What is the No Child Left Behind Act?

1. It’s information

The NCLB Act requires states and school districts to give parents easy-to-read, detailed report cards on schools and districts, telling them which ones are succeeding and why. Included in the report cards are student achievement data broken out by race, ethnicity, gender, English language proficiency, migrant status, disability status and low-income status; as well as important information about the professional qualifications of teachers. With these provisions, No Child Left Behind ensures that parents have important, timely information about the schools their children attend–whether they are performing well or not for all children, regardless of their background.

2. It’s improvements

Low-performing schools must use their federal funds to make needed improvements. In the event of a school’s continued poor performance, parents have options to ensure that their children receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled. That might mean that children can transfer to higher-performing schools in the area or receive supplemental educational services in the community, such as tutoring, after-school programs or remedial classes.

3. It’s monitoring performance

Teachers and school officials will have access to better information via annual tests measuring children’s progress. With this knowledge, teachers can craft lessons to make sure each student meets or exceeds the standards. In addition, principals can use the data to assess exactly how much progress each teacher’s students have made and to better inform decisions about how to manage their schools.

4. It’s improving teaching

No Child Left Behind defines the qualifications needed by teachers.  States are required to include in their annual plans , measurable objectives for each school district and they must report on their progress in the annual report cards.

5. It’s more resources for schools
States and local school districts are receiving more federal funding for programs under No Child Left Behind.

6. It’s more flexibility
In exchange for the strong accountability, No Child Left Behind gives states and local education agencies more flexibility in the use of their federal education funding. As a result, principals and administrators spend have more time to devote to students’ needs. They have more freedom to implement innovations and allocate resources as policymakers at the state and local levels see fit, thereby giving local people a greater opportunity to affect decisions regarding their schools’ programs.

7. It’s about what works
No Child Left Behind emphasizes the implementation of those educational programs and practices that work. For example, the Reading First program makes federal funds available to help reading teachers in the early grades strengthen old skills and gain new ones in instructional techniques that scientifically based research has shown to be effective.

Some schools in cities and towns across the nation are succeeding to create high achievement for children with a history of low performance. If those schools can do it, then all schools should be able to do it!

The No Child Left Behind Act will help allow parents to better know their children’s strengths and weaknesses and how well their school are performing. There will be more options and resources for helping children in schools that need of improvement.

Teachers will have the training and resources they need for teaching effectively, using curricula that are grounded in scientifically based research; annual testing lets them know areas in which students need extra attention.

Principals will have information they need to strengthen their schools’ weaknesses and to put into practice methods and strategies backed by sound, scientific research.

Superintendents will be able to see which of their schools and principals are doing the best job and which need help to improve.

School boards will be able to measure how their districts are doing and to measure their districts in relation to others across the state; they will have more and better information on which to base decisions about priorities in their districts.

Chief state school officers will know how the schools in their states and in other states are doing; they will be better able to pinpoint where guidance and resources are needed.

Governors will have a yearly report card on how their states’ schools are doing; they will be able to highlight accomplishments of the best schools and target help to those schools that are in need of improvement.

Community leaders and volunteer groups will have information they can use to rally their members in efforts to help children and schools that need the most help.