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 Congress Weighs Federal Footprint as ESSA Rolls Out
Oversight hearings on Capitol Hill highlight some divisions between lawmakers on the best way to implement the new education law.
Andrew Ujifusa, March 8, 2016
4 min read
Students Cindy Chen, left, and Rendy Zhong practice reading in a classroom at Southside Elementary School, in Columbus, Ind. The school is part of a district that practices universal design for learning, an instructional framework that seeks to open up multiple routes to learning. It can touch on everything from teaching and assessment strategies to classroom design and the outline of the school day.
Students Cindy Chen, left, and Rendy Zhong practice reading in a classroom at Southside Elementary School, in Columbus, Ind. The school is part of a district that practices universal design for learning, an instructional framework that seeks to open up multiple routes to learning. It can touch on everything from teaching and assessment strategies to classroom design and the outline of the school day.
Clay Lomneth for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA Spotlights Strategy to Reach Diverse Learners
An instructional framework called universal design for learning, or UDL, which supports multiple ways to teach lessons, has found a niche in the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Christina A. Samuels, February 23, 2016
6 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act Military Career Testing Could Get ESSA Boost
As the state testing landscape shifts with the Every Student Succeeds Act, the military could see greater access for its optional aptitude test and career-exploration program.
February 23, 2016
5 min read
Maritza Fabian, a 3rd grader at Rose Hill Elementary School in the Adams 14 school district in Commerce City, Colo., attends a Spanish class last September. The district is under a federal compliance agreement to correct discrimination, including against bilingual students and staff.
Maritza Fabian, a 3rd grader at Rose Hill Elementary School in the Adams 14 school district in Commerce City, Colo., attends a Spanish class last September. The district is under a federal compliance agreement to correct discrimination, including against bilingual students and staff.
Nathan W. Armes for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act ELL Advocates Hopeful and Wary of New Federal K-12 Law
The new law will bring a number of changes to ELL policy that has some advocates and educators worried about the 5 million and growing population of English-learners.
Corey Mitchell, January 5, 2016
3 min read
Students point to the beginning of a musical measure during a band class last September at East Middle School in Tullahoma, Tenn.
Students point to the beginning of a musical measure during a band class last September at East Middle School in Tullahoma, Tenn.
Josh Anderson for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act Arts Learning Keeps Toehold in ESSA
Unlike earlier proposals in Congress, the new law includes language that cements states' obligation to support arts education.
Jaclyn Zubrzycki, January 5, 2016
2 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act NCLB Rewrite Sets New Path on School Research
The Every Student Succeeds Act takes a more flexible, more nuanced approach to assessing the research evidence for educational programs and policies.
Sarah D. Sparks, January 5, 2016
7 min read
Students at SPARK! Discovery Preschool, in Frederick, Colo., work on an exercise designed to help them become proficient with numbers and counting.
Students at SPARK! Discovery Preschool, in Frederick, Colo., work on an exercise designed to help them become proficient with numbers and counting.
Nathan W. Armes for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act Law Adds to Pre-K's Stature as Federal-State Priority
The Every Student Succeeds Act locks into law a $250 million grant program to support states as they develop preschool programs and directs money to state early-childhood literacy efforts.
Christina A. Samuels, January 5, 2016
3 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act States, Districts to Call Shots on Turnarounds Under ESSA
The new federal K-12 law still requires states to identify their worst-performing schools, but states and districts have great leeway in how to turn them around.
Daarel Burnette II, January 5, 2016
4 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act School Systems Get More Say on STEM Education
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states and districts get more leeway—and more options—on funding STEM programs.
Liana Loewus, January 5, 2016
2 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA Reins In, Reshapes Federal Role in Literacy
The new program is smaller and less prescriptive than Reading First, and it can be applied to students of all ages.
Liana Loewus, January 5, 2016
2 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act Funding Flexibility Enhanced Under New K-12 Law
ESSA, the newly reauthorized version of the ESEA, makes changes in how schools can use money set aside for economically disadvantaged students.
Andrew Ujifusa, January 5, 2016
6 min read
Kindergarten teacher Jamie Landahl guides her students in a read-aloud activity at Ruby Duncan Elementary School in Las Vegas.
Kindergarten teacher Jamie Landahl guides her students in a read-aloud activity at Ruby Duncan Elementary School in Las Vegas.
Tiffany Brown Anderson/Redux for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA Loosens Reins on Teacher Evaluations, Qualifications
The Every Student Succeeds Act could embolden some states to revise or abandon their current methods for rating teachers.
Stephen Sawchuk, January 5, 2016
8 min read
The Every Student Succeeds Act was signed by President Barack Obama on Dec. 10. The latest revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it aims to scale back the hands-on federal role in K-12 education and enhance the authority of states and districts.
The Every Student Succeeds Act was signed by President Barack Obama on Dec. 10. The latest revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it aims to scale back the hands-on federal role in K-12 education and enhance the authority of states and districts.
Evan Vucci/AP
Every Student Succeeds Act Under ESSA, States, Districts to Share More Power
The Every Student Succeeds Act, the latest version of the nation’s main K-12 law, aims to scale back the hands-on federal role in elementary and secondary education.
Alyson Klein, January 5, 2016
7 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA Law Broadens Definition of School Success
The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to measure at least one nonacademic factor, such as student engagement, when tracking schools' performance.
Evie Blad, January 5, 2016
7 min read