Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
What is ESSA?
On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law by President Obama. This bipartisan measure reauthorized the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s national education law. The New York State Education Department has established an ESSA Think Tank that will assist the New York State Education Department (NYSED or “the Department”) with development of New York’s ESSA state plan, which we anticipate that the Department will be required to submit to the United States Department of Education (USDE) in early 2017.
ESSA retains many of the core provisions of No Child Left Behind (the previous reauthorization of ESEA) related to standards, assessments, accountability, and use of Federal funds. However, ESSA does provide states with much greater flexibility in many areas, including the methodologies for differentiating the performance of schools and the supports and interventions to provide when schools are in need of improvement. To meet the requirements of ESSA, New York will also be required to submit a new state plan to USDE for the use of a wide array of Federal grant programs, including Title IA (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies, Title IB (State Assessment Grants, Title IC (Education of Migratory Children), Title ID (Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth who are Neglected, Delinquent or At-Risk), Title IIA (Supporting Effective Instruction), Title III (Supporting Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students), Title IVA (Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants), Title VB (Rural Education Initiative), and Title VI (Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education).
Here is a summary of information for parents: ESSA Parent Information.pdf
More information can be found at the following link: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/accountability/essa.html