On Jan. 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 (NCLB). This new law represents his education reform plan and contains
the most sweeping changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
since it was enacted in 1965. It changes the federal government's role in kindergarten-through-grade-12
education by asking America's schools to describe their success in terms of what
each student accomplishes. The act contains the President's four basic education
reform principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility
and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods
that have been proven to work.
An "accountable" education system involves several critical steps:
- States create their own standards for what a child should know and learn for all grades. Standards must be developed in math and reading immediately. Standards must also be developed for science by the 2005-06 school year.
- With standards in place, states must test every student's progress toward those standards by using tests that are aligned with the standards. Beginning in the 2002-03 school year, schools must administer tests in each of three grade spans: grades 3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12 in all schools. Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, tests must be administered every year in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading. Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, science achievement must also be tested.
- Each state, school district, and school will be expected to make adequate yearly progress toward meeting state standards. This progress will be measured for all students by sorting test results for students who are economically disadvantaged, from racial or ethnic minority groups, have disabilities, or have limited English proficiency.
- School and district performance will be publicly reported in district and state report cards. Individual school results will be on the district report cards.
- If the district or school continually fails to make adequate progress toward the standards, then they will be held accountable.
The U.S. Department of Education wants to be a partner with states and school districts, and a resource for families and community members. If you have additional questions about No Child Left Behind, we encourage you to visit this website frequently. Also visit www.ed.gov for more detailed information about the legislation.
Overview
As we mention above, the No Child Left Behind Act gives our schools and our country the most groundbreaking education reform in many years. The U.S. Congress thought it was so important that they passed it by overwhelming majorities of Democrats and Republicans.
Many people are interested in these new plans to improve education for our children--parents, educators, and people in your community like the small business owner down the street. The Department of Education realizes that few people have the time to read the whole law, so we have put together an overview of some of the most important points. If you would like more detailed information, please visit our website at www.ed.gov and look for "No Child Left Behind." You'll find more there.
Here is a description of the four basic education reform principles in No Child Left Behind: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work. These ideals are the foundation for the changes that you'll see in your local schools in the next few years.
Stronger Accountability For Results
States are responsible for having strong academic standards for what every child should know and learn in reading, math, and science for elementary, middle and high schools. Beginning in the 2002-03 school year, schools must administer tests in each of three grade spans: grades 3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12 in all schools. Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, tests must be administered every year in grades 3 through 8. Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, science achievement must also be tested.
- Results of these tests will show up in annual state and district report cards, so parents can measure their school's performance and their state's progress.
- The state and district reports that parents see will show results for every student group. These reports show us achievement gaps between students who are economically disadvantaged, from racial and ethnic minority groups, have disabilities, or have limited English proficiency. The report cards will also sort results by gender and migrant status. Having this information will help close the achievement gap between students of different groups and make sure that no child is left behind.
- Schools will be responsible for improving the academic performance of all students, and there will be real consequences for districts and schools that fail to make progress.
- Within twelve years, all students must perform at a proficient level under their state standards. But, states will set their own standards for each grade--so each state will say how well children should be reading at the end of third grade, for example. Interested parents, families, and taxpayers can look to their state for detailed information about its academic standards.
Record Flexibility for States and Communities
The new law gives all 50 states and every local school district in America greater say in using the federal education dollars they receive every year.
- States will have more freedom to direct more of their federal education money. That means local people will have more say about which programs they think will help their students the most.
- No Child Left Behind combines and simplifies programs, so that schools don't have to cut through as much red tape to get and use federal funding.
Concentrating Resources on Proven Education Methods
No Child Left Behind will target education dollars to research-based programs that have been proven to help most children learn.
- In 2002, $900 million will be distributed to states for the President's Reading First plan.
- Federal dollars will be tied to programs that use scientifically proven ways of teaching children to read.
- Communities will benefit from a federally funded program called Early Reading First. This program will help develop language and reading skills for pre-school children, especially those from low-income families.
- Schools and teachers will get a boost from the more than $4 billion in 2002 that allows schools to promote teacher quality through training and recruitment.
More Choices for Parents
No Child Left Behind offers many new ways to help students, schools, and teachers. It also gives parents options for helping their children if they are enrolled in chronically failing schools. In fact these new parental choices will be available starting in the 2002-03 school year for students already enrolled in schools that have been identified as failing under current law.
- Parents with a child enrolled in a failing school will be able to transfer their child to a better performing public school or public charter school.
- For the first time, parents with children in a failing school will be able to use federal education funds for what are called "supplemental education services." Those services include tutoring, after school services, and summer school programs.
- In 2002 approximately $200 million in federal funds could be available to state and local communities to help establish and fund charter schools. Parents interested in charter schools should check for information in their local school district or their state education agency. They can also check out the Department of Education website www.ed.gov for further information.
Back to Top
|
Official U.S. Department of Education web site.