Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), an education law, was passed by the United States government in 2015. It replaced the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Both NCLB and ESSA served to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. The ESEA was a federal law intended to promote fairness in education, as well as greater economic and social opportunity for students. Reauthorization is the reenactment of a law, often with significant updates or changes, so that its provisions will not expire.
President George W. Bush signed NCLB into law in 2002. The act sought to improve student performance, hold schools accountable for student progress, and provide assistance and options for students in failing schools. A central feature of the law was a student-testing program intended to identify schools that did not meet basic educational standards. After a number of years, the U.S. Congress determined that NCLB could not accomplish its main goals. Congress then created ESSA. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on Dec. 10, 2015.
NCLB had significantly expanded the role of the federal government in public education. ESSA reduced federal control and gave individual states and local educational agencies more control over education. The new act allowed for states to create their own plans and goals for improving student performance, and for holding themselves responsible for student performance.
ESSA required that all states adopt new and challenging standards. Many states have chosen to adopt the Common Core State Standards, designed to prepare students for college and the work force. ESSA also required that states intervene with new strategies in the lowest performing schools, and regarding certain subgroups of students who have been historically underserved. Such subgroups include major racial and ethnic groups, English-language learners, children with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students.
Like NCLB, ESSA required that schools administer annual standardized tests to monitor students’ performance and progress. However, it gave the states more flexibility in the administration of tests, and the use of tests to determine success. Other provisions of ESSA aimed to expand preschool opportunities for children of low-income earners; prepare and advance effective teachers and principals; and expand STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. The act allowed for the U.S. Department of Education to intervene if states alone could not improve student achievement.
