print this pageNo Child Left Behind Act
On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act - the most sweeping reform of federal education policy in a generation. The legislation, which closely follows the President's agenda to improve America's public schools, passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
- Accountability for Results: Creates strong standards in each state for what every child should know and learn in reading and math in grades 3-8. Student progress and achievement will be measured for every child, every year.
- Results from these tests will be made available in annual report cards so parents can measure school performance and statewide progress, evaluate the quality of their child's school, the qualifications of teachers, and their child's progress in key subjects.
- Statewide reports will show progress for all student groups in closing achievement gaps between disadvantaged students and other groups of students.
- Schools will be held accountable for improving performance of all student groups, so every school will be performing at proficient levels within 12 years.
- Unprecedented State & Local Flexibility & Reduced Red Tape: Provides new flexibility for all 50 states and every local school district in America in the use of federal education funds.
- Every local school district in America and all 50 states will receive the freedom to target up to 50 percent of federal non-Title I dollars to programs that will have the most positive impact on the students they serve.
- The new law consolidates and streamlines programs and targets resources to existing programs that serve poor students, reducing the overall number of ESEA programs from 55 to 45.
- Focusing Resources on Proven Educational Methods: Focuses educational dollars on proven, research-based approaches that will most help children to learn.
- Implements President Bush's Reading First initiative by increasing federal funding for reading programs from $300 million in FY 2001 to more than $900 million in FY 2002, and tying federal funding to the use of scientifically-proven methods of reading instruction.
- Implements a new Early Reading First program to support early language, literacy, and pre-reading development of preschool-age children, particularly those from low-income families.
- Strengthens teacher quality by providing $2.8 billion for teacher quality programs and allowing local school districts to use additional federal funds to hire new teachers, increase teacher pay, improve teacher training and development or other uses.
- Expanded Choices for Parents: Enhances options for parents with children in chronically failing schools - and makes these options available immediately in the 2002-03 school year for students in thousands of schools already identified as failing under current law.
- Public/Charter School Choice: Once a school is identified as failing, parents will be allowed to transfer their child to a better-performing public or charter school.
- Supplemental Services: For the first time, federal Title I funds (approximately $500 to $1,000 per child) can be used to provide supplemental educational services - including tutoring, after school services, and summer school programs - for children in failing schools. Services can be provided by faith- and community-based organizations.
- Charter Schools: Expands the charter school initiative, creating more opportunities for parents, educators and interested community leaders to create schools outside the education establishment.
Accountability for Results
Problem
- Since the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was signed into law in 1965, the federal government has spent more than $130 billion to improve public schools.
- Unfortunately, this investment in education has not reduced the achievement gap between well-off and lower-income students or between minority students and non-minority students.
Solution
The NCLB Act will strengthen Title I accountability by requiring States to implement statewide accountability systems covering all public schools and students.
- These systems must be based on challenging State standards in reading and mathematics, annual testing for all students in grades 3-8, and annual statewide progress objectives ensuring that all groups of students reach proficiency within 12 years.
- Assessment results and State progress objectives must be broken out by student groups based on poverty, race and ethnicity, disability, and limited English proficiency to ensure that no group is left behind.
- School districts and schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward statewide proficiency goals will over time be subject to corrective action and restructuring measures aimed at getting them back on course to meet State standards.
- If a school fails to make AYP for two consecutive years, it will be identified as needing improvement and must develop improvement plans incorporating strategies from scientifically based research. School districts will be required to offer public school choice (unless prohibited by state law) to all students in the failing school no later than the first day of the school year following identification. The district must provide transportation to the new school.
- If a school fails to make AYP for a third consecutive year, the district must continue to offer public school choice and provide Title I funds (approximately $500 to $1,000 per child) for low-achieving disadvantaged students in the school to obtain supplemental services -- tutoring, after school services, or summer school programs -- from the public- or private-sector provider selected by their parents from a State-approved list. Twenty percent of Title I funds at the local school district level must be used for public school choice and supplemental services.
- If a school fails to make AYP for a fourth consecutive year, it will be subject to increasingly tough corrective actions-such as replacing school staff or significantly decreasing management authority at the school level. If a school continues to fail, the school could ultimately face restructuring, which involves a fundamental change in governance, such as a State takeover or placement under private management.
- Schools that meet or exceed AYP objectives or close achievement gaps will be eligible for State Academic Achievement Awards.
For more information on the President's initiatives,please visit www.whitehouse.gov
Click HERE to view the rest of this article