School leaders across the county are waiting to see the impact of Pennsylvania's Every Student Succeeds Act plan, which was approved Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education.

At first glance, however, they are feeling positive about a promised reduction in standardized testing in the plan.

“That's a message from Harrisburg that they have heard teachers' and parents' pleas to reduce time spent testing,” said Alfonso Angelucci, superintendent at Slippery Rock School District.

Betsy DeVos, U.S. Secretary of Education, approved the state's Every Student Succeeds Act plan, saying the plan should not be seen as a ceiling, “but as a foundation upon which Pennsylvania can improve education for its students.”

The ESSA replaced No Child Left Behind as the federal education law in 2015 and aims to allow states more flexibility in how they educate their students. States were required to create plans to align with the new act to ensure federal funding would continue.

Among the highlights of Pennsylvania's plan is the implementation of a Career Ready Indicator to highlight student success in career exploration activities, reducing the percentage of nonproficient and non-graduating students by half by 2030.

Additionally the plan reduces PSSA testing in English, language arts and math by 20 percent for grades three to eight.

Brian White, superintendent at Butler School District, said he is happy to see a reduction in testing, but the plan is too new to know how else this plan will impact the school.

Administrators at Seneca Valley echoed White's sentiment.

“Of course we believe any plan that improves education funding, a reduction in testing time and allows for greater and more measurable methods of school success is one that benefits all,” said Linda Andreassi, Seneca Valley communications director.

Angelucci said he hopes the cutback in time spent in PSSAs will put more emphasis on teaching and learning for students.

“My hope is that this will translate to an increase in dynamic lessons and programs for our kids,” he said.

The plan also includes the development of the Future Ready PA Index to replace the PA School Performance Profile that gave schools a numerical score based on performance.

The index emphasizes academic growth, a chronic absenteeism measure, four-year and extended year graduation rates and assessments of postsecondary readiness.