ESEA: A Blueprint for Reform

The US Department of Education and President Obama designed a plan for education in order to improve America’s public education systems and enhance the development of an Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In 2002, it was renamed No Child Left Behind (NCLB). On March 15, President Obama presented to congress “a Blueprint for Reform,”, which seeks to reform NCLB through four main areas of improvement. The areas in the Blueprint include: Creating an emphasis on teacher and principal effectiveness, actively include parents and families in their children’s education, implementing college and career ready standards and developing improved assessments aligned with those standards and, provide funding, support and intervention for the lowest-performing schools.
According to Kerilee Horan the Pro Supporters of the Blueprint believe it is a vast improvement from NCLB because it holds schools accountable for graduation rates in addition to test scores. It also offers a menu of intervention options for low-performing schools, provides flexibility, and rewards and shows examples of exemplary districts by giving grant money to actual results. Each area in the blueprint is important for improving the education level in United States in order to be academically competitive to other countries. College and Career-ready Students is the area that intends to promote raising standards for all students regardless of their race, ethnic, income, language or background. In addition it intends to have better assessments that are aligned with college-career ready standards.
Teachers’ instruction has a great impact on student’s academic improvement. Blueprint emphasizes the importance of recognizing excellence. In other words, it elevates the teaching profession recognizing, encouraging, and rewarding excellence. The blueprint plan states that all students will be included in an accountability system that builds on college- and career-ready standards, rewards progress and success, and requires rigorous interventions in the lowest-performing schools.
The blueprint plan considers the importance of family, community and teachers in the student’s progress. The plan is to provide incentives for excellence by encouraging state and local leaders to work together on ambitious reforms, make tough choices, and develop comprehensive plans that change policies and practices to improve outcomes for students. It is stated that new competitive funding streams will provide greater flexibility, reward results, and ensure that federal funds are used wisely. Home collaboration is also very important. Having the active collaboration of parents and families in their children’s education may improve student’s development.
In these days when we all are concerned about education it is important to be updated on Blueprint for reform. The government may still change the plan in order for it to be effectively applied. Therefore, there are some pros and cons that need to be considered. A pro may be that this plan is an opportunity to enhance the idea of No Child Left Behind and to put more focus on special education students and other diverse learners. In my opinion investing in education is a priority. Students that may be well prepared in the early years will be later potential creators of job’s opportunities in the future. The Blueprint intends to make meaningful changes for better education. All the areas of Blueprint that are stated are crucial for growth and progress in education. The application and progress of this plan will need the collaboration of all the individuals who are involved in the student’s life.



Reference:
NASP Communiqué, Vol. 38, #7, May 2010
Education Reforms Begin to Take Shape: The U.S. Department of Education’s Blueprint for the Reform of NCLB/ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act)

Online Sources:
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/blueprint.pdf
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/teachers/publication.pdf