Has the “Every Student Succeeds Act” Left Children Behind?

Then, in January 2022, the Department of Education released a draft FAQ re-establishing school accountability requirements and suggesting how ... TwitterFacebookLinkedInEmailPrintFontSize:AAAScholarsreflectonwhetherESSA’sregulatorystructurepromotesorinhibitseducationalequity.TweetSharePostEmailPrintLinkFontSize:AAAOverthelastsixtyyears,thefederalgovernmenthasadoptedlawsaimedateradicatinginequalityamongstudents,startingwiththeJohnson-eraElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct(ESEA).In2001,ESEAwasrewrittenandrenamedNoChildLeftBehind(NCLB).NCLBexpandedfederaloversightovereducationbymandatingstandardizedtestrequirementsonthepremisethatmeasurablegoalswouldimproveeducationaloutcomes.Italsorequiredstatestoreportstudentperformancebyrace,disability,Englishlanguageproficiency,andincomelevelandtakeactionondiscrepancies.NCLBprovedunpopularwithteachersandparents,leadingtheU.S.DepartmentofEducationtooffertime-limitedwaiverstostates.Thenin2015,CongresspassedthebipartisanEveryStudentSucceedsAct(ESSA),whichreplacedNCLBandnarrowedtheroleofthefederalgovernmentinsettingeducationpolicy.ESSAgrantsstatesgreaterauthorityandflexibilityoverK-12educationbyshiftingsomedecision-makingpowerstostateandlocalactors.Thesepowersincludestatecontroloverwhenandhowtousestandardizedteststomeasurestudentperformance.Theyalsoincludepowersovertheestablishmentofacademicstandardsandtheallocationofresourcestounderperforminganddisadvantagedsubgroupsofstudents.UnderESSA,statesmustsubmittheirestablishedgoals,standards,andplansforimplementationtotheDepartmentofEducation,whichrespondswithfeedbackand,eventually,approval.Inthisway,thefederalgovernmentcreatesaccountabilitymeasuresforstatestosubmitambitiousyetfeasibleschoolplanscommittedtosupportingstudentsequitably.Earlydatahaveindicatedthatmanystateshavenotbeenmeetingtheirequityrequirements.CivilrightsorganizationshaveexpressedworryaboutwhetherallstatesarecomplyingwithESSAandwhetherstateplansadequatelymeettheneedsofstudentsofcolor,studentswithdisabilities,andEnglishlanguagelearners,amongothers.ThearrivalofCOVID-19inspring2020—ESSA’sfinalyearofimplementationbeforebeingreauthorizedin2021—broughtevengreaterchallengestostatesintermsofcomplyingwiththefederallaw.Alreadystrugglingtomeetthedemandsofremotelearningandwideningachievementgaps,themajorityofstatesreceivedwaiversofreprievefromESSA’sstateassessmentandaccountabilitysystemrequirements.Then,inJanuary2022,theDepartmentofEducationreleasedadraftFAQre-establishingschoolaccountabilityrequirementsandsuggestinghowstatescouldimprovetheireducationalsystems.Someexpertshaveviewedthisdraftstatementwithoptimismthatstatesanddistrictswillreevaluatetheireducationalsystemsandprioritizeequitableaccessandopportunity.Inthisweek’sSaturdaySeminar,scholarsdiscussESSAandwhetherthelawnarrowsorwidensequitygapsinAmericanpubliceducation.InaworkingpaperpublishedintheConsortiumforPolicyResearchinEducation,JoanneWeissandPatrickMcGuinnofDrewUniversitydiscusstheevolvingroleofstateeducationagencies(SEAs),particularlyafterthepassageofESSA.WeissandMcGuinnexplainthatESSAhasfewerfederalrules,whichexpandsthestateroleineducation.Toimplementeducationpolicysuccessfully,statesmustrecognizethecapacityofSEAstosupportlocaldistricts,theycontend.Accordingly,WeissandMcGuinnarguethatstatesmustadequatelyfundSEAsandthatSEAsneedtoadaptbyreorganizingandprioritizingtheirfunctions.Theyfurthernotethat,althoughSEAleadershaveunprecedentedauthoritytoenactchange,theyareconstrainedbythepolicydemandsofdiversedistricts,schoolboards,andstateleaders.Inarecentpaper,ChrisChambersGoodmanofPepperdineCarusoSchoolofLawoutlinesseveralfactorsthatdistinguishESSAfromitspredecessor,NCLB.Goodmanreportsthat,underESSA,processesforresourceallocation,academicstandards,andaccountabilityarenowsubjecttothediscretionofeachstate.Goodmannotesthatsomeexpertsarguethatthisdeferential,“hands-off”approachtoensuringeducationqualityunderminespastfederaleffortstopromoteequalopportunityforlow-incomestudents.Goodmanarguesthatlow-incomeschoolsaretwiceaslikelytobeassignednoviceorunderqualifiedteachers,andthatthiswillonlyincreaseunderESSA’s“bareminimum”certificationrequirement,ascertificationaloneisaninsufficientqualitystandard.InanarticlepublishedintheColumbiaLawReview,MichaelHeiseofCornellLawSchoolanalyzestheeffectofESSAonthedivisionofeducationpolicymakingauthoritybetweenfederalandstatelegislators.HeisearguesthatESSAshiftedpolicymakingauthoritybacktostatesandlocaldistricts.Buthenotesthatsomecriticsareconcernedthatthedecreaseinfederalcontrolovereducationmaynegativelyimpactequaleducationalopportunity.Furthermore,HeisecontendsthatESSAlimitstheabilityofthefederalgovernmenttoimposeconsequencesonstatesanddistrictsforstudentperformance,causingsometoworrythatESSAmayhindereducationalequity.InanarticlepublishedintheCaliforniaLawReview,DerekW.BlackoftheUniversityofSouthCarolinaSchoolofLawconsiderswhetherESSAsuccessfullypromoteseducationalequality.BlackarguesthatESSAcutsbackonthefederalgovernment’spreviousroleineducationandgiveswidediscretiontothestatesonreformeffortsandaccountabilitymeasures,permittingthemtoignoreESSA’sgoalsofequality.BlackalsocontendsthatESSAweakensequitystandardsandeffectivelyexemptsschoolexpendituresfromequityanalyses.Ratherthanincreasingfederalfunding,ESSAmerelygivesstatesdiscretiononhowtospendexistingfunds,providinganotherpathwaythatcouldleadtoinequitableoutcomes,heargues.InanarticlepublishedintheMercerLawReview,ChristianSundquistoftheUniversityofPittsburghSchoolofLawarguesthatthefederalgovernmenthasabandoneditsconstitutionalresponsibilitytoprotectstudentsfromracialandclass-baseddisparities.HeassertsthatESSAadoptsamodelof“competitivefederalism”sothatfreemarketforcescanshapepubliceducationthroughcompetition,consumerchoice,andaccountability.Sundquistarticulatesanalternativetheoryofpositivefederalismthatwouldinsteadacknowledgetheobligationofthefederalgovernmenttoaddress,ratherthandelegitimize,socialjusticeanddemocraticfairnessinschools.InarecentpaperonequityprinciplesandprovisionsinstateESSAplans,YitingChuoftheUniversityofLouisianaMonroeexploreshowconceptsofequityaredefinedandappliedbystates.Hefindsthat,inthecontextofESSA,moststatesenvisionequitytoincludefairaccesstoeducationalresourcesandopportunities.FewerthanhalfofthestateESSAplans,however,adoptedadefinitionofequitybasedonfairoutcomes.Inaddition,ChufindsthatstateESSAplansgenerallyhavecontinuedtomeasurestudentachievementgoalsfromNCLB.Ultimately,Chuargues,statesmayactuallybeexacerbatingeducationalinequalitiesbyadoptingvaguepolicies,usinginconsistentdefinitionsofequity,andrelyingonmarketforcesandtesting-basedstandards.TheSaturdaySeminarisaweeklyfeaturethataimstoputintowrittenformthekindofcontentthatwouldbeconveyedinaliveseminarinvolvingregulatoryexperts.Eachweek, TheRegulatoryReview publishesabriefoverviewofaselectedregulatorytopicandthendistillsrecentresearchandscholarlywritingonthattopic.Tagged:DepartmentofEducation,Education,ESSA,NoChildLeftBehind,PublicEducation,U.S.DepartmentofEducation’sOfficeforCivilRightsRelatedEssaysSaturdaySeminar|Education|Education|EducationSep24,2022RegulatingtoIncreaseK-12StudentAchievementCarolineHackley,AnilyaKrishnan,andKatieCohenExpertsexplorechildhoodeducationregulationamidapandemicenvironment.Synopsis|Education|Education|EducationAug3,2022TheUnintendedConsequencesofSelf-HarmMonitoringSoftwareMargaretSturtevantExpertscallforpoliciestogovernself-harmmonitoringtechnologyemployedbyschools.SaturdaySeminar|Education|Education|EducationJun11,2022EducatingStudentswithDisabilitiesDuringCOVID-19TaylorRoss,CaitlinKim,andKatherineRohdeScholarsreflectonregulatorygapsinspecialeducationforstudentswithdisabilitiesduringthepandemic.SubscribetoUpdatesEmailAddress(requiredfield)BacktoTop