Every Student Succeeds Act Collection

Inside the Every Student Succeeds Act

The year-end passage and signing of the Every Student Succeeds Act represents more than just a rare bipartisan agreement on the part of the nation’s chronically polarized policymakers. For the first time in more than a decade—and a half-century after enactment of the country’s main K-12 law—Congress has redefined the federal role in elementary and secondary education. And it’s done so in a way that aims to enhance the authority of states and school districts that had long chafed at the strictures of ESSA’s predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act. Now comes the really hard part: implementation. This special report on ESSA looks at what the law will mean for virtually every aspect of public schooling when it takes full effect in the 2017-18 academic year. Topics include accountability and testing, teacher quality, research, regulation, funding, early-childhood education, and thorny issues involving student groups that often lag behind their peers.

Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA Regulatory Machinery Starting to Crank Up
With the ink barely dry on the Every Student Succeeds Act, the U.S. Department of Education begins the tricky process of setting the course for implementation.
Alyson Klein, January 5, 2016
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4 min read
Seventh graders at Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington, Mass., review a PARCC practice test in March 2014 before the start of field-testing for the computer-based assessments.
Seventh graders at Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington, Mass., review a PARCC practice test in March 2014 before the start of field-testing for the computer-based assessments.
Gretchen Ertl for Education Week-File
Every Student Succeeds Act Will States Swap Standards-Based Tests for SAT, ACT?
An ESSA provision that lets states use college-entrance exams to measure student achievement could spur a profound shift in high school testing.
Catherine Gewertz, January 4, 2016
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5 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA's Flexibility on Assessment Elicits Qualms From Testing Experts
The Every Student Succeeds Act allows states and districts to cobble scores from interim assessments into a single, summative score, but some experts worry that will make the results less valid.
Catherine Gewertz, December 18, 2015
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5 min read
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