No Child Left Behind Act (2001)

The Act as Intended

NCLB required schools to focus on providing quality education to students who are often underserved; this includes children with disabilities, children from low-income families, non-English speakers, African American students, and Latinos. The law set a lofty goal of making all students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. Schools were to ensure that all students learned essential skills and gained knowledge, as defined by each state annually, using predetermined grade-level standards and benchmarks.

With the implementation of NCLB, school funding was tied directly to accountability expectations, as measured by various standardized tests. Through NCLB, states were required to assess third- through eighth-grade students annually in reading and mathematics. These tests were to be based on state standards that reflected “high expectations,” and improvement among disadvantaged children was to be demonstrated by each school's attainment of adequate yearly progress (AYP).

According to the provisions of the act, schools unable to demonstrate AYP were to be provided with assistance and would be subject to escalating corrective actions. Further, under NCLB, schools were required to ensure that they were employing “highly qualified” teachers, meaning those who were degreed, certified, and able to dispense instruction based on “scientifically based research” methods in their classrooms.

In exchange for implementing these greater accountability measures, NCLB was to provide states with flexibility and far-reaching control over how they used a generous outpouring of federal funds for needed items such as teacher retention, professional development, and technology training; states were to be given greater flexibility and control over their programs; and parents in underperforming or unsafe schools that could not meet AYP were to be provided with detailed reports of their students’ achievement and given options, such as school transfers and tutoring.

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