A bipartisan proposal to change federal education law by removing the high stakes for standardized testing moved a step closer to passage when the U.S. Senate’s education committee unanimously approved the bill on April 16.

The draft Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 would be the first reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law signed in 2001.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten praised the draft bill for restoring the federal law’s “original intent of mitigating poverty and addressing education equity” by authorizing the federal government to direct additional funding and support to low-income students and schools.

“It moves away from the increasingly counterproductive focus on sanctions, high-stakes tests, federalized teacher evaluations and school closings,” Weingarten said of the draft bill. “And it will help return the joy of teaching and learning that’s been missing as a result of testing and test-prep fixation in too many classrooms.”

Annual standardized tests in math and reading for students in grades 3 through 8 would continue under the bill, and states would be required to have “challenging” standards in math, reading and science. But the federal government would be barred from either dictating a state’s standards or from mandating that tests carry high stakes. States would no longer be forced to include test scores in teacher evaluation.

Similarly, although states would still have to act to improve struggling schools, the federal government could not impose punitive policies such as closure.

The Senate committee’s unanimous approval of the bill, which was hammered out over two months by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, has sparked cautious optimism that a deal can be reached despite the current gridlock in Congress on most other issues.

Washington Post, April 7, 8
Education Week, April 16