Dive Brief:

• Tennessee has submitted its school success plan, focusing heavily on pathways to prepare students for college, career or military enlistment, and less on other factors like chronic absenteeism as a measure of school success.
• The plan also clearly outlines requirements for schools in the Achievement School District, saying schools that don't see sustained improvement must return to their local school districts after 10 years in the charter-run turnaround district. Entrance into the district will now be a "last resort," Chalkbeat reports, to give local districts more time to improve their schools before shipping them out. 
• Officials say the Every Student Succeeds Act has encouraged a focus on equity, and "not just by word only," in the state's schools.

Dive Insight:

There have been a lot of questions around how the election, and then subsequent efforts to repeal certain provisions of ESSA, would impact states' plans, but experts say impact will likely be minimal. Most states were planning to comply with the April 3 deadline, and thus were nearly done with their plans when changes were announced, though certainly many are taking advantage of the extra time to revise them.

What is yet to be seen, however, is how states will approach accountability around promoting equitable educational opportunities for all students in a state. Many worry that dropping the accountability standards, as well as a belief by some Republican leaders that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos does not actually need to approve state plans, will leave the door open for states to continue to perpetuate inequities for students of color, low-income students, and special needs or disabled students. But while Senate Education Committee Chair Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) himself acknowledged states don't always get it right, the permeating thought is they should be left to resolve these issues on their own.