iNACOL Applauds President and U.S. Congress for Reauthorizing Federal K-12 Education Law

Washington, DC (December 10, 2015) – Today, President Barack Obama signed The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law, reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and replacing No Child Left Behind. The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) applauds President Obama and the United States Congress for their historic, bipartisan effort to improve federal K-12 education law for all students.

iNACOL President and CEO Susan Patrick, along with Vice President for Federal and State Policy Maria Worthen, issued the following statement:

“iNACOL applauds President Obama and the United States Congress for their remarkable bipartisan efforts in taking this historic step to improve federal K-12 education law.

ESSA will remove barriers from federal K-12 education policies and open opportunities for states to foster the adoption of student-centered learning models. Through ESEA reauthorization, Congress has committed to giving states flexibility to shift to new, personalized learning models while maintaining the law’s fundamental commitment to equity for all students.

This is a ‘sea change.’ We are moving from an old era of data poverty to an era of multiple measures to evaluate student success. This will provide a catalyst to examine what it means for each and every child to be prepared with a quality education and engage as thoughtful citizens successful in their communities for the future.”

Recently, iNACOL published The iNACOL Federal Policy Frameworks 2015 which provide concrete, actionable recommendations for policymakers to align policy to student-centered learning. ESSA adopts iNACOL’s recommendations for ESEA to support new, personalized learning models by redesigning assessments, rethinking accountability, and supporting the modernization of educator and leadership development, among other actions.

To learn more about ESSA, join iNACOL’s webinar on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 from 3:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. titled The Every Student Succeeds Act—How Will the New Federal K-12 Education Law Support Personalized Learning? The webinar is free to attend; please register here for final details and login information.

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About iNACOL

The mission of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) is to catalyze the transformation of K-12 education policy and practice to design powerful, personalized, learner-centered experiences through competency-based, blended and online learning. iNACOL is a non-profit organization focusing on research, developing policy for student-centered education to ensure equity and access, developing quality standards for emerging learning models using online, blended, and competency-based education, and supporting the ongoing professional development of classroom, school, and district leaders for new learning models. Visit our website, like us on Facebook, and follow us on twitter.