ESSA just removes the federal requirements for proficiency levels set by NCLB (i.e., 100% of students will be proficient by 2011&#x2F;2012 and all the safe harbor calculations that came with this mandate). ESSA, however, it stills requires states to test in grades 3-8 and 11 and to develop success indicators including test scores, school climate (e.g., suspension and expulsion rates, graduation rates, and completion of advanced courses (e.g., AP&#x2F;IB courses).<p>The biggest change is that state will have the freedom to develop their own local set of success indicators rather than relying on the federal department of education to tell which schools are successful and which are not.  If you are in California, take a look at the CORE districts to have an idea about where the CA department of education is heading towards in regards of school and district accountability measures.<p>Back on topic: Kindergarten is actually still optional for California&#x27; students (see, <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cde.ca.gov&#x2F;ci&#x2F;gs&#x2F;em&#x2F;kindergartenfaq.asp" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cde.ca.gov&#x2F;ci&#x2F;gs&#x2F;em&#x2F;kindergartenfaq.asp</a> and CA Ed Code Section 48010). There is some push in Sacramento to make kindergarten mandatory but the initiative is still gaining support. It is known that children from low social-economic status are at a disadvantage ausually nd start kindergarten with a developmental gap worth between 1-2 years of instruction.<p>Making kindergarten compulsory and pre-kindergarten optional is a step in the direction of strengthening early education and hopefully closing the achievement gap from an early age (in fact, we can already tell in 3rd grade which students will be successful and which will struggle by their reading test scores).