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In education, federal officials promised that states would have more flexibility under the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), revised in 2015 and now called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). An Arizona law concerning standardized testing may put Washington’s promises of increased state authority over education to the test. Federal officials should allow Arizona school leaders to decide the best way to measure student progress and make good on the federal commitment to give states more flexibility through ESSA.
Today, ESSA’s flexibility is a matter of debate.
In a notable change from prior versions of federal law, the U.S. Department of Education is now encouraging states to “push the field of assessment forward through innovation.” In 2016, Arizona lawmakers enacted state legislation that gives the field of assessment just such a push.Because Arizona’s law is a departure from the federal requirement of one uniform state test, Washington’s reaction to the legislation may be an indicator of the federal government’s interpretation of flexibility under ESSA.
Read the full article on the flexibility of the ESSA by Jonathan Butcher at The Heritage Foundation