On July 18, I met with Oregon Representative Suzanne Bonamici to discuss EPIC’s recommendations on how to strengthen the impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Representative Bonamici serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and played a lead role in the passage of the bipartisan ESSA, which replaces No Child Left Behind and creates new K–12 education policies. President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act into law in 2015.
During the meeting, we discussed the portions of the ESSA that were related to EPIC’s areas of expertise, which are curriculum alignment, the transition from high school to college, and postsecondary readiness. In the event that technical amendments are added to the bill, EPIC recommended to Rep. Bonamici and the U.S. Department of Education the following additions:
- Further defining a “well-rounded program of instruction.”
- Further defining “postsecondary readiness.”
- Clarifying that all forms of evidence mentioned in the law may be used to support the use of ESSA funds.
The meeting was a success, and I hope to meet with Adrian Anderson, Rep. Bonamici’s Washington Education advisor, when he returns to Oregon this fall.
Read our full recommendations:
EPIC-ESSA-Recommendations-2016-07.pdf (1249 downloads)
Kirsten Aspengren is Inflexion’s Director of Curriculum Alignment. She has been with Inflexion since 2005 and led the development and execution of the AP Course Audit. For more information on Inflexion’s recommendations, contact Kirsten at kirsten.aspengren@inflexion.org
