CCSSO stands for Council of Chief State School Officers, a nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in which jurisdictions?

• A. The states and the District of Columbia
• B. The states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions
• C. Local school districts
• D. Federal education agencies

Answer: (B)

The question is asking who makes up the Council of Chief State School Officers. CCSSO is a nonprofit organization composed of the leaders of state elementary and secondary education agencies. That means its members include not just the states themselves and the District of Columbia, but also additional jurisdictions that work closely with state-level education leadership: the Department of Defense Education Activity, which runs schools for military families, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions (the U.S. territories). So the group isn’t limited to states alone; it expands to include these other jurisdictions as well.

Local school districts aren’t members of CCSSO, since the organization focuses on state-level education leadership rather than individual districts. It’s also not a federal education agency, though it collaborates with and informs federal education policy.