School Counselor Advocacy Effect: ISCA Involvement with ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act)

In December, members of ISCA were invited to a round table discussion at the Iowa Department of Education with Director Ryan Wise and other Iowa DOE staff. The Iowa DOE staff shared with us the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) draft and we discussed how school counselors play a role in student academic success. ESSA is what was previously known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). States will submit their plans to the federal government. In this meeting, we discussed the integral role that school counselors have in schools K-12. The group advocated for lower ratios to allow school counselors the ability to help students be college and career ready as well as the importance of social-emotional health for students to be successful in school. We described the role that school counselors can play to ensure that all students are able to achieve.

The Iowa DOE described the ESSA plan as an overarching document to shape education in our schools across Iowa. The implementation of the ESSA plan will be done locally. With that being said, it is imperative that school counselors familiarize themselves with the Iowa’s ESSA plan and give feedback on the draft plan. Iowa’s ESSA draft plan can be found at: https://www.educateiowa.gov/sites/files/ed/documents/Iowa_ESSA_Draft_Plan_January2017.pdf

The Iowa DOE is currently taking feedback on the plan. Information on ESSA Statewide Tours can be found at: https://www.educateiowa.gov/pk-12/every-student-succeeds-act/essa-january-2017-statewide-tour. Participants can listen in on sessions if not able to attend in person. Please attend a session if possible.

Feedback can also be submitted via email at ESSA@iowa.gov or by mail: Iowa Department of Education, Attn: Deputy Director David Tilly/ESSA Feedback, Grimes State Office Building, 400 E. 14th St., Des Moines, IA 50319-0146. The deadline to submit feedback is on February 15.

The ESSA plan will shape education in our state for years to come. It is important for school counselors to advocate for their place in the plan with local school administration.

The group of ISCA members who attended the meeting will be working on a feedback plan to submit to the DOE. Please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions.