Statement on House ESEA Markup and Recommendations for Essential Elements

As the reauthorization process continues for a next generation Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we urge Members of Congress in both the House and Senate to continue to work together on collaborative solutions to transform K-12 education with personalized, competency-based learning pathways for every student. Passage of the bill out of the committee today is an important first step to a long overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

iNACOL’s work with state and district leaders throughout the country has identified essential building blocks for a new law supporting the success and achievement of all U.S. students and schools, including:

• fixing accountability and developing systems of assessments with validity and reliability that takes into account better analysis of individual student growth and multiple measures of learning, including a pilot to enable innovation and competency-based approaches;
• rethinking federal policies on educator preparation, credentialing and professional development to prepare educators for personalized, competency-based learning environments;
• rewarding successful new learning models and scaling them up through competitive funding;
• focusing on equity and excellence, with annual academic assessments to shine a light on achievement gaps and better align the system around student-centered learning in order to ensure all students are reaching their full potential.

For more, please see iNACOL’s statement on the Senate’s ESEA discussion and our Recommendations to Support Competency Education in Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, developed in partnership with KnowledgeWorks.