Questions, Better Stories

Chicago • October 6–7, 2016

EWA’s Special Seminar Focused on the New Federal Law

Fourteen years after the groundbreaking and controversial No Child Left Behind Act became law, Congress finally passed legislation to replace it. As NCLB gives ways to the Every Student Succeeds Act, the relationship between the federal government and the nation’s roughly 100,000 public schools is in the midst of a potentially historic reset. The new law, which determines how billions of federal education dollars are distributed across the country, is less prescriptive than NCLB, leaving more to states’ discretion. What will states do with this new freedom? Will they hunch into compliance mode or take advantage of the revamped law to innovate and improve their education systems?

Join the Education Writers Association Oct. 6-7 in Chicago to equip yourself with questions and story ideas for covering the rollout of ESSA — the new version of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Compare what the accountability provisions allow with what your state envisions; explore new ways states can assess student performance; learn how to monitor the way your state doles out federal funding; examine teacher-quality issues; and receive guidance from national reporters on monitoring what your state proposes to do.

This journalists-only seminar will take place from approximately 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, to 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7. Travel scholarships for eligible journalists are available.