Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Passes House 359-64
On December 02, 2015, the Every Student Achieves Act (ESSA) passed the Houseby a vote of 359-64.
All 64 Nay votes were Republican, with three Democrats and seven Republicans not voting.
ESSA is the long-overdue reauthorization of the Ele,entary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), the latest version of which was the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).
Like NCLB, ESSA is a test-centered bill, and ESSA is clear in its requirement that a state receiving Title I funds tests at least 95 percent of all students in grades 3 through 8 and at least one grade in high school in English and math. (Science is a testing requirement, as well, but not as often as ELA and math.)
Unlike NCLB, ESSA does not dictate a state’s goal-setting terms for “annual yearly progress (AYP),” and it does not spell out a list of punitive consequences for states’ not achieving AYP. Nevertheless, I do not view ESSA as a happy marriage so much as a necessary divorce. ESSA is clear that states are expected to work the results of that at-least-95-percent-tested requirement into their state accountability systems– which on the face affects schools, and, yes, could still influence teachers’ being graded using student test scores.
If it passes the Senate, ESSA becomes immediately effective except in the case of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Passes House 359-64 | deutsch29: