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Upon completion of my master’s degree and certificate in guidance and counseling, I plan t work as an elementary school counselor. I enjoy working in Title I schools and helping student populations with their social emotional education.

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The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. The goals of ESSA include bringing a balanced approach to educations with a combination of STEM, PE, and arts as well as improving school conditions and technology access (ASCA, 2018).

The Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act was put in place in September 2018. It is a new act using the same name as an act under the NCLB act. The new act has more funding for counseling programs in all 50 states and is aimed at lowering the rations of students to school counselors (ASCA, 2018).

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Associations: National School Boards Association 

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Associations: National School Boards Association 

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I the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was first established in 1975 and was meant to provide free and appropriate education for people with special needs. The act was reformed in 2004 and shifted from meeting legal requirements to pushing the educational achievement of students with special needs. Federal legislation had promised 40 percent of funding for the extra costs of special education but did not follow through leaving it to states and districts to make ends meet (NSBA, 2017).

School vouchers have become a hot topic in educational policy over the past year. School vouchers and educational savings accounts use educational tax dollars from public schools to help pay for individuals going to privet or religious schools. A key issue with these programs is the lack of support or aid for students with special needs and English Language Learners who would benefit from the money staying in the public school system (NSBA, 2018).

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Justice Sotomayor's personal care and passion for the world of education. Her life story has fueled the importance the Supreme Court Justices places on civics and education in hr personal life and in the court (Walsh, 2018):
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/11/01/life-story-fuels-justice-sotomayors-passion-for.html

The state of Texas's special education cap of 8.5% in public schools has been found to be unconstitutional by the federal government under IDEA. The state is revising their policies to server students with special needs more equitably (Samuels, 2018):
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/10/31/feds-plan-fresh-oversight-of-texas-special.html

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Social Emotional Learning (SEL) falls under the School Climate section of the ESSA and school implementing SEL are seeing great benefits from it (Harper, 2019) :
https://www.educationdive.com/news/national-school-climate-center-study-highlights-school-culture-improvement/546282/

Colleges have expanded options and opportunities for students with disabilities due to the Higher Education Opportunity Act. Student with disabilities will need help and support in career and collage planning, they should not be overlooked (De La Rosa, 2019):
https://www.educationdive.com/news/dont-overlook-special-ed-students-in-college-career-readiness-planning/546054/

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Topic Pick: The Ever Student Succeeds Act

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Topic Pick: The Ever Student Succeeds Act

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This act is fairly resent and is supposed to be in full implementation in public school yet myself and may of my fellow educators do not know how it will change our school or what we may need to start doing differently. Will this Act create a new climate around education like NCLB did?

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From NCLB to ESSA: Heise, M. (2017). From No Child Left behind to Every Student Succeeds: Back to a future for education federalism. Columbia Law Review, 117(7), 1859–1896. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2722&context=facpub

The ESSA and it's Impact on Vulnerable Children:
El Moussaoui, S. (2017). The Every Student Succeeds Act and its impact on vulnerable children. Journal of Law & Education, 46(3), 407–413. Retrieved from https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=124882627&site=eds-live

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U.S. Department of Education website: https://www.ed.gov/essa

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The ESSA is the newest act of educational reform. It was initially started by President Johnson with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 to help eliminate the disparities of the growing achievement gaps in America. NCLB followed the ESEA in 2002 which placed a high value on standardize test and moved the educational model to a national governmental agenda (El Moussaoui, 2017).  President Obama signed the ESSA with strong bipartisan support in 2015. The new act is supposed to have gone into full implementation for the 2017-2018 school year, so more time is needed to see the effects of the act’s implementation.

The ESSA moves choices in education back to state governments and systems and provides more choices in education for families (Heise, 2017). School choice vouchers, magnet schools, and charter school are now more abundant than ever before. Many are concerned about how this will affect students with fewer choices and the public-school systems (El Moussaoui, 2017). Because of drastic changes in the political climate and the youth of the ESSA it is still difficult to foresee how vulnerable children will fare under this new act in education.

The NCLB Act got to a place of need for full reformation. With the support of both political parties, there is great hope for the ESSA to make positive changes in the education system for American schools (USDE, 2019). There is hope for students of all backgrounds to receive a well-rounded education including the arts, physical education, and the sciences. There is also more support and room for schools to implement stronger SEL programs for their youth (Harper, 2019). The overlapping goal of ESEA, NCLB, and ESSA is to close the achievement gap between upper-middle class students and those who are at risk. Time will tell if the newest installment of these educational Acts will accomplish this goal.

This topic is essential to anyone working in education as the ESSA is meant to be a full reformation of the school systems. As an educator getting ready to embark on a new career as a school counselor, my hope is the ESSA will create more positions for school counselors with lower student ratios making my future career more attainable and my work more useful for students and families.

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ASCA. (2018). Legislative affairs. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-members/legislative-affairs

De La Rosa, S. (2019, January 15). Don't overlook special ed students in college, career readiness planning. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/dont-overlook-special-ed-students-in-college-career-readiness-planning/546054/

El Moussaoui, S. (2017). The Every Student Succeeds Act and its impact on vulnerable children. Journal of Law & Education, 46(3), 407–413. Retrieved from https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=124882627&site=eds-live

Harper, A. (2019, January 18). National School Climate Center study highlights school culture improvement effortshttps://www.educationdive.com/news/national-school-climate-center-study-highlights-school-culture-improvement/546282/

Heise, M. (2017). From No Child Left behind to Every Student Succeeds: Back to a future for education federalism. Columbia Law Review, 117(7), 1859–1896. Retrieved from https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=133451475&site=eds-live

NSBA. (2018). School Vouchers. Retrieved from https://www.nsba.org/advocacy/federal-legislative-priorities/school-vouchers

NSBA. (2017). Special Education and IDEA. Retrieved from https://www.nsba.org/advocacy/federal-legislative-priorities/special-education-and-idea

Samuels C. (2018, October 30). Feds plan fresh oversight of Texas special education plan. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/10/31/feds-plan-fresh-oversight-of-texas-special.html

US Department of Education. (2019). Every Student Succeeds Act. Retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/essa

Walsh, M. (2018, November 1). Life story fuels Justice Sotomayor's passion for education, civics. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/11/01/life-story-fuels-justice-sotomayors-passion-for.html