Welcome to the ESSA Toolkit for Principals

Every day, decisions are being made by policymakers at the federal, state, and district level that impact school leaders and students. With the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), school leaders like you have the opportunity to work collaboratively with state legislators to develop and influence program funding in order to provide the highest quality education for your students.

For that very reason, NASSP has developed the ESSA Toolkit for Principals to empower you to be influencers throughout the implementation process. Use this toolkit as your resource as you reach out and urge your federal and local legislators to fully fund and implement the law.

ESSA Fact Sheets

The ESSA Fact Sheets will help school leaders become experts on the issues that will most affect the practices in their schools. Utilize the fact sheets to get up to speed on what each title includes and opportunities for you to advocate.

Model Legislation

Use the model legislation to create new state policy. The legislation can be tailored to directly support principals and school leaders in your state.

Communication Kit

The toolkit has sample letters, op-eds, social media posts, and tutorials on how to tell your story. Use this as a starting point when you are reaching out to the media.

State Websites

The law requires principal involvement in the planning process for each state. To get involved, you can visit your state department of education ESSA page. We have provided all available links, by state, here.