|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 28, 2017 (Washington, DC) – In “The Every Student Succeeds Act,” a new book edited by Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and Max Eden of the Manhattan Institute, leading education researchers, policy analysts, and journalists contribute 11 essays on the latest reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Enacted in December 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), as it is now called, represents a major shift in the federal government’s role in K–12 education. Today, ESSA affects almost every aspect of education policy.
Throughout the book, which is designed as a guide to ESSA, experts discuss the origins of the act, the actual provisions of ESSA, what it will or will not change, and what it means for schools. The edited volume also provides a balanced view of both pro-bill and anti-bill arguments.
A brief description of the chapters (listed as they appear in the book) follows:
• From ESEA to NCLB: Patrick McGuinn, Drew University political scientist, surveys the first 35 years of the ESEA, explaining how high hopes for federal involvement were repeatedly frustrated by the realities and complexities of our education system. He also details how shifting rationales for expanded federal involvement in education (namely, racial, national security, and economic) have led to changes in federal policies and cycles of expanded federal involvement followed by the reassertion of states’ rights.
• From NCLB to ESSA: Jeffrey R. Henig, professor of political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, along with colleagues David M. Houston and Melissa Arnold Lyon, explains how a changing political environment and new, fragile political alliances played key roles in the passage of both No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and ESSA.
• How ESSA Passed: Alyson Klein, a veteran reporter and the author of Education Week’s popular “Politics K–12” blog, provides a front-row seat to the ins and outs, and ups and downs, of the legislative drama around ESSA.
• What ESSA Says: Charles Barone, veteran Capitol Hill staffer and director of Democrats for Education Reform, explains what has and has not changed under ESSA. He also describes the new provisions about preschool and school accountability.
• The Case for ESSA: Martin West, a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who helped draft ESSA during a stint as senior education policy adviser to Senator Lamar Alexander (a former secretary of education), explains why the law strikes the proper balance for our federalist system.
• The Case Against ESSA: Chad Aldeman, an associate partner at Bellwether Education Partners and a former official in the Obama Department of Education, argues that ESSA asks too little of states and that states are likely to disappoint unless the federal government exerts pressure.
• ESSA and State Capacity: Arnold F. Shober, Lawrence University professor of government, discusses the administrative challenges states face. He questions whether states are technically competent or politically positioned to make the most of the opportunities ESSA provides.
• ESSA and State Policy: Ashley Jochim, a research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, discusses how ESSA will shape state policy regarding assessments, accountability, teacher evaluation, and more.
• ESSA and Urban Public Schools: Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of Great City Schools, writes about what ESSA means for major urban districts.
• From ESEA to ESSA: Cynthia G. Brown of the Center for American Progress explains the legislative path of the bill and details why she believes ESSA is a step backward.
• From ESEA to ESSA: Chester E. Finn Jr. of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute is cautiously optimistic about the bill. In this essay, he reflects on how and why ESSA fits in the context of the decades he has spent working on federal education policy.
Designed as a resource for scholars, advocates, and policymakers as they begin to navigate a new era in education policy, “The Every Student Succeeds Act” provides a thematic and in-depth analysis of the central provisions of this landmark legislation through a wide a range of perspectives. For more information, or for a copy of the book, please contact Meg Cahill at meg.cahill@aei.org or 202.862.5904.
|
|
