Every Student Succeeds Act Becomes Law

President Obama has signed in to law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a long-overdue update of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  The new law replaces the controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The ESSA provides federal guidelines for a variety of public education activities particularly in the areas of accountability and reporting, quality assessments, and teacher performance. An overview of the legislation can be found on the Alliance for Excellent Education website.

Educators and others who laud the measure cite its intent to localize education reform and return decision-making and flexibility to the state level.

"ESSA provides support to high schools where one-third or more of students do not graduate. It also provides support to schools with groups of traditionally underserved students who consistently demonstrate low performance. The law requires data on student achievement and graduation rates to be reported as well as action in response to that data. However, unlike NCLB, states, districts, and schools will determine what support and interventions are implemented." Alliance for Excellent Education