{"id":7109,"date":"2017-01-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/the-every-student-succeeds-act\/"},"modified":"2020-02-05T13:00:30","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T18:00:30","slug":"the-every-student-succeeds-act","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/the-every-student-succeeds-act\/","title":{"rendered":"The Every Student Succeeds Act: A Catalyst for Competency Education at Scale?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Susan
Susan Patrick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This essay by Susan Patrick and Maria Worthen was featured in the report Reaching the Tipping Point: Insights on Advancing Competency Education in New England.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

New England\u2019s competency education journey is the story of how stakeholders, coming together to create a shared vision for student success, can move the needle on state \u2013 and ultimately federal \u2013 policy. <\/span><\/p>\n

When the <\/span>Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)<\/span><\/a> passed in December 2015, it reflected the lessons learned and the advocacy of educators, superintendents, state leaders, and congressional representatives from New England to make room for systems that align to competency-based education. Congressional staff looked to states like New Hampshire to ensure that they could continue to implement innovative performance assessments for accountability purposes that also support learning. <\/span><\/p>\n

The new flexibilities in ESSA did not appear out of thin air. They are the result of years of hard work by states who are getting results from competency-based education, but were unable to fully realize their vision due to the limitations of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The New England states featured in <\/span>Beyond the Tipping Point: Insights in Advancing Competency Education in New England \u00a0<\/span><\/i>are well-positioned to take advantage of ESSA\u2019s opportunities to deepen their efforts in shifting to personalized, competency-based education. <\/span><\/p>\n

What Are ESSA’s Opportunities for States?<\/h3>\n

\"recommended-reading-on-state-policy\"ESSA, the new K-12 federal education law, shifts significant power back to states, with increased flexibility to <\/span>rethink accountability, redesign systems of assessments, and modernize educator development<\/span><\/a>. It provides a new opportunity for states to redefine what success means for students, beyond a single test score, and to align systems around this vision. It is now possible to design a more student-centered education system in which assessment supports learning and accountability enables data-rich, continuously-improving personalized learning environments in which students advance upon mastery. In this new era, states also have the opportunity to shape the future of the teacher workforce, building the capacity to take on the new roles required in a competency-based system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rethinking Accountability <\/b><\/p>\n

Under ESSA, state accountability systems will now be required to include at least four indicators, providing a historic opportunity for states to rethink the definition of student success. These indicators include: <\/span><\/p>\n