Special Education Programs, the Office of Non-public Education, and the Office of the General Counsel, presented nine sessions at the 2018 National Title I Conference, hosted by the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators.
- National Title I State Directors’ Meeting (2/7/18)
- Serving All Students: With a Focus on English Learners and Children with Disabilities (2/8/18)
- Ombudsmen and ESEA Equitable Services: Building Partnerships Between SEAs, LEAs, and Private School Officials (2/8/18)
- Parent Priorities for School and District Report Cards (2/8/18)
- Supporting Decision Making for Evidence-based Literacy Interventions (2/9/18)
- School-level Resource Allocation: Communicating for Transparency and Equity (2/9/18)
- Title I Allocation Formulas: A Discussion of the Factors that Affect Allocation Amounts, Including Why School District Allocations Change Across Years (2/9/18)
- Updates from the U.S. Department of Education (2/10/18
- The (Juris) Doctors Are In: A Lawyer’s Prescription for Navigating the ESSA (2/10/18)
Accountability and Support for English Learners| July 31, 2018
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of State Support (OSS) hosted the Accountability and Support for English Learners Peer Convening for state accountability and English learner leaders. Interactive sessions focused on applications and analyses states can conduct using a new user-friendly statistical tool, The English Learner State Accountability Resource (ELSTAR), designed to support SEA leaders in making data-based decisions related to ESSA provisions and checking the validity of their ELP indicator, as well as states sharing strategies for monitoring, reporting, and assisting districts in meeting ELP goals.
State Assessment Peer Review Seminar | August 1-2, 2018
An assessment peer review seminar was held in Washington, DC on August 1 and 2, 2018. The seminar was focused on the updated guide for State Assessment Peer review, including the peer review of English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessments. Panel discussions that involved assessment experts (including many assessment peer reviewers) on a variety of salient topics were held. A complete summary of the seminar materials, including handouts, summary notes, participant list and video of all sessions are available on the meeting website.
2018 Combined Federal Programs Meeting | December 6-7, 2018
The Office of State Support and the Office of Special Education Programs hosted the 2018 Combined Federal Programs Meeting in December 2018. The theme for the 2018 conference was “Improving Student Achievement through Analysis, Evaluation, and Accountability”, and the conference featured presenters from the U.S. Department of Education, State educational agencies, and partner organizations.
- Plenary Session: Welcome and Updates from Department Leaders
- Breakout Session: ESSA Report Card Design Challenge Lessons Learned
- Breakout Session: Identifying and Addressing Student Needs: Meeting Local Needs with Evidence
- Breakout Session: Evaluating State Accountability Systems: Refining Approaches through Reflection
- Breakout Session: Improving Achievement of Struggling Readers
- Breakout Session: English Learner Updates
- Breakout Session: Sharing Data to Support Students in Foster Care
- Breakout Session Monitoring and Enforcing Equitable Services
- Breakout Session: Leveraging ESEA Funds to Support Educator Equity Planning
- Plenary Session: Policy Updates
- Plenary Session: Monitoring, Technical Assistance, and Report Card Updates
- Breakout Session: Implementation Strategies for Supporting CSI and TSI Schools
- Breakout Session: Closing Gaps for Students with Disabilities through Intentional Systems Alignment
- Breakout Session: Using Financial Transparency Data to Inform Resource Allocation
- Breakout Session: Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program: Overview & Updates
- Plenary Session: Meeting Reflections & Next Steps
2019 National ESEA Conference | January 30–February 2, 2019
Staff from the Department—including staff from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Special Education Programs, the Office of Non-public Education, and the Office of the General Counsel—presented ten sessions at the 2019 National ESEA Conference, hosted by the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators:
- Leveraging Federal Funds to Meet Student Needs (1/30/19)
- Title IV, Part A: Opportunities for Student Support and Academic Enrichment (1/30/19)
- REAPing Rewards: Showcasing Promising Practices from Rural Schools and Districts (1/30/19)
- Migratory Children: Who They Are & How States Work Together to Meet the Unique Needs of This Population (1/30/19)
- Closing Equity Gaps Through Intentional Alignment: ESSA and SSIP Linkages (1/30/19)
- Report Cards Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as Amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (1/31/19)
- Supporting English Learners Under the ESEA (1/31/19)
- Equitable Services Updates (1/31/19)
- Updates from the U.S. Department of Education (2/1/19)
- Title I, Part A Supplement Not Supplant (2/1/19)
OSS Technical Assistance Networks
- State Support Network – The State Support Network is a four-year technical assistance initiative to support States’ efforts to achieve significant improvements in student outcomes, scale up effective systemic approaches and practices within and across States and districts, and identify and share evidence-based activities to facilitate learning across States and districts.
- Equitable Access Support Network – The Equitable Access Support Network (EASN) offers collective and individualized technical assistance (TA) and resources to all 50 States, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the Bureau of Indian Education. The EASN, as a partner in the Equitable Access Consortium, provides assistance to States as they put in place strategies to ensure equitable access to excellent educators for all students.
- Reform Support Network – The Reform Support Network (RSN) is a partnership with the U.S. Department of Education to provide collective and individualized technical assistance (TA) and resources to State grantees of the Race to the Top program.
Technical Assistance Partners
OESE supports numerous technical assistance providers, including technical assistance networks, with the Comprehensive Centers and other partners Comprehensive Centers and other partners to leverage provide content expertise and resources to effectively address State grantee needs and assist with implementation challenges of federal programs across in key reform program areas. Please visit partner websites to learn more about the resources and supports available.
- Click Here for a list of OESE technical assistance partners websites.
Request Technical Assistance
We are committed to working with States to explore available technical assistance support. For State educational agency staff that have technical assistance needs, please reach out to your State contacts or your Regional Comprehensive Center
