ESSA stands for the Every Student Succeeds Act. Signed into law in 2015, it is the primary federal law governing K–12 public education in the United States. While it is a general education law, it contains critical provisions that directly protect the rights and educational outcomes of students with disabilities.
What is the Every Student Succeeds Act?
To understand ESSA, it helps to understand what came before it. For many years, the nation’s public schools were governed by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB was heavily criticized for its rigid reliance on standardized testing and its harsh federal penalties for schools that failed to raise test scores. In 2015, Congress replaced NCLB with the Every Student Succeeds Act. ESSA maintains the requirement that schools regularly test students to measure their academic progress, but it shifts much of the power back to individual states.
Under ESSA, every state must submit a comprehensive accountability plan to the U.S. Department of Education. States are required to hold schools accountable for the performance of all students, but they must also track and report the performance of specific "subgroups." One of the most important subgroups is students with disabilities. Because of ESSA, a school district cannot hide the failing grades of its special education students behind the high test scores of its general education population. If students with an IEP are consistently failing, the state must intervene and force the school to improve its special education instruction.
How ESSA interacts with special education
While the IDEA is the specific law that creates Individualized Education Programs, ESSA works alongside it to ensure high expectations. For decades, many students with disabilities were not taught the same grade-level academic standards as their peers. ESSA put an end to this by legally requiring that the vast majority of students with disabilities be taught and assessed on the exact same challenging academic standards as general education students.
This means that if your child is in the fifth grade and has a Specific Learning Disability like dyslexia, the school must teach them fifth-grade content, and they must take the fifth-grade state reading test. However, ESSA mandates that the school must provide all the testing accommodations listed in the child's IEP—such as extended time, a quiet room, or text-to-speech software—so the child has a fair chance to show what they know.
The 1% Cap on Alternate Assessments
One of the most significant protections for special education students under ESSA is the "1 percent cap." In the past, some school districts took a large percentage of their special education students and gave them a simplified, alternate state test to artificially boost the school's overall passing rate. This practice unfairly lowered expectations for children who were perfectly capable of learning grade-level material.
ESSA changed the law to state that only students with the most significant cognitive disabilities can take an alternate assessment. Furthermore, the law caps this at 1% of the total tested student population in a state. This strict rule ensures that students with autism, ADHD, or learning disabilities are kept on a standard diploma track and are not improperly funneled into alternate testing out of convenience for the school district.
ESSA and Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
Another major victory for parents in the ESSA legislation is its strong endorsement of proactive interventions. The law specifically encourages schools to use federal funds to implement a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). By utilizing MTSS, schools can identify struggling readers and students with behavioral challenges early and provide them with targeted, evidence-based instruction before they fall so far behind that they require special education. ESSA also encourages schools to implement positive behavioral interventions to reduce the high suspension rates of students with disabilities.
What parents can do
Parents can use ESSA to their advantage by reviewing their school district's annual "report card." ESSA requires all districts to publish data on how different student groups are performing. Look up your school's report card online and check how the "students with disabilities" subgroup is performing compared to the general population. If the gap is massive, you can use that data at the school board level to demand better funding and training for the special education department.
Additionally, during your child's annual IEP meeting, explicitly ask how your child is being prepared for the state standardized tests. Discuss which accommodations your child will need. If the school suggests putting your child on the "alternate assessment," push back unless your child has a severe intellectual disability, as alternate assessments often lead to a non-standard diploma or a certificate of completion rather than a regular high school diploma.
Key points for parents
- ESSA is the federal K–12 education law that replaced the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2015.
- It requires schools to report the academic performance of students with disabilities separately, ensuring they cannot be ignored.
- ESSA mandates that most special education students be taught to the same challenging grade-level standards as their peers.
- The law places a strict 1% cap on the number of students who can take simplified, alternate state tests, reserving them only for those with severe cognitive disabilities.
- Schools must provide the standardized testing accommodations listed in a student's IEP.
