States skip social-emotional learning for accountability under ESSA — but that doesn't mean it's not in their plans

The Every Student Succeeds Act’s notorious fifth indicator left the door wide open for states to measure student achievement in ways other than academic, but when it came time to choose, social-emotional learning skills were largely ignored.

That’s according to an analysis by Education Week, which looked at all the ESSA plans handed in to (though not all approved by) the U.S. Department of Education. Although several states did include school climate surveys, most chose measurements like chronic absenteeism and college and career readiness to paint their more “holistic” vision of student success...