ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we critically examine iterations of the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA), by first revisiting No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and now the most recent version, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). NCLB endeavored to be more race-conscious by requiring states and districts to disaggregate student performance data to uncover racial inequities in order to get a step closer to closing the racial achievement gap. Still, NCLB used market-oriented, one-size-fits-all instructional reforms such as standardized testing and punitive sanctions that were immediate fixes, not solutions that would redress systemic inequities in education. ESSA aims to learn from the NCLB’s mistakes by being more equity-centered and offering states and districts more flexibility in implementation of the law. We discuss how ESSA’s execution of equity still takes a color-evasive, market-oriented stance that is not much different than its predecessor NCLB. In response, we consider how educational leaders can facilitate anti-racist approaches to ESSA, especially in regard to how they implement assessments and engage in data-use practices under the law.
