Final answer:
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers benefits such as greater flexibility for states in education policies, reduced federal overreach, and maintained standards of accountability with more state autonomy in testing and school performance evaluations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a significant legislative act that amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Signed into law in 2015, it aimed to rectify issues from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and gives states more flexibility to determine their educational policies. Here are some benefits of the Every Student Succeeds Act:
- Greater flexibility for states to create and implement their own education accountability systems and set their own performance goals.
- A less prescriptive federal role, thus reducing federal overreach in local educational systems.
- Continuation of annual testing but with more autonomy for states to determine how test results are used to measure school and student performance.
- Plans to address issues of equity, such as resources allocations and academic standards, to ensure all students have opportunities to succeed.
One key aspect of ESSA is that it shifted more accountability back to the states, requiring them to submit their educational plans to the U.S. Department of Education for approval. Massachusetts was the first to have its plan approved in April 2020. The overall goal is to provide a more holistic and flexible approach to education while maintaining essential standards of accountability.