Weekend Reads: Meet ESSA, the new NCLB that (maybe) ends the accountability era

The Every Student Succeeds Act, the NCLB replacement that became law this week, keeps testing but loses accountability, basically. Politics K-12
The new law represents a repudiation of outgoing U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s approach. FiveThirtyEight
But it’s not at all clear how much it will actually change life for individual students and teachers. The Atlantic
How ESSA is like a “Game of Thrones” plot point about the randomness of destiny Andy Rotherham
The Common Core takes another blow this week when New York’s governor recommends revising the standards there. Chalkbeat
New York City’s teachers union president lists three “school ‘reform’ myths,” starting with the idea that merit pay works. Education Week
American students aren’t tested a lot, at least compared to their counterparts in lots of other countries. The Hechinger Report
Twins whose teachers have very different philosophies show their mother the value and danger of homework. Motherlode
A growing number of Teach For America teachers are second-generation — they were taught by TFA teachers themselves. The 74 Million
Schools with many poor students don’t just have inexperienced teachers — many have temporary teachers. The Washington Post
An English teacher is polling her colleagues about how they include fiction in the age of Common Core. On the Shoulders of Giants
A science teacher shares her journey from teaching about rocks to getting her middle schoolers to code. Chalkbeat
The success of coding curriculums depends on their implementation, as two Arizona districts illustrate. Education Week
A Chicago school founded with a gaming focus is changing approaches to avoid closure. Catalyst
Can people without kids have “skin in the game” of education policy? Here’s an argument for yes. Grand Rounds
Get to know a Colorado school that has no graduation gap among students of different ethnicities. Chalkbeat