Among the constituencies ED is looking for are members of state Boards of Education and local School Committees, paraprofessionals, teachers, historically underrepresented students, and the civil rights community.
There's a stated preference for potential Committee members with specific expertise in assessment and/or an understanding of school finance (supplement, not supplant). The two tasks for the Committee:
- Prepare proposed regulations that would update existing assessment regulations to reflect changes to section 1111(b)(2) of the ESEA, including:
- (i) Locally selected nationally recognized high school assessments, under section 1111(b)(2)(H);
- (ii) The exception for advanced mathematics assessments in 8th grade, under section 1111(b)(2)(C);
- (iii) Inclusion of students with disabilities in academic assessments, including alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, subject to a cap of 1.0% of students assessed for a subject;
- (iv) Inclusion of English learners in academic assessments and English language proficiency assessments; and
- (v) Computer-adaptive assessments.
- Prepare proposed regulations related to the requirement under section 1118(b) of the ESEA that title I, part A funds be used to supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal funds, specifically:
- (i) Regarding the methodology a local educational agency uses to allocate State and local funds to each title I school to ensure compliance with the supplement not supplant requirement; and
- (ii) The timeline for compliance. These topics are tentative. Topics may be added or removed as the process continues.
Individuals selected for either of these panels should be aware of this request:
"An individual selected as a negotiator will be expected to represent the interests of his or her constituency and participate in the negotiations in a manner consistent with the goal of developing proposed regulations on which the committee will reach consensus. If consensus is reached, the negotiator and, if applicable, his or her employer organization, is bound by the consensus and may not submit a negative comment through the public comment process on the resulting proposed regulation."
Many of us can easily think of potential candidates with the knowledge and skills ED is looking for to help shape ESSA regulations. Nominations for negotiators to serve on the committee must be received on or before Thursday, February 25, 2016. Details about how to submit nominations, as well as the dates, times, and locations of committee meetings are detailed in the notice.