The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a US law passed in December 2015 that governs the United States K-12 public education policy. The law replaced its unpopular predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and modified but did not eliminate provisions relating to the periodic standardized tests given to students. Like the No Child Left Behind Act, ESSA is a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which established the American federal government's expanded role in funding public education.
The Every Student Succeeds Act passed both chambers of Congress with strong bipartisan support.
The bill is the first to narrow the United States federal government's role in elementary and secondary education since the 1980s. The ESSA retains the hallmark annual standardized testing requirements of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act but shifts the law's federal accountability provisions to states. Under the new law, students will continue to take annual tests between third and eighth grade.