Earlier this month, President Obama signed the newest version of the Elementary and Secondary Schools Education Act, which first became part our national legislative agenda in 1965. The newly titled “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA) rewrites the previous “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) and provides a number of shifts in federal education policy that loosen controls at the federal level in favor of state centered oversight of school performance. Most notably ESSA:
Click here to see a full summary of the changes check out the changes in this document developed by the bipartisan Senate Committee who sponsored the bill.
On the flip side, some critics of the new law worry that some states will fail to live up to the challenge of educating all students and the needs of students who are most vulnerable will be ignored. This excerpt from a Washington Post article sums up the problem:
We actually have some experience in how education systems operate in the absence of accountability enforced from above. Before No Child Left Behind, only 29 states had real accountability systems; 11 states did not disaggregate by race at all; only 22 states reported graduation rates by high school. What will happen with the end of federal nagging? “We’ll continue to see some high-flying states doing really creative, good things for students,” concludes education researcher Chad Aldeman. “But we’ll see a lot more just kind of getting by and doing the bare minimum, particularly when local politics and inertia prevent state leaders from pursuing bold changes on behalf of disadvantaged students.”
The true implications of any policy only come to light during implementation. It is an exciting time for our work with new opportunities to engage in partnerships aimed at building the most efficient systems for supporting all students!
On the flip side, some critics of the new law worry that some states will fail to live up to the challenge of educating all students and the needs of students who are most vulnerable will be ignored. This excerpt from a Washington Post article sums up the problem:
We actually have some experience in how education systems operate in the absence of accountability enforced from above. Before No Child Left Behind, only 29 states had real accountability systems; 11 states did not disaggregate by race at all; only 22 states reported graduation rates by high school. What will happen with the end of federal nagging? “We’ll continue to see some high-flying states doing really creative, good things for students,” concludes education researcher Chad Aldeman. “But we’ll see a lot more just kind of getting by and doing the bare minimum, particularly when local politics and inertia prevent state leaders from pursuing bold changes on behalf of disadvantaged students.”
The true implications of any policy only come to light during implementation. It is an exciting time for our work with new opportunities to engage in partnerships aimed at building the most efficient systems for supporting all students!
 Blog post written by: Robin Detterman, Executive Director of School Partnerships |
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