Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was enacted in 2015, replacing the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002. ESSA sets high standards and contains policies that help prepare all students for success in college and future careers. It prioritizes excellence and equity, and recognizes the importance of supporting great educators in our nation’s schools.

What ESSA means in our schools

  • Advancing equity by upholding critical protections for America’s disadvantaged and high-need students

  • Requiring that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college and careers

  • Ensuring that vital information is provided to educators, families, students and communities through annual statewide assessments that measure students’ progress toward those high standards

  • Helping to support and grow local innovations, including evidence-based and place-based interventions developed by local leaders and educators

  • Sustaining and expanding increasing access to high-quality preschool

  • Maintaining an expectation that there will be accountability and action to effect positive change in the performance of our schools, where groups of students are not making progress, and where graduation rates are low over extended periods of time


Parental Involvement

CCSD believes that positive parent and family engagement is essential to student achievement, and thus encourages such participation in school educational planning and operations.

Chatham CSD Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy

Parental Right to Request and Review Teacher Qualifications


ESSA Complaint Procedures

New York State ESSA-Funded Programs Complaint Procedures


Families in Temporary Housing

If your housing is uncertain or unstable, students have education rights and can receive supports and services under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001, which is now a component of ESSA.

To learn more, please visit our Homeless Students and Families page.