History Chapter 2 Mahoney - Wittmeyer by Victoria Wittmeyer

2015 - Every Student Succeeds Act

vwittmeyer — 2025-04-07 15:07:57 UTC

In 2015 President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The primary goal of this Act was to reduce the Federal Government's involvement in schools across the United States.

Under this new Act, states still had annual summative assessments to show student growth throughout their intermediate school years. Some may argue this ESSA is just an extension of NCLB, but it gives more power to the States to allow them to summatively test their students in their own way.

2002 - 2015 No Child Left Behind

vwittmeyer — 2025-04-07 15:08:02 UTC

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) used nationwide standardized assessments of students in grades 3-8 to determine reading and math levels of students each year.

The basis behind this Act was positive: All students should be able to show yearly growth and progress as they progress from 3rd to 8th grade.

One negative of this National Act was that if schools or students did not show growth over the years, their school district was subject to a form of punitive consequences. This meant there was a large inequality gap between school districts with differing demographics and community make-ups.

1916 - Stanford–Binet Intelligence Test

vwittmeyer — 2025-04-07 15:59:26 UTC

Intelligence Test developed by Lewis

Terman. Used to rank intelligence of children, from being 'gifted' to a member of other 'non-desirable' groups.

Terman was against Immigration, as he believed immigrants from 'undesirable' locations lacked intelligence, and their arrival would jeopardize America's wealth and intellectual level.

Terman's background in eugenics resulted in his intelligence test being racially biased in favor of wealthy European communities.

1999 - The National Research Council

vwittmeyer — 2025-04-07 16:06:50 UTC

In 1999 the NRC formed the Committee on Appropriate Test Use to examine the validity and standards of Language Assessments.

It was found that there was a deficit for students who were speakers of other languages, as assessments in English were focused on language and content standards.

National Opt-Out Movements - 2012-2015

vwittmeyer — 2025-04-07 18:08:34 UTC

As a result of the debates and differing viewpoints surrounding NCLB, parents in many states decided to have their child 'opt-out' of the required annual testing.

New York State and Pennsylvania had high numbers of student opt-outs.