

On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law, making No Child Left Behind obsolete. Aside from an out-of-place posthumous pardon for the first black heavyweight champion boxer Jack Johnson, the ESSA is full of changes to the way schools operate. How does ESSA differ from NCLB and will it radically change education in the United States? We’ve pulled out the key pieces of information you need to know about this major education law.

Goodbye Common Core, Hello…?

Under ESSA, the federal government will no longer require states to follow the Common Core or any set of standards for that matter. The decision of what standards to use in a particular state is, like it used to be, left up to the individual state. That doesn’t mean Common Core is gone for good. States still have to adopt challenging standards that prepare students for higher education or career/technical education programs. Aside from the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards the pickings for standards that meet those requirements are slim. After spending millions of dollars to implement the Common Core, many states may opt to stick with the Common Core.

New Ways to Test Students

States also get to decide how they want to test students. ESSA requires that districts must annually measure student performance in math and reading in grades 3-8 and once in high school. They must also measure student performance in science once in grades 3-5, 6-8, and 10-12. States can also include other important subjects in their assessments.

The testing requirements are not really anything new, but the types of assessments used may change. States can also incorporate computer adaptive testing, portfolios, or projects as part of their assessments. For high school, some states may opt to use the ACT or SAT as their main assessment. Whatever states choose, these methods focus more on student growth than mastery of standards.

Test Scores are not the End All be All

Do test scores still matter? Yes. However, the language of the ESSA allows states to look at factors other than test scores to evaluate teachers and school performance. This includes factors such as student and educator engagement and school climate. States could still opt to tie teacher performance to test scores, but given the controversial nature of that option, they may opt to implement another evaluation method.

History and Civics Get New Life

While the ESSA does not require states to assess students in the areas of history and civics, it does introduce new programs designed to enhance instruction in the areas of history and civics. This includes Presidential academies that provide advanced professional development for select teachers and allow select juniors and seniors to learn more about the government in a more hands-on way.

Students Become More Well-Rounded

Increasing the focus on history and civics is part of a larger effort to ensure that students are more well-rounded. Rather than simply focusing on math, science, and reading, the ESSA wants to ensure that students get a high-quality education in all areas. The law provides funding and incentives for states and districts that incorporate arts education, technology education, and programs that promote living a healthy lifestyle (including physical education, mental health programs, and drug prevention programs).

School libraries play a role in this too. With NCLB, many school librarians felt left out and saw their funding decrease because specific provisions for school libraries were not written into the law. ESSA brings school libraries back into the conversation and recognizes the role they play in providing a well-rounding education and helping to incorporate technology into the curriculum.

Education Could Become More Personal

Theoretically, the ESSA helps make educational personal by taking away powers from the federal government, particular the Secretary of Education, and handing them over to the states. When it comes to setting goals and improving failing schools, states and districts have more of a say in the areas they choose to focus on. However, ESSA requires that those goals address English language learners, graduation rates, and student proficiency on exams, limiting some of the freedom states gain.

In fact, while ESSA is being hailed as a major improvement over NCLB, it may not produce the grand changes people hope to see. The federal government still gets the final say in a lot of areas as all of the standards, assessments, and other plans chosen by the states must =be approved by the Secretary of Education and a Peer-Reviewed Committee. This means that states may be scared to adopt new or divisive methods.

But Will We Really See Change?

Unfortunately, much of the language included in the ESSA is vague and open to interpretation. Change takes time and money. While some states may make some changes, many will use the vague language to support keeping their current programs in place. They may tweak a few things, but not in ways that are likely to make a huge difference.

At the end of the day, the goal of the ESSA is to provide all students with a fair, high-quality, equitable education and to close the achievement gaps. We hope that all invested in the world of education take this goal seriously so that every student truly can succeed.