Every Student Succeeds Act: Ensuring Equitable Education for All
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) represents a pivotal moment in the landscape of K-12 education in the United States. As the latest iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s most important K-12 education law, ESSA embodies a commitment to providing all students with an equitable and excellent education. Passed in 2015, ESSA replaced the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, ushering in a new era of flexibility and accountability for states and school districts.
The Genesis of ESSA: Reauthorizing ESEA
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) into law in 1965, driven by the belief that "full educational opportunity" should be a "first national goal". From its inception, ESEA was a civil rights law. ESEA offered new grants to districts serving low-income students, federal grants for textbooks and library books, funding for special education centers, and scholarships for low-income college students. Additionally, the law provided federal grants to state educational agencies to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education.
Recognizing that NCLB's prescriptive requirements had become increasingly unworkable for schools and educators, the Obama administration joined a call from educators and families in 2010 to create a better law focused on fully preparing all students for success in college and careers.
ESSA reauthorizes the fifty-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 by replacing key requirements of the outdated No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. ESSA, a federal education law, creates a long-term, stable commitment to equal opportunity for all students. The new ESSA law provides states additional flexibility and encourages states and schools to innovate and build upon past success while at the same time, being accountable for students.
Key Provisions of ESSA: A Shift in Control
ESSA marks a significant shift in the federal government's role in education, granting states greater autonomy in setting standards, designing accountability systems, and implementing interventions. While retaining the annual standardized testing requirements of NCLB, ESSA empowers states to determine the weight of various indicators in their accountability systems, fostering a more nuanced approach to measuring school and student success.
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State Accountability Plans
States still have to submit accountability plans to the Education Department. These new ESSA plans will start in the 2017-18 school year. The names of peer-reviewers have to be made public. States can pick their own goals, both a big long-term goal, and smaller, interim goals. These goals must address: proficiency on tests, English-language proficiency, and graduation rates.
States need to incorporate at least four indicators into their accountability systems. The menu includes three academic indicators: proficiency on state tests, English-language proficiency, plus some other academic factor that can be broken out by subgroup, which could be growth on state tests.
States are required to add at least one additional indicator of a very different kind. Possibilities include: student engagement, educator engagement, access to and completion of advanced coursework, postsecondary readiness, school climate/safety, or whatever else the state thinks makes sense.
States have to figure in participation rates on state tests. High schools will be judged by basically the same set of indicators, except that graduation rates will have to be part of the mix.
Identifying and Supporting Low-Performing Schools
ESSA mandates that states identify and intervene in the bottom 5 percent of performers. For the bottom 5 percent of schools and for high schools with high dropout rates: Districts will work with teachers and school staff to come up with an evidence-based plan. States will monitor the turnaround effort. If schools continue to founder, after no more than four years the state will be required to step in with its own plan. A state could take over the school if it wanted, or fire the principal, or turn the school into a charter. Districts could also allow for public school choice out of seriously low-performing schools, but they have to give priority to the students who need it most.
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For schools where subgroups students are struggling: Schools have to come up with an evidence-based plan to help the particular group of students who are falling behind, such as minority students or those in special education. Districts must monitor these plans. If the school continues to fall short, the district would step in, though there’s no specified timeline.
Importantly, there’s also a provision calling for states and districts to come up with a “comprehensive improvement plan” in schools where subgroups are chronically underperforming, despite local interventions.
Testing Requirements
States still have to test students in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, and break out the data for whole schools, plus different “subgroups” of students (English-learners, students in special education, racial minorities, those in poverty). States are required to adopt “challenging” academic standards. Secretary of Education is expressly prohibited from forcing or even encouraging states to pick a particular set of standards (including the common core).
Flexibility and Innovation
ESSA empowers states and districts to innovate and build upon past successes. It supports local innovations, including evidence-based and place-based interventions developed by local leaders and educators. A new $1.6 billion block grant consolidates dozens of programs, including some involving physical education, Advanced Placement, school counseling, and education technology. Districts that get more than $30,000 have to spend at least 20 percent of their funding on at least one activity that helps students become well-rounded, and another 20 percent on at least one activity that helps students be safe and healthy.
ESSA offers states and districts several opportunities to provide students with advanced coursework, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual and concurrent enrollment programs, and early college high schools.
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Supporting Specific Student Populations
ESSA includes specific requirements that parents and communities can use to make their voices heard. Watch a special edition of Federal Flash, or download our fact sheet, to learn how ESSA supports states and districts in implementing personalized learning, a student-centered approach designed to help all students develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities that will prepare them for college, a career, and life.
In partnership with the National Indian Education Association, this fact sheet reviews several provisions that target the education needs of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students in ESSA.
Accountability for English-language learners moves from Title III (the English-language acquisition section of the ESEA) to Title I (where everyone else’s accountability is). The idea is to make accountability for those students a priority. States can include English-language learners’ test scores after they have been in the country a year, as under current law. During that first year, those students’ test scores won’t count toward a school’s rating, but ELLs will need to take both of the assessments, and have the results publicly reported. In the second year, the state has to incorporate ELLs’ results for both reading and math, using some measure of growth.
Teacher Quality
Under ESSA, states and districts are responsible for improving the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other school leaders. Notably, ESSA eliminates the highly qualified teacher (HQT) provision that existed under the No Child Left Behind Act. HQT required that students from low-income families and students of color not be taught by ineffective, inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers at higher rates than their peers.
The former Teacher Incentive Fund-now called the Teacher and School Leader Innovation Program-will provide grants to districts that want to try out performance pay and other teacher-quality improvement measures.
Title I: Improving Basic Programs
Title I of ESSA focuses on improving basic programs operated by state and local educational agencies. It addresses various aspects of education, including state assessments, education of migratory children, prevention and intervention for children and youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at-risk, and federal evaluation activities.
Funding Consolidation and Allocation
The bill consolidates funding for School Improvement Grants, which are aimed at turning around the lowest-performing schools, into the title I-A funding formula. (Title I-A funding supports the instructional needs of students from low-income families.) Specifically, the bill: (1) eliminates the standalone grant program, and (2) increases the proportion of title I-A funding that a state shall reserve for school improvement.
A state may reserve up to 3% of its title I-A funding to award grants for direct student services to geographically diverse LEAs that serve low-performing schools. An LEA shall use these grant funds to support direct student services including: (1) a student's enrollment and participation in academic courses not otherwise available at the student's school; (2) credit recovery and academic acceleration courses that lead to a regular high school diploma; (3) activities that assist students in successfully completing postsecondary level instruction and examinations that are accepted for credit at institutions of higher education; and (4) if applicable, transportation to allow a student enrolled in a low-performing school to transfer to another public school.
State Plans and Standards
Current law requires a state that receives title I-A funding to submit a state plan for approval by the Department of Education (ED). The bill specifies that a state plan must be reviewed by peer reviewers whose names are made public. The bill requires a state to demonstrate that such standards are aligned with: (1) the entrance requirements of the state's system of public higher education, and (2) relevant state career and technical education standards. A state's standards shall include at least three levels of achievement. A state shall not be required to submit its standards to ED for review or approval.
Assessment and Accountability
The bill maintains the requirement for a state to administer student assessments in reading, mathematics, and science, according to an established testing schedule. A state may administer either a single assessment or multiple assessments that result in a single, summative score. If specified requirements are met, a state may administer computer adaptive assessments. (Such assessments adapt to the examinee's ability level.) An LEA may administer a locally selected, nationally recognized assessment in lieu of the statewide high school assessment if specified standards and notice requirements are met.
The bill replaces AYP standards with a requirement for states to annually measure all students and individual subgroups by: (1) academic achievement as measured by state assessments; (2) for high schools, graduation rates; (3) for schools that are not high schools, a measure of student growth or another valid and reliable statewide indicator; (4) if applicable, progress in achieving English proficiency by English learners; and (5) at least one additional valid and reliable statewide indicator that allows for meaningful differentiation in school performance.
Based on this system, a state shall develop a methodology for identifying low-performing schools for support and improvement. Specifically, a state shall identify: (1) the lowest-performing 5% of schools receiving title I-A funds; (2) high schools failing to graduate at least one third of students; (3) schools that have been required to implement additional targeted support but have not improved within a specified timeframe, as determined by the state; and (4) additional statewide categories, at the state's discretion.
Supporting Students and Families
A state plan shall describe how the state will assist LEAs in: (1) providing early childhood education programs, (2) improving school conditions for learning and meeting the needs of students, and (3) serving homeless children and youths. In addition, a state plan must describe how the state will address disparities that result in low-income and minority students being taught by ineffective teachers at a disproportionate rate.
The bill expands parental involvement policies to involve other family members. An LEA may receive title I-A funds only if it conducts outreach to all children's parents and family members. Funds reserved for parent and family engagement shall be distributed with priority given to high-need schools.
Other Key Titles and Provisions
Beyond Title I, ESSA encompasses several other titles that address specific aspects of education:
- Title B: State Assessment Grants
- Title C: Education of Migratory Children
- Title D: Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-risk
- Title E: Flexibility for Equitable Per-pupil Funding
Opportunities and Challenges of ESSA
ESSA presents both opportunities and challenges for states and districts. The flexibility afforded by ESSA allows for tailored approaches to education that address local needs and priorities. However, this flexibility also carries the risk of inconsistencies in the quality of education and the potential for perpetuating historical inequities.
Concerns and Criticisms
People argue that ESSA's focus on state-level control and accountability has resulted in inconsistencies in the quality of education, which ultimately emphasizes pre-existing inequities that existed under the policies that were replaced by the ESSA, which are the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act. Other concerns that were raised were a shift in control which can result in further inconsistencies when it comes to enforcement which would possibly worsen current inequalities in regards to resource allocation for students who face various disadvantages. In addition to this, the ESSA has also been challenged for calling for an increase of out-of-field teaching, meaning teachers are being asked to instruct subjects outside of their specialization.
Positive Impacts
The ESSA has gained recognition for its advancement in educational equity and for promoting new strategies in regards to school improvements based on proven evidence. The ESSA has highlighted the importance of inclusive and culturally diverse leadership when it comes to improving the overall student achievement by requiring state funding for the development of leadership in underperforming schools. The ESSA has also led a shift in the direction towards evidence-based intervention in school improvement initiatives. By doing this, the ESSA has promoted more thoughtful decision-making and improved evaluation practices to guarantee the execution of proper education methods. By mandating complete needs evaluations and supporting interest groups involvement, the ESSA has made sure that improvement plans are constructed to fit the needs of the disadvantaged students and those from minority groups.
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