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Every Student Succeeds Act Essay

Decent Essays

President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) on December 10, 2015. This Act advances the 52-year-old, Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in an attempt to provide quality education to all students regardless of race or ethnicity, language, disability, or family income. Viewed as a civil rights law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act further advanced equality in education; yet it’s very cumbersome requirements became untenable for schools and educators. Viewed as a natural progression of two very successful previous acts, the ESSA was designed to provide further equal opportunity for all students. However, Florida passed their required state version that has …show more content…

Schools would administer standardized tests to measure the performance of the teachers and the students. A yearly progress report was provided to the United States Department of Education that could lead to punitive actions to the school if they were not meeting the national standards. Additionally, the Act required teachers to meet specific requirements if hired utilizing federal funding (Executive, 1). Although this was only an adjustment to the existing Act, the Act became known as NCLB.
In President Obama’s final year as president, he also made adjustments to the Act and renamed it ESSA. According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are six significant highlights: 1. Upholds critical protections for disadvantaged and high-needs students. 2. Increased the standards for High School Juniors and Seniors to ensure they are prepared for college. 3. Ensured that vital information is provided to educators, families, students, and communities to measure progress toward meeting these increased standards. 4. Funded the inclusion of local evidence-based and place-based initiatives to foster an environment of innovation. 5. Expanded the Federal Government involvement in pre-school education. 6. Reinforced the accountability requirement for positive change

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