Dive Brief:

• The newly signed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) will not fully take effect until the 2017-18 school year, but new federal guidelines on implementation have already been released in hopes of smoothing the transition.
• Notably, regarding accountability and school performance, the recommendations are seeking input from “state schools chiefs, teachers' unions, and the civil rights community,” Education Week reports.
• Because the 1,000+ page law is still so new, many other operational matters are yet to be eked out by the U.S. Department of Education.

Dive Insight:

Though NCLB waivers expire in August 2016 and the new law doesn’t take effect for nearly two years, it’s noteworthy that the federal government is already charging ahead to smooth the transition from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's previous iteration, No Child Left Behind. The rewrite returns significant control to the state and local level and dramatically alters the landscape for pre-k programswith funding increases. And critics have already called into question its teacher quality provisions and pay-for-access ed funding initiatives.

Yet most states and education leaders have expressed satisfaction with the new bill, along with both Republicans and Democrats. Technology in particular will get a boost, eSchoolNews reported, saying that “Aside from the E-rate (program) … schools haven't had a dedicated source of federal funding for technology since the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program was last funded in 2010."

Recommended Reading

Education Week: Ed. Dept. Sketches Out Transition to ESSA From NCLB, Previews Regul...