The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) grants states more authority over their school accountability systems than did No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Hence, states have an opportunity to design improved school rating systems. Three of the most important improvements that states can make are to ensure that their accountability systems: (1) Assign annual ratings to schools that are clear and intuitive for parents, educators, and the public; (2) Encourage schools to focus on all students, not just their low performers; and (3) Fairly measure and judge all schools, including those with high rates of poverty. States must describe their proposed accountability systems in "consolidated state plans" that they submit to the U.S. Department of Education for review. The first deadline was in April 2017, when sixteen states and the District of Columbia submitted their plans. The remaining thirty-four states, plus the territories, will submit theirs by the second deadline in September 2017. This report examines how well the first seventeen plans fulfill the three objectives. The data in this report reflect information that was publicly available as of July 16, 2017, compiled from state plans as published on the U.S. Department of Education website.