Every Student Succeeds Act ( ESSA Case Study

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was first implemented in 2010, nine years after I graduated from high school. Although I wasn’t personally affected by the new academic standards, it has a direct impact on the current and future generation of leaders, innovators, and world changers including my future children. The initial purpose of the Common Core Standards is to set high-quality learning goals designed to prepare students to be college and career ready. Given the current controversies surrounding CCSS, studies have shown that although the intent was to benefit students in the long-run it may actually be hindering their mathematical and reading skills. To further explore the arguments behind the Common Core initiative, I will

Standardized testing has diminished the true intention of schooling, for it “deliberately orchestrate[s] [an] assault on public education” (Ravitch 106). In an ideal world, students would look forward to receiving a diverse education; however, the current craze on standardized testing does not allow anything close to learning diversities. During a budget cut, a school’s first thought is to reduce “the non tested subject[s]”, which means everything besides math and reading (Ravitch 106). State required tests target the mathematic and reading subjects intensely; therefore, why should one teach anything else? “[F]ederal policies value only test scores”, hence the enthusiasm of schooling institutions

In the state of South Carolina, the high school English standards contain six parts: inquiry-based literacy, reading literary text, reading informational text, writing, communication, and disciplinary literacy. The South Carolina Common Core Reading Standards (2015) explicitly state for students in high school “Reading, writing, communicating, thinking critically, and performing in meaningful, relevant ways within and across disciplines are essential practices for accessing and deeply understanding content (pp. 107).” Additionally, these standards, if followed by the classroom teacher, creates students who are college and career ready by challenging them to participate in interdisciplinary study and curriculum integration through real-world

On December 10, 2015 President Obama signed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This act was a replacement for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB was a representation of the nation’s goals under president George Bush in which all children would be offered support in order to flourish academically. While ESSA has the same groundwork as NCLB Act, the government anticipates greater academic merit. Only time will tell if this will prove true, nevertheless ESSA will significantly change educational approaches in the upcoming years.

In chapter seven of Pathways to the Common Core by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman (2012), the authors explain that teachers often dismiss the Common Core writing standards as unrealistically high demands for their students, but clarify that through examination of the standard in a horizontal fashion, the standards are ultimately realistic and attainable. Calkins, Ehrenworth, and Lehman encourage teachers to begin with reading the kindergarten standards (no matter which grade level you teach) and look at the trajectory through next grade levels. The chapter continues by explaining that viewing the standards in this fashion and collaborating with teachers across grade levels will not only create a more realistic view of the standard, but allow students to meet the learning objectives through smaller steps across each grade level (Calkins, Ehrenworth & Lehman, 2012).

What once began as a simple test administered to students yearly to measure understanding of a particular subject has, as Kohn (2000) has stated, “Mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools whole” (p.1). Today’s students are tested to an extent that is unparalleled in not only the history of our schools, but to the rest of the world as well. Step into any public school classroom across the United States and it will seem as if standardized testing has taken over the curriculum. Day after day teachers stress the importance of being prepared for the upcoming test. Schools spend millions of dollars purchasing the best test preparation materials, sometimes comes at the cost of other important material. Although test

The issue of creating national standards has been debated for years long before the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers met to develop a plan for creating Common Core standards in 2009 (“Common Core”). The initiative gives states a uniform set of goals for student academic achievement and ‘College and Career readiness’ (Boychuk, Mathis). The Common Core initiative would change the way students take standardize tests in hopes to make them more competitive both globally, and in their higher education. The development to design a new test that the Common Core requires will take time. The two main groups that use federal money to design common-core tests are the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), have worked for nearly four years on their tests (Gewertz). PARCC spokesman David Connerty-Marin states, “There’s a significant difference between this test and tests states typically purchase, “because the PARCC’s test is “Built from scratch” for the common core (qtd. In Gewertz). The question of how the tests are aligned with the common core will not be determined until the study is

Kevin Kumashiro points out in his article for The Progressive that “ The 2015 ‘Nation’s Report Card’ shows a declines in students test scores in reading and mathematics” since 1990. Over the years, school mostly focus on getting the right answer on high-stake tests. Herbert J. Walberg, wrote in his article standardized testing is the best to measure students “educational goals” (Walberg, 1) Apparently, getting the right answer on a test makes a student ready for the real world. “The scores don’t provide very much useful information for evaluation a student's achievement” (Harris, 1) Most individuals disagree with the states passing new laws since NCLB to make the opposing side happy. No matter how much the government tries to add laws to fix about measuring students ability it will backfire. Phillip Harris argues standardized test does a “poor job” with measuring students achievement. How the high-stake test fail in measuring “important attributes as creativity and critical thinking.” (Harris,1) Studies show standardized tests “reward superficial thinking.” (Harris,1) and discourage analytical thinking. Richard Rothstein, an educational economist stated ‘Measurement of students achievement is complex-too complex for social science presently available.’ (Harris, 1) These methods include standardized testing. Rothstein statement was made in 1998. More than a decade

During the 2013-2014 school year, our third grade team and administration, evaluated student writing data and PASS projections from MAP data. They found a need for additional writing instruction. The teachers then researched a variety of programs as they prepared to adjust instruction. Teachers and administration chose the Four Square Model program, set a timeline for implementation during the second semester, and created a common writing instruction plan. My current work is focused on evaluating the effectiveness of Writing Workshop: Four Square Model through PASS test score data and researching the applicability of the model in other grades. In the future, we can use the analysis

The purpose of this paper is to explain the rationale regarding instruction and decision making, analysis of student learning, and reflection of personal performance within the literacy assessment and instruction analysis project. The project entails five lessons administered to a student to provide help with writing, and ultimately, to help the child improve in his or her writing skills. This document includes background information, goals, assessment results, instructional plans, and a personal reflection piece. This project aims to provide best practices and explicit instruction to a student in the subject of writing, ultimately hoping to bring the child to a higher writing level by

This issue of standardized testing is an ongoing debate that has been argued about for decades, with strong support coming from both sides. These assessments are used all across the national education system to evaluate educational performance. Some believe that they are a vital resource for success, while others view them as a predisposed technique in assessing intelligence. Standardized testing is an inaccurate method of measuring a student’s intellectual abilities because it fails to present students with the content they have been taught and are familiar with, it restricts students with its limited subject matter, and it only measures knowledge based on a student’s ability to memorize proficiently.

President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act, ESSA, and this new law replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, NCLB. ESSA was approved by a rare, broad bi-partisan consensus, passing 359-64 in the House and 85 to 12 in the Senate. ESSA is 1061 pages long, and includes numerous changes to federal education law.

ESSA “Every Student Succeed Act” is a federal law for all k-12 general education public schools. The EESA replaced the No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB) in 2015. The ESSA Act and the NCLB Act are very different, but yet similar in some ways. Both acts were established by U.S. administration with the intention to better the education offered to our school aged youth.

Failure to abide by the Every Student Succeeds Academy contract may result in being written up for disciplinary action, removal from the Every Student Succeeds Academy, referral to administration, and/or potential withdrawal from NCA.

Tests are not overly demanding, none of the tests achieve reviewed in this study present unreasonable expectations for high school graduates. It is perfectly reasonable for states to require students to pass these exams to earn a high school diploma, the questions on these exams reflect material that most students study by early in their high school careers. In math, the tests place a heavier emphasis on pre algebra and basic geometry and measurement concepts more than concepts associated with Algebra I and high school geometry. In English, the exams are a better measure of basic reading comprehension skills than the more advanced students will need to succeed in college. The “cut scores” required to pass the tests reflect modest expectations.