On Monday, January 11, the U.S. Department of Education held the first of its two stakeholder meetings, soliciting advice and recommendations from interested parties, on the implementation and operation of programs under Title I, as States and LEAs begin the transition from NCLB to ESSA. NAfME’s Senior Regulatory Policy Advisor, Lynn Tuttle, provided guidance to the U.S. Department of Education during the Department’s public call for input.
NAfME’s Testimony
Held at the Department of Education’s D.C. headquarters, Tuttle provided public comment on non-regulatory guidance and reporting suggestions regarding Title I of the ESSA. Her comments focused on how ESSA can support the goal of high quality music education for all of our nation’s students, referencing NAfME’s list of ESSA non-regulatory and guidance “asks.” NAfME’s recommended guidance and asks included examples on how music and arts can support Title I Targeted Assistance programs and on how music education, in particular music performances and concerts, can be part of a school’s offerings for parental engagement. In addition, NAfME presented a request that the Department report out on music educators who are asked to teach outside of music during the school day (one of the Title I reporting requirements), as well as to consider that states track access to music and arts education as one of the new state-level accountability measures.
Tuttle’s testimony at the ESSA Public Input Meeting can be found here; her testimony begins at 1:07:57. A full transcription of her remarks may also be found below. The Department of Education has scheduled an additional meeting for further public remarks on Tuesday, January 19 in Los Angeles, CA.
Lynn Tuttle is the newly appointed Senior Regulatory Policy Advisor for the National Association for Music Education. Her duties will include supporting state level music education associations in the areas of standards, assessment, teacher evaluation, professional development and the interconnection of federal and state policy. Lynn most recently served as the Director of Arts Education at the Arizona Department of Education. Her duties for the state of Arizona included acting as a liaison to the state’s arts educators; providing professional development in Arizona’s Academic Arts Standards, including the revision of the standards in 2015; arts assessment and arts integration; and arts education data collection. She is a sought after keynote presenter and workshop leader, including keynote appearances for the States of Iowa (2014) and Maine (2015) and the 2013 Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education conference. Lynn is the Past-President for the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education and was one of the leaders of the revision of the National Core Arts Standards.
- NAfME ESSA Non-Reg Guidance and Reporting Requests
- Full Testimony & Transcription of Lynn Tuttle’s Remarks
- USDOE – ESSA Public Meeting, January 11, 2016
- Ed Week: Alyson Klein, “Advocates, Educators Offer Ed. Dept. Conflicting Advice on Regulating ESSA,” Education Week, January 11, 2016.
Ronny Lau, Legislative Policy Advisor, Center for Advocacy, Policy, and Constituency Engagement, January 14, 2016. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)
