Influences in Policies

Educational policies are made by a handful of administrators, educators, parents, government officials, organizations, companies... money... The power of influence within the education sphere is wide reaching.  However, most of it is done for good.

One such policy that seeks to do good is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). 

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) website (2015) explains that ESEA was originally passed in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.  The bill provided funding for primary and secondary education and seeks to ensure that: 
          - all children have an equal access to education
          - to set high standards of education
          - to require accountability from those involved in the education of our 
             youth. 

The bill is meant to provide every child with fair and equal opportunities to receive a top quality education and to reduce the achievement gap amongst students.  Money from the bill is required to be used for:  
          - professional development for instructors
          - promote parent involvement
          - acquiring materials that support educational programs within the school. 

It is still one of the most far-reaching federal legislations every passed by Congress to affect education. 

The Act has been reauthorized every five years.  It has most recently been redesigned and adjusted by President George W. Bush's administration and renamed, to what people more commonly know of it as, No Child Left Behind (NCLB). NCLB "put in place measures that exposed achievement gaps among traditionally underserved students and their peers, and started an important national dialogue on educational improvement" (ED, 2015).  

Reforms are needed.
Time has come for more changes and improvements to be made.    

As reported by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) "the current system is based on high-stakes testing... [that] is untenable, creating a toxic environment that's robbing our students and teachers" (2015).

The Obama administration is looking at ways to make more opportunities available to an even greater range of students.  According the ED, in 2012 Obama's administration started offering "flexibility to states regarding specific requirements of NCLB in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive state-developed plans to close achievement gaps, increase equity, improve the quality of instruction, and increase outcomes for all students" (2015).

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) shared the U.S. Department of Education's report, A Blueprint For Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, on their portal site, Planipolis, which details the governments breakdown of how to design and improve ESEA with 5 key priorities (2010):
          1. college and career ready students
               - raise standards
               - better assessments
               - a complete education
          2. great teachers and leaders in every school
               - effective teachers and principals
               - best teacher and leaders where needed most
               - strengthen teacher and leader preparation and recruitment
          3. equity and opportunity for all students
               - rigorous and fair accountability for all levels
               - meet the needs of diverse learners
               - greater equity
          4. raise the bar and reward excellence
               - foster a race to the Top
               - support effective school choice
               - promote a culture of college readiness and success
          5. promote innovation and continuous success
               - foster innovation and accelerating success
               - support, recognize and reward local innovation
               - support student success

Organization across American (and beyond) are calling for changes and offering suggestions on how and what they believe needs done.

The National Education Association (NEA) wants the new ESEA to "focus on opportunity for all, ensure more time for students to learn, and empower educators to lead" (2015).  They created this video to help spread their message:

Similarly, AFT has identified a list of priorities they feel need to be met in order to make improvements:

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) (2015) has also provided a list of recommendation to Congress, that they would like to see achieved in order to improve ESEA:

Chris Minnich, Executive Director of CCSSO, said that they "urge Congress to consider to create a long-term, stable federal policy that will give states additional flexibility and encourage innovation, while at the same time holding us accountable for results" (2015). 

Likewise, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2015) stated in a report from 2011 that they would like ESEA to:

American standard in education are falling behind those of other nations.  It is time for a change to be made that will move our students back up to the forefront to become tomorrow's leaders.

Interesting facts I learned while researching ESEA:

1. In January of this year, the ED and the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent informational documents to states, districts and schools reminding them that measures must be taken to ensure English learner (EL) students are provided with equal and fair access to education.  
1.  EL students make up 9% of all public school students and are enrolled in nearly 3/4 public schools 
2. EL students were given equal education protection under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA). (NEA, 2015)
2. America is greatly falling behind in early childhood education.  
1. The National Center for Education Statistics found that in 2010, "fewer than 3 in every ten 4-year-olds are enrolled in a high quality preschool program."  
2. America ranks 25th in the world for early learning enrollment. Mexico, France and Singapore offer greater opportunities for preschool education than does America (ED, 2013). 
3. AFT reported on their president's blog, that on April 7 of this year, Sen. Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. Murray (D-WA) had worked together to draft a bipartisan bill reauthorizing ESEA.
1. Their proposed bill, the Alexander-Murray bill, goes back to the original intent of the law - to level the playing field for at-risk kids, it reduces the importance of tests = allowing the target to now be (properly) refocused on teaching and learning (AFT, 2015).
2. Republicans and Dems working together! #comingtogether #greatergood 
4.  Outside of the United States, girls (more so than boys) suffer from inequality in education.  UNICEF is working with various governements throughout the world to reduce "gender disparities through interventions at national, local and community levels aimed at empowering girls."  Along with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), UNICEF is fighting for girls' rights and helping countries get gender equality in educaiton (UNICEF, 2014)
5. Global Partnership for Education, like UNICEF, is working for education equality for girls.  They reported in that in 2015 that 31 million girls around the world were not enrolled in schools and that women are almost two thirds of the world's 781 million illiterate! (GPE, 2015)

*reference citation in the comments section below