The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), enacted in 2015, emphasizes using evidence to identify effective educational practices and gives states more control to address local needs. It requires federal funds to support programs proven to enhance student outcomes through rigorous study designs or well-supported rationales.
To enhance teaching and learning, we recommend striving to prioritize interventions that meet the highest level of evidence, as these interventions are likely to deliver the most significant benefits. Use this guide to ensure compliance, meet national and state guidelines, and maximize your educational impact.
At a Glance:
All 50 states require interventions, practices, and programs to be evidence-based.
There is variability in how states define evidence-based, with some being stricter than others:
- 34 states generally encourage the use of evidence-based programs
- 16 states define evidence-based as an ESSA Level IV or better
- 1 state defines evidence-based as an ESSA Level III or better
Key takeaways for Title I and School Improvement Funds:
All 50 states require interventions, practices, and programs funded by Title I funds to be evidence-based.
Roughly 2.5 million students attend a K-12 public school that their state has identified for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) under Title I.
84% of states require at least an ESSA Level III level of evidence for an intervention to be purchased with Title I, Section 1003(a) funds.
There is variability in how states define evidence-based requirements for using Title I Section 1003(a) school improvement funds, with some being stricter than others:
- 6 states generally encourage the use of evidence-based programs
- 2 states define evidence-based as an ESSA Level IV or better
- 41 state define evidence-based as an ESSA Level III or better
- 2 states define evidence-based as an ESSA Level II or better
Detailed ESSA Requirements by State
State Evidence Guidelines |
Minimum ESSA Level Required for Title I Funds |
Minimum ESSA Level Required for School Improvement Funds |
|---|---|---|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Evidence-Based |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Evidence-Based |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Kansas |
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Evidence-Based |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level II |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Evidence-Based |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Evidence-Based |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level IV |
|
|
Pennsylvania |
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level IV |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Level III |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level III |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Evidence-Based |
|
|
Evidence-Based |
Level II |
Research methods. To identify the evidence requirements for each state, researchers used a targeted search strategy. First, researchers conducted a seperate online search for each state using the terms “[State] department of education Title I 1 1003a school improvement funds evidence ESSA”. Next, they reviewed several different documents that were generated from the search using key words (i.e., evidence, school improvement, CSI, TRI, 1111(c)(4)(D), 1111(d)(3)(A()(i)(I), ESEA, ESSA, research). Only documents published by state education agencies were used to identify the evidence requirements; these documents included professional development resources, funding applications or requests for proposal, strategic plans, ESSA plans submitted to the federal government, and board meeting notes. Researchers recorded relevant primary source text regarding evidence requirements and criteria for being identified as CSI or TSI schools in need of improvement. All the cases were reviewed by a second researcher to arrive at an agreement of the evidence requirements and disputed cases were discussed among three researchers until consensus was achieved. The requirements were reviewed in August 2024, so the information is subject to change as new information becomes available.
If you have different information than what is included here, please contact the research team at evidenceservices@instructure.com.