Dive Brief:

• The U.S. House of Representatives voted 359-64 Wednesday in favor of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
• The legislation, the latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is expected to pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Barack Obama and will scale back federal involvement in schools for the first time since the 1980s.
• The House was expected to be the last real hurdle for the bill, which first marked a significant compromise between Senate Democrats and Republicans before final negotiations were made in a joint House-Senate committee.

Dive Insight:

Guidelines within the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaces the highly unpopular No Child Left Behind, will put decisions regarding accountability, school turnarounds, and teacher evaluations in the hands of individual states, additionally curbing the federal government's ability to promote uniform standards, like Common Core. However, the law also maintains annual reading and math testing mandates for certain grades, and students’ race, income, and disability status will also still be used in reporting those results, the New York Times reports.

In a statement, outgoing Rep. John Kline (R-MN), who chairs the House Education Committee, said, "No Child Left Behind was based on good intentions, but it was also based on the flawed premise that Washington knows what students need to succeed in school."

Also notable, as EdSurge points out, is the legislation's attempt to define popular buzzwords like "educational technology" and "blended learning." 

With the law's scaling back of the U.S. secretary of education's power, state education officials will shoulder a heavy burden, though many are welcoming the increased control they'll have when they get a firmer grip on the reins.