No Child Left Behind

1. What is No Child Left Behind?

Designed to improve student achievement, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was enacted in 2001 as a strategy for changing the culture of America's schools and improving the success levels of its students. With passage of NCLB, Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The NCLB Act is designed to increase accountability for results; emphasize testing and teaching techniques based on scientific research; expand parental options; and expand local control and flexibility.

2. What will No Child Left Behind do for parents and children?

The intent of NCLB is to support learning in the formative early years of a child's development. NCLB targets the resources needed for early childhood education so all young children can get the pre-reading and language skills necessary for later success.

NCLB also requires that each state measure every public school student's reading and math progress every year in grades 3 through 8 and at least once again during grades 10 through 12. These assessments are aligned with the academic content and achievement standards set for each state. This provides parents with the objective data needed to assess where their child stands academically.

Under the NCLB guidelines, each school district must work with the state to provide parents with readable, detailed report cards on their child's school and district, as well as student achievement data and teacher qualifications. This way parents are supplied with relevant information about the school which their child attends.

3. What must schools do if they do not meet NCLB standards?

Schools must meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP). Each state sets the minimum requirements for improvement that is measurable in terms of student performance. If a school does not make AYP for three years, the district must offer public school choice to all students in the failing school. In addition, students from low-income families are eligible to receive supplemental educational services, such as tutoring or remedial classes, from a state-approved provider.

4. How does NCLB help schools to meet these new standards?

Under NCLB, states and local school districts will receive more federal funding than ever before to support all NCLB programs (www.ed.gov/nclb). A large portion of this funding comes from grants under Title 1 of ESEA. In exchange for the firm standards placed on schools, NCLB allows schools more flexibility in how they can use their federal funding. This means schools have more freedom to implement innovative strategies to help their students succeed.