Not Much Change for Teachers/Students in New Georgia Student Success Program, School Officials Say

Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey says the federal Every Student Succeeds Act or ESSA Plan is not much of an improvement over the old No Child Left Behind Act.

Georgia’s ESSA plan recently won approval from the U.S. Department of Education.

According to a press release Monday from the Georgia Department of Education, the plan sets a new course for K-12 education in the state, moving away from an excessive focus on high-stakes testing to an education system that places the whole child at the center.

Teachers have long complained that under the No Child Left Behind Act, there was too much pressure on them to produce high test scores and less time to focus on real teaching.

But Dorsey says the reality is, not much has changed for teachers under ESSA.

“I don’t think it will have much of an impact on teachers or students,” he said. “All the assessments are still pretty much still in place. There’s basically still all the same assessment accountability in place,” Dorsey said.

Some of the highlights of the 123-page Georgia ESSA plan include a redesigned College and Career Readiness Index testing program, rewards schools that make significant progress with underserved groups, and strengthens the State’s focus on the whole child.

The Georgia Department of Education brought together a State Advisory Committee and six working committees made up of educators, parents, students, and representatives of state/agencies to shape the State’s new ESSA plan.

They also hosted feedback meetings with students, teachers, and parents, as well as civil rights groups.

Georgia Department of Education spokeswoman Megan Frick says the State will now begin work to implement the new ESSA plan for the 2018-2019 school year.