The No Child Left Behind Act: An Overview
On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed his landmark education
program into law – generally known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA).
This Act defines a different role for the federal government in education
by refocusing the law on four principles:
• accountability for student achievement of academic standards;
• increased flexibility and local control;
• a greater role for parents in their child’s educational program; and
• greater emphasis on the use of scientifically based instruction.
NCLBA provides a framework within which each state must:
• establish rigorous academic standards;
• establish an annual assessment system; and
• impose consequences on schools and school districts whose assessment results
fail to meet the state’s standard proficiency goals for two or more consecutive
years.
This program is contained within the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) which provides well over $20 billion annually to school districts
in grant assistance primarily to support the education of at-risk students.
Given the large amount of money involved, this act , in effect, operates
as a mandate on states and school districts, and is likely to have a more
pervasive effect on the academics of public instruction than has any other
federal education legislation.
The legislation creates a strong relationship among standards, assessment,
and accountability. Congress placed responsibility for the development of
the standards and assessments on the states, and requires states to have
rigorous content and achievement standards in place immediately for mathematics
and language arts/reading and to have standards in science by the 2005-2006
school year. The content standards must describe what students need to know
and do in those subjects in grades three through eight and at the high school
level. The achievement standards must describe how well students must know
or be able to perform the content standards. Again, state tests must be
aligned with the state’s academic standards and must produce results that
are comparable from year to year. To ensure that students’ performance is
measured against state standards, states must report scores in terms of
proficiency levels rather than as percentile scores. In addition, the act
requires that at least 95% of the children enrolled in the state and at
least 95% of each major subgroup participate in the assessments.
The major subgroups are:
• Economically disadvantaged students
• Students from major racial and ethnic groups
• Students with disabilities
• Students with limited English proficiency
• Students by gender
By school year 2005-06, states must administer annual statewide tests in
mathematics and reading/language arts to children in grades 3-8, and at
least once during grades 10-12, and must provide individual student test
scores. By school year 2007-08, science must be tested at least once in
grades 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12.
NCLB requires publication of both state and local annual “school report
cards” to provide information on student mastery of state academic standards.
In addition to providing overall profiles, these reports are to include
data on the performance of the individual subgroups of students. The report
card must also show the percentage of students not tested, the high school
graduation rate, the student drop out rate, at least one other indicator
selected by the state, and the qualifications of teachers in each school.
Specifically, school districts must report on how well their students are
doing to make “Adequate Yearly Progress”.
Adequate Yearly Progress
Adequate yearly progress (AYP)is at the core of NCLB and the components
of AYP are:
• Timelines,
• Starting points
• Intermediate goals
• Annual measurable objectives
• Other academic indicators (at the high school level this is graduation
rate and at the middle and grade schools this is the attendance rate)
There are AYP expectations for every school in the state. Ultimately, over
the course of 12 years, all students are to reach 100 percent proficiency,
with the first increase to occur no later that 2004-05. The law requires
a schedule for all students in the state to be performing at or above proficient
in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
The law provides an aggressive program of rewards and penalties for Title
1 schools – with the emphasis on the penalties. If a school district or
school fails to make adequate yearly progress for two or more consecutive
years, it is subject to specific interventions, which become increasingly
severe as failure to meet AYP persists. After two consecutive years, schools
and districts will be identified as in need of improvement. Schools in need
of improvement must spend at least 10% of their Title I, Part A funds on
professional development for the school’s teachers and administrator’s.
Schools in need of improvement must also incorporate strategies in their
instructional programs that serve to move students to annual yearly progress
achievement levels. These strategies and programs should be supported by
scientifically based research. In addition, these schools must develop a
two-year plan, in consultation with parents, school staff, the school district
and outside experts that details how the school intends to strengthen the
core academic subjects and how to address the specific academic issues that
caused the school to be identified as needing improvement.
Any Title I elementary or secondary school identified for school improvement
must allow all students in the school the option of transferring to another
successful public school in the district.
If the school fails to meet AYP for the third consecutive year, the district
must continue to offer school choice and must also provide supplemental
services to students using service providers screened and approved by the
state and selected in collaboration with parents.
If a school continues to fail to meet AYP, corrective action then restructuring
are the next consequences.
NCLB (TitleI, Part A)
This part of the legislation requires states to develop plans that will
guarantee that all teachers of core academic subjects (English, reading/language
arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics,
arts, history, and geography) are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06
school year.
The law also requires all paraprofessionals with educational duties working
in programs supported with Title I funds or in a Schoolwide Title I school
to have a high school diploma or its equivalent, plus at least an associate’s
degree or the ability to demonstrate on a formal assessment that they have
the skill necessary to be educational paraprofessionals. In addition, paraprofessionals
may not provide instructional support unless under the direct supervision
of a teacher.
Title I, Part B, Subpart 1 Reading First
The goal of Reading First is to provide funding opportunities to school
districts that will enable them to improve their K-3 reading programs and
provide professional development for teachers so that they will have the
skills to deliver the program
Title I, Part B, Subpart 2 Early Reading First
The Early Reading First Program is designed to help young children from
low-income families enter kindergarten with the reading skills necessary
for academic success. Funds must be used to provide preschool children with
access to high-quality oral language and literature-rich environments. This
is a discretionary grant program.
Title I, Part B, Subpart 3 William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy
This is another discretionary grant program that is designed to provide
services to low-income families and their children, ages seven and younger.
Funds are to be used to assist families most in need of services to provide
the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. There are
four essential educational elements in Even Start:
• Early Childhood Education,
• Adult Education,
• Parenting Education; and
• Parent – Child Activities.
Title I Part H School Dropout Prevention
This program is designed to help schools with dropout rates higher than
their state’s average to develop effective dropout prevention and reentry
programs. These are competitive grants and are awarded to both states and
school districts and can be used for professional development, reducing
student/teacher ratios, counseling, mentoring, and implementing school reform.
Glossary of Terms
Accountability System- Each state sets academic standards for what every child should know and learn. Student academic achievement is measured for every child every year. The results of these annual tests are reported to the public. The state identifies those schools requiring improvement.
Achievement Gap- The difference between how well low-income and
minority children perform on tests as compared with their peers. For many
years, low-income and minority children have been falling behind their white
peers in terms of academic achievement.
Adequate Yearly Progress- An individual state’s measure
of yearly progress toward achieving state academic standards, adequate yearly
progress is the minimum level of improvement that school districts and schools
must achieve each year.
Alternative Certification- Most teachers are required to
have both a college degree in education and state certification before they
may enter the classroom to teach. No Child Left Behind encourages states
to offer other methods of qualification that would allow talented individuals
to teach subjects they know well.
Assessment- Assessment is another word for test. Under
No Child Left Behind, tests are aligned with academic standards. Since 1994,
all schools have been required to administer tests in each of three grade
spans: grades 3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12. Beginning in the 2005-06
school year, tests must be administered every year in grades 3-8 in math
and reading. Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, science achievement must
also be tested in each of the three grade spans.
Charter School- Charter schools are independent public
schools designed and operated by educators, parents, community leaders,
education entrepreneurs and others. They are sponsored by designated local
or state education organizations, which monitor their quality and effectiveness
but allow them to operate outside of the traditional system of public schools.
Comprehension- The ability to understand and gain meaning
from what has been read.
Corrective Action- When a school or school district does
not make adequate yearly progress, the state will place it under a corrective
action plan. The plan will include resources to improve teaching, administration
or curriculum. If failure continues, then the state has increased authority
to make necessary additional changes to ensure improvement.
Disaggregated Data- Disaggregate means to separate a whole
into its parts. In education, this term means that test results are sorted
into groups of students who are economically disadvantaged, from racial
and ethnic minority groups, have disabilities or have limited English fluency.
This practice allows parents and teachers to see more than just the average
score for their child’s school. Instead, parents and teachers can see how
each student group is performing.
Distinguished Schools- Awards granted to schools that make
major gains in achievement.
Early Reading First- This is a nationwide effort to provide
funds to school districts and other public or private organizations that
serve children from low=-income families. The Department of Education will
make competitive six-year grants to local education agencies to support
early language, literacy and pre-reading development of preschool-age children,
particularly those from low-income families.
Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) - ESEA, which was first enacted in
1065, is the principal federal law affecting K-12 education. The No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001 is the most recent reauthorization of the ESEA.
Flexibility- This term refers to a new way of funding public
education. No Child Left Behind gives states and school districts unprecedented
options for using federal education dollars in exchange for strong accountability
for results.
Fluency- The capacity to read text accurately and quickly.
Local Education Agency (LEA) - An LEA is a public board of education, or other public authority within a state, that maintains administrative control of public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district or other political subdivision of a state.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) - An independent benchmark, NAEP is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what American students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, the National Center for Education Statistics has conducted NAEP assessments in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, geography, civics and the arts.
Phonemic Awareness- The ability to hear and identify individual
sounds or phonemes in spoken words.
Phonics- The relationship between the letters of written
language and the sounds of spoken language.
Public School Choice - Students in failing schools will
have the option to transfer to a better public school or charter school
within the same district. The school districts will be required to provide
transportation to the students. Priority will be given to low=income students.
Reading First- A bold new national initiative aimed at
helping every child in every state become a successful reader.
State Education Agency (SEA) - An SEA is the agency primarily
responsible for the state supervision of public elementary and secondary
schools.
Supplemental Services - Students from low-income families
who are attending schools that have been identified as failing for two years
will be eligible to receive outside tutoring or academic assistance. Parents
can choose the appropriate services for heir child from a list of approved
providers. The school district will purchase the services.
Teacher Quality - To ensure that every classroom has a
highly-qualified teacher; states and districts around the country are using
innovative programs to address immediate and long-term needs, including
alternative recruitment strategies, new approaches to professional development,
financial incentive programs, partnerships with local universities and much
more.
Title I - Title I refers to programs aimed at America’s
most disadvantaged students. Title I Part A provides assistance to improve
the teaching and learning of children in high-poverty schools to enable
those children to meet challenging state academic content and performance
standards. Title I reaches about 12.5 million students enrolled in both
public and private middle schools.
Transferability- New funding flexibility authority that
allows states and local education agencies to transfer a portion of the
funds that they receive under certain federal programs to other programs
to most effectively address their unique needs.
Unsafe School Choice
Option- Students who attend persistently dangerous public schools or have
been victims of violent crime at school are allowed to transfer to a safer
public school.
Vocabulary- the words students must know to read effectively.