Will Decentralization Affect Educational Inequity? The Every Student Succeeds Act

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 757-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna J. Egalite ◽  
Lance D. Fusarelli ◽  
Bonnie C. Fusarelli
Keyword(s):  
Educational System ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Local Flexibility ◽  
Tightly Coupled ◽  
Education Act ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Purpose: In December 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was a long overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. What is remarkable about this new federal legislation is that it explicitly reverses the decades-long federal effort to more tightly couple the U.S. educational system. While not removing testing requirements, the legislation dramatically reduces the federal role in shaping education policy, returning significant power to the states to design educational systems as they best see fit. The law places sharp limits on the use of federal executive power over education and has the potential to remove the federal government from oversight and accountability over schools, raising questions about the equity implications of this policy change. Research Method: Utilizing public documents, including legislation, speeches by federal officials, analyses by policy organizations, and news accounts, the authors trace the evolution of federal efforts from a more tightly coupled educational system to one with greater state and local flexibility in order to estimate the equity impact of efforts to decentralize governance. Findings: While certain provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act may reduce inequity and improve educational outcomes for all students, rigorous enforcement of the law’s protections will be necessary in order to ensure existing inequities are not exacerbated.

Look Back: The feds, the states, and Kappan

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-7
Author(s):  
Teresa Preston
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Federal Mandates ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Federal Department ◽  
Education Act ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Across the decades, the balance of power between the federal government, states, and local districts has shifted numerous times, and Kappan authors have weighed in on each of those shifts. Kappan Managing Editor Teresa Preston traces those shifts, beginning with the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which gave the federal government a larger role in public education. Further expansion occurred under the Carter administration, with the launch of the new federal Department of Education. As the new department continued operations under Reagan, its priorities expanded, but actual decision-making authority reverted to states. States, in turn, began involving themselves more with instructional and curricular matters, a trend that eventually made its way back to the federal level, with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Under NCLB, federal mandates had the effect of requiring state and local levels to take on additional responsibilities, without necessarily having the capacity to do so. This capacity issue remains a concern under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

All Means All: Connecting Federal Education Policy and Local Implementation Practice Through Evidence and Equity

Inclusion ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Clare Schuh ◽  
Kimberly M. Knackstedt ◽  
Jake Cornett ◽  
Jeong Hoon Choi ◽  
Daniel T. Pollitt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Local Practice ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
Federal Education Policy ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Abstract This article discusses equity-based inclusive education and federal policy drivers that can be used to make positive sustainable change in state, district, and local practice to improve the academic, social, and behavioral outcomes for all students including students with extensive support needs and those with labels of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Educational policies addressed include the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA), Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and civil rights legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The policy domain feature of the Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT) model is examined regarding how it was implemented in districts and schools, working toward the goal of providing an equity-based inclusive education for all students. Translating federal education policy into state, district, and local practice requires leadership and political courage to align federal, state, and district policy with the vision and values of equity-based, inclusive education.

The Every Student Succeeds Act: Strengthening the Focus on Educational Leadership

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 705-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle D. Young ◽  
Kathleen M. Winn ◽  
Marcy A. Reedy
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Federal Policy ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Federal Education Legislation ◽  
Leadership Pipeline ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Purpose: This article offers (a) an overview of the attention federal policy has invested in educational leadership with a primary focus on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), (b) a summary of the critical role school leaders play in achieving the goals set forth within federal educational policy, and (c) examples of how states are using the opportunity afforded by the focus on leadership in ESSA. Findings: Through the examination of federal policy and existing research in this arena, we review the level of attention paid to educational leadership within Elementary and Secondary Education Act, its reauthorizations, and other federal education legislation. ESSA provides an enhanced focus on educational leadership and acknowledges the importance of leaders in achieving federal goals for education. Furthermore, ESSA acknowledges the importance of developing a strong leadership pipeline and, thus, allows states and districts to use federal funds to support leadership development. In this article, we delineate this focus on leadership within ESSA and offer examples of how states are planning to support leadership development. Implications and Conclusion: The important role that school leadership plays in supporting student, teacher, and school-wide outcomes warrants its inclusion within federal education policy. However, the opportunity to realize ESSA’s intended goals around leadership development could be undermined by forces at both the state and federal levels.

Preface

1982 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-373
Keyword(s):  
Reagan Administration ◽  
Great Society ◽  
Harvard Educational Review ◽  
School Of Education ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Harvard Graduate School ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Federal Initiatives ◽  
State And Local

This issue consists of the papers and responses from the conference "Rethinking the Federal Role in Education, " sponsored by the Harvard Educational Review and held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on April 25-27, 1982. Although the Review periodically devotes an issue to a special theme, it rarely convenes a conference. In the spring of 1981 the Editorial Board thought that the time was opportune for reappraising the federal role in education. The Reagan administration seemed determined to challenge the fifteen years of federal activism that began with President Lyndon Johnson's"Great Society," and in particular the Elementary and Secondary Education Act(ESEA) of 1965. We perceived the need for two kinds of analysis: an assessment of what had been learned about the capacity of the federal government to intervene effectively in education; and an inquiry into the appropriateness of past federal initiatives in light of emerging demands for a strengthened state and local role.

scholarly journals Principal Evaluation under Elementary and Secondary Every Student Succeeds Act: A Comprehensive Policy Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Morgaen Donaldson ◽  
Madeline Mavrogordato ◽  
Shaun Dougherty ◽  
Reem Al Ghanem ◽  
Peter Youngs
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Principal Evaluation ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Federal Policies ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Evaluation Policies ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Policy Lever ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

A growing body of research recognizes the critical role of the school principal, demonstrating that school principals’ effects on student outcomes are second only to those of teachers. Yet policy makers have often paid little attention to principals, choosing instead to focus policy reform on teachers. In the last decade, this pattern has shifted somewhat. Federal policies such as Race to the Top (RTTT) and Elementary and Secondary Education Act waivers emphasized principal quality and prompted many states to overhaul principal evaluation as a means to develop principals’ leadership practices and hold them accountable for the performance of their schools. The development and dissemination of principal evaluation policies has proceeded rapidly, however, it is unclear whether focusing on principal evaluation has targeted the most impactful policy lever. In this policy brief, we describe where policy makers have placed their bets in post-RTTT principal evaluation systems and comment on the wisdom of these wagers. We describe the degree to which principal evaluation components, processes, and consequences vary across the fifty states and the District of Columbia, and review evidence on which aspects of principal evaluation policies are most likely to improve principals’ practice and hold them accountable.

Education Federalism: Why It Matters and How the United States Should Restructure It

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Jenkins Robinson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Equal Educational Opportunity ◽  
Equitable Access ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Education Act ◽  
State And Local

Education federalism in the United States promotes state and local authority over education and a limited federal role. This approach to education federalism often serves as an influential yet underappreciated influence on education law and policy. This chapter explores how education federalism in the United States has evolved over time, its strengths and drawbacks, as well as how it has hindered efforts to advance equal educational opportunity. It argues that to achieve the nation’s education aims, education federalism must be restructured to embrace a more efficacious and efficient allocation of authority of education that embraces the policymaking strengths of each level of government while ensuring that all levels of government aim to achieve equitable access to an excellent education. The chapter proposes how to restructure education federalism to support a partnership between federal, state, and local governments to achieve equitable access to an excellent education. It also explains how this new approach to education federal could guide the United States toward a more impactful reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

scholarly journals Villar Palasí: Sobre tecnocracia y dirección escolar

2021 ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Aurelio González Bertolín ◽  
José Roberto Sanz Ponce
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Educational Reform ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
University Professor ◽  
Science And Education ◽  
Education Act ◽  
The Government

University Professor José Luis Villar Palasí took charge of the Ministry of Science and Education in April 1968, after being nominated by the technocratic sector of the Government, with the political mission and personal conviction of reshaping the organisational structures of education in an attempt to stem the increasing unrest at universities. Nonetheless, he soon came to learn that the Spanish educational system as it stood required a complete renovation if it was to join the ranks of other advanced educational systems in the last quarter of the 20th century. In order to complete this task he recruited a team of qualified technocrats, most of them having independent political views and associations with international agencies and institutions. This ministerial team carried out a diagnosis of the imbalances and contradiction of the educational system at the time and then put forward a proposal for an educational reform, laid out in the so called Libro blanco (White Book). This document would become the foundational plan for the new General Education Act of 1970. However, regarding the matter of academic management, the wording of the Law deviated from the proposals made in Libro blanco, suppressing the Board of Directors. This work reflects on the ideological and political circumstances of the educational reform and Minister Villar Palasí himself. We also attempt to provide some clues as to the causes that led to the abolition of the Corps of Directors.

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