Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

written by Darryl Johnson, LCSW, Associate Vice President of Arkansas Foster Care

Secondary education in America is a right, not a privilege. On December 10, 2015, President Barrack Obama reauthorized the law. This act was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which came into existence in the mid-1960s under the leadership of President Lyndon Johnson. ESEA was designed to address educational equality for all students across the United States.

Every Student Succeeds Act piggybacked on President George W. Bush’s 2002 educational act entitled “No Child Left Behind Act”. At the time, this initiative received rave reviews, but the implementation of the law was difficult and unattainable for many districts across the country. The laws were largely based on standardized testing and rigid frameworks. NCLB attempted to uncover where additional support was needed. This metric caused a huge number of schools to be taken over and put on school improvement plans.

President Barrack Obama’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was designed to provide and maintain local control of schools within the federal educational framework. ESSA provides for students with 504 plans and Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) to receive accommodations during standardized testing. ESSA encourages states and local districts to get rid of unnecessary testing but mandates annual reading and math testing in grades 3-8 and once in high school. ESSA also has the flexibility to utilize nationally recognized test instead of being limited to state tests.

ESSA is the educational law of the land. Consumers in foster care have the right to utilize the provisions that promote continuity of care. ESSA gives foster children the right to remain in their school districts and receive transportation when their placement changes, when logistically possible. ESSA also supports enrolling students in any school district without school records. Similarly, provisions for foster care student are aligned with the McKinney-Vento Act for homeless youth. The upside of ESSA is the ability for parents and states to direct student’s educational process within the perimeters of the federal law.

Resources:

(U.S. Department of Education) https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn