Today, December 9, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act is scheduled for a final vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Yesterday, the Senate overwhelming voted to end debate on the bill. The Bill proposes to consolidate about 50 programs into one big block grant and provide significant flexibility to the States in implementing and administering select key aspects related to school accountability in each State. Accordingly, the Bill dramatically reduces the future role of the U.S. Department of Education, although it maintains requirements calling for a limited level of testing and will direct the focus of the Department on the lowest performing schools associated with high drop-out rates. States will submit their accountability plans for school year 2017-2018 to the U.S. Department of Education and explain accountability goals and provisions implemented by the States for various sub-populations of students, including proficiency on tests, proficiency by English language learners and graduations rates.
To read the proposed Elementary and Secondary Education Act also referred to as the Every Student Succeeds Act, in addition to a cheat sheet developed by Education Week, click on the link below.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2015/11/esea_reauthorization_the_every.html