EdTrust recently published a report using an “equity analysis” to critique states’ accountability plans, recommending several steps states might take to improve their systems. Despite the language of “equity” and attention to “asset-based” framings of educational data, the vision of what high-quality accountability structures would look like and would do simply recycles the naïve hopes that fueled the original push for NCLB. Relying heavily on indicators and tools that EdTrust has developed or compiled itself, it does not see the historical record of failure as a reason to abandon the approach. In critiquing state ESSA plans, it offers nothing more original than the very same strategy that gave rise to ESSA in the first place.

Suggested Citation: Gottlieb, D. (2024). NEPC review: Reassessing ESSA implementation: An equity analysis of school accountability systems. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from https://nepc.colorado.edu/review/essa