AN IMPLEMENTATION PERSPECTIVE: RELEVANT LESSONS FROM NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT (ESSA)

Abstract

The newest iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), dubbed the “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA), was signed by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015. The latest reauthorization of ESEA overhauls key components of the previous version of the Act known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Though many champions of education reform assert that ESSA offers an improvement over the rigidity of NCLB by pushing more authority and accountability to local and state actors and thereby increasing the likelihood that every child will, in fact, succeed, it is important to consider the specific implementation problems that plagued NCLB and to consider the ways in which ESSA, if at all, offers hope for improvement. NCLB was intended to merge the best qualities of a traditional top-down implementation structure that ensures federal accountability and a bottom-up structure that provides states with flexibility in implementation. Unfortunately, instead of creating a new ideal hybrid implementation structure, the policy combined the worst elements of both structures. NCLB possessed the oppressive nature of a top-down structure and the extensive flexibility of a bottom-up structure that stimulated the type of inter-state variation the policy was designed to eliminate. First, this paper looks at the NCLB implementation obstacles that engendered the variation among states and analyzes the effect the broader implementation framework has had on policy outcomes. Then, we identify the areas where ESSA offers hope for improvement, as well as gaps that still remain which could lead to implementation failure. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the importance of considering critical implementation elements when constructing education policy.