Implementation of Every Student Succeeds Act

School Reform Policies

Educational reforms refer to the changes that aim to transform public education within a country. Since its inception, the educational sector has shown tremendous evolution. Apparently, the evolution is a product of the regular revision of educational goals in order to address the challenges that the system was facing thereby bettering the education system. On the other hand, changes in learning goals have a corresponding effect on educational policies. For instance, whenever the changes are imposed on the educational system, schools ought to respond by amending their policies. Nonetheless, what has remained constant is the idea that education has a huge impact on the future of society's wealth and well-being. 

Education offers plenty of merits. Thus, school reform policies are essential in order to ensure that educational goals are aligned together with the ever-changing employee requirement in the job market. With this realization, many countries have been rapidly making and implementing school policies so as to increase the quality of education and versatility of their citizens. America, for instance, has had many educational reforms in the last three decades alone. From the Outcome Based Education in the 1990s to the Every Student Succeeds Act that is currently under implementation. Therefore, this paper aims at examining one of the policies as well as providing discussions on it can be improved. 

Every Student Succeeds Act

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was passed in December 2015 with a 359-64 and 85-12 votes from the House and Senate respectively. The law mainly aims at constant evaluation of schools and response to poor performing institutions while minimizing federal involvement in education. ESSA replaced its unpopular predecessor the “No Child Left behind Act” that was characterized by too much governmental involvement and excessive standardized tests. Even though ESSA is relatively a new law it relies heavily on aspects from its antecedents and primarily standard based education reform. 

Standard based education reforms and other similar policies entail setting standards which determine excellent and poor performance (Campbell). The educational system has been dealing with many challenges since time in memorial. For example, in the 1950s school reforms were made so as to end racial segregation and gender discrimination. In the 1980s following the cold war that was fought on propaganda and economic grounds, it was necessary to have an education system that would create able and maximizing individuals. Currently, the standard based education reform faces the challenge of making an employee competent for the needs of an employer.

Modifications

It is clear that the standard based education reform is far from perfect. The system which maintains that students carry out a series of rigorous tests so as to have a high school diploma is greatly criticized. Moreover according to Campbell, the policy indirectly places poor performers as redundant members of the society as there is no substantial method of dealing with lesser intelligent students. To begin with, the government, state, and schools should create a proficient way of dealing with students who do not perform as expected. Such a way would be to create a reexamination criterion that allows those who failed exams to retake exams after a short period than waiting for the next examination period. Moreover, the student-teacher relationship needs to be improved so that teachers can understand the weaknesses and strengths of every pupil instead of banking solely on examinations. 

Implementation of Desired Changes

Legal restructuring 

If the mentioned alterations can be amended into the Every Student Succeeds Act through a vote of congress then the matter would be treated with more urgency and importance. Such an amendment would force every school to develop structures that will encourage student-teacher interactions while at the same time developing methods that cater for poor performers. 

State Support 

Nowadays, states play a pivotal role in the direction and standard of education in their area of governance (Fránquiz and Ortiz, 2016). Hence, it would be imprudent to develop adjustments to standard-based reform without financial and technical support from the state in which a school lies. Hence, the states should independently create policies that will complement the mentioned modifications in addition to the provision of financial support to allow their implementation.

School's administration Support

As much as the state and the federal government may make policies to implement change, the final implementation phase lies within the school administration. As such, members of the administration need to be very receptive in order for the implementation process to be efficient and effective. 

Ways that Would Lead to Proper Enactment

Training of teachers 

In order to improve the student-teacher relationship, it would be vital to train teachers about the challenges that may arise. Therefore, the current teachers need to be equipped with such skills through seminars and workshops. In such seminars, teachers should be effectively taught on how to deal with learners beyond the class level of interaction. 

Reexamination 

It is apparent that not every student will emerge successful in their exams. As a result, a form of reexamination system should be put in place. Under this system, students who were unsuccessful in their previous exams need to be given a chance to take another exam without necessarily having to wait for the next year in order to sit for their examination. Therefore, instead of them being neglected, they should be given a chance to redeem themselves by sitting another paper within the shortest time possible. 

Diversifying opportunities

Even though education is key in the society, it should not be the only way of realizing one’s potential. Learners should be exposed to the paths that they can pursue at an early age. This is to say that poor performers need to be informed about other available options if they find pursuing a degree course to be intellectually challenging. 

Barriers to Modification

The process of amending the policies in the education system, a couple of hurdles are likely to be experienced. First and foremost, it will not be easy to convince the Congress to pass such a bill. This is because there are numerous political issues that are involved. Notably, resistance will be encountered irrespective of the political party that will present the bill (Fránquiz and Ortiz, 2016). Hence it will be prudent to persuade the opposing members of both the House and Senate to support the bill. 

Additionally, providing the necessary funds to foster the implementation of such reforms will be another challenge. This is because such a move would require the states to set aside money to effect a change that they did not plan for. Typically, humans are fond of resisting change. Nonetheless, if school administrators were able to effectively communicate the benefits that would come along with the reforms, it would be easier for state officials to allocate funds that would allow the implementation of the new policies. 

Promotion of the Modification of the Policy

Informing the public

Naturally, have a liking for resisting change be it good or bad. Therefore it would be vital to winning public approval if the modifications are to be realized. The first step in achieving acceptance would be informing the public about what the modifications are and how they will affect the education in the country. If the impacts from the reforms are beneficial, it will not be hard to promote their implementation. 

Proper dialogue with schools 

Schools and school administrators need to be at the forefront during the modification process. Hence a proper dialogue should be in place so as to ascertain how the problems should be addressed. Campbell (n.d.) argues that “when a change effort is initiated, strong advocates for the innovation from within and outside of the school should be identified and their support actively sought.”

Creation of the model of change effort 

Change can be instigated if the education innovators design a model that would show how the proposed change would take place. This serves not only as a guideline of how the modifications will occur but also as a motivation for the involved parties. If the model of change effort is clearly defined and the expected outcomes are beneficial, it will in itself encourage individuals to accept change. 

Involvement of the players

For change to be successful, it is important to include the persons who are likely to be affected during the initial developmental stages. Therefore, teachers, parents, administrators, and students need to be aware of the modifications that are being proposed. For promotional purposes, it is crucial to identify a policy champion. This refers to policy leaders who will instigate the process of implementing the policy (Desimone, 2013). Effective champions determine whether a policy would be successful with regards to intended goals or if it will fail terribly. 

Transitioning the Changes into a Learning Institution

Administration backing 

It would be fundamental that the modifications start at the very top. Fránquiz and Ortiz suggest that the school administrators should have an insight on how and when the adjustments need to be made (2016). For instance, in a public school, the principal need to be aware of the modifications prior to everyone else so that he/she may develop strategies to make the school aligned with the changes.

Involvement of teaching staff 

Since the main modification involves the improvement of the teacher-student relationship, the teachers will be key to realizing the goals of the reform. Therefore, teachers have to be involved in every step and provided with a clear guideline on what their roles would be. 

Communication with Parents 

Liaising with parents would be necessary in order to ensure a smooth transition. This process would help in addressing the concerns of parents as well as guardians. For example, if extra hours or work are needed so as to help a failing student, parents will play an important role in establishing when, where, and how such activities need to be undertaken. Effective communication with parents would bring about transparency which is essential for such modifications to thrive. 

Immersion of the learners

Lastly, the mentioned modifications will have the greatest impact on the learners if they are introduced to the new programs immediately after the implementation process has commenced. Thus, students will have to be informed about the pros and cons of the modifications to the standard based reforms. Thereafter, the students should be provided with a detailed explanation about the impact that the modifications will have in their lives. 

In the present world, schools are being pressurized to ensure that students are provided with the necessary skills that are essential in the competitive job market. As such, there are massive calls for schools to amend their policies so that the education system can meet such demands. Notably, a good school policy is believed to be a solution to the myriad challenges that the educational system face. Although the current educational act has provided solutions to most the challenges, the educational system still has more challenges that would require more policy reforms. 

References

Campbell, L. (n.d.). Facilitating Change in Our Schools - Johns Hopkins School. Retrieved from http://www.education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/future/creating_the_future/crfut_campbelll.cfm.

Desimone, L. M. (2013). Reform before NCLB. Phi Delta Kappan, 94 (8), 59-61. doi:10.1177/003172171309400814.

Fránquiz, M. E., & Ortiz, A. A. (2016). Co-editors’ introduction: Every Student Succeeds Act- A policy shift. Bilingual Research Journal, 39 (1), 1-3. doi:10.1080/15235882.2016.1148996.