NCLB: Defined

I recently attended a conference workshop called, "NCLB:What's In It For Families." I leanred a lot from it, and thought it may be useful to those who still have questions about what it is all about, to post a summary of the information I came back with.

The No Child Left Behind Act is part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that was originally passed by Congress in 1968. It provided for the first time, significant federal funding for k-12 education. The original law has been renewed many times, most recently by NCLB.

The first part of ESEA is "Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged", more commmonly called Title I. Schools that educate the disadvantaged children of this nation receive Title I money, which is the largest portion of the federal k-12 education funds. More than half of all public schools are "Title I schools."

All Title I schools must meet certain requirements set forth by NCLB in order to get federal funding. In addition, additional measures are required in order to ensure that America's neediest students are no longer left behind. NCLB works according to four common-sense principles; accountability, flexibility in how the federal money is spent, scientific research to guide classroom practice, and involving parents by giving them information and choices about their child's education.

For the first time, public schools are being held accountable for results, including results for those groups of children who typically don't perform well. The measure of accountability is Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). AYP is defined by the states. Certain goals are set for student achievement and progress is measured by how well students perform on state developed tests. In Massachusetts, one such test is called the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). To make AYP, schools must meet, or make significant progress towards the levels of achievement defined on these tests. NCLB requires schools test your child in reading and language arts and math every year in grades 3-8 by using a state developed test.
Local report cards are prepared for every school that receives Title I funds. These reports must be easy to understand and available to all parents. This report card will show the results of the state testing for the school as a whole. Individual reports are mailed to the students home. For schools that are in need of improvement (which means they have not made AYP for two consecutive years or longer) options such as school choice and supplemental educational students must be offered. School choice offers parents that option of transferring their student to another public school. The school district must provide transportation for your child. Supplemental Education Services could be free tutoring, homework help, or other extra help outside of the regular school day. Your child may qualify if he or she is eligible for free or reduced priced lunch and they attend a Title I school that has not made AYP for three years or longer.


NCLB gives the states and schools more control and flexibility to use the federal money and resources where they are needed most. Principals and administrators can move funds from one program to another as they see fit.

NCLB provides more federal funding for states than ever before. While the majority of the funding for k-12 education comes from the states and communities, the federal share has been rising, and was at 8.3 percent in 2005, up from 5.7 percent in 1991. Another major component of the federal k-12 education program is the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which has also seen its funding increased in recent years.

NCLB provides funding to help teachers through training and other professional development opportunities. The law also requires that teachers of core academic subjects be highly qualified. Highly qualified is defined as a teacher with one bachelor's degree, full state certification, and demonstrated competence for each subject taught. If your child is in a Title I school, NCLB requires that you know that you have the right to obtain and how to obtain information about the qualifications of your child's teachers.

NCLB requires that districts develop ways for parents to become more involved. This empowers you, as a parent to ask questions and make informed decisions regarding your child's education. Schools must have written policies on parent involvement and provide that information to you.

More than $1 billion a year under NCLB goes to help children learn to read through the Reading First program. This program is dedicated to helping ensure that all children learn to read on grade level by the third grade. The money provides schools the power to support high quality reading programs based on scientific research.

Clearly, I learned a lot about NCLB at this workshop. One of the key things I took back from it was that it's not, in my opinion, as bad as a thought it was. It makes sense for both teachers and children to be held accountable for what they are doing. It makes sense for teacher's to be highly qualified in the subjects they are teaching. Progress should be measured to see if what you are doing is working. I don't think the only measure of this progress should be a state test, in the case of Massachusetts the MCAS. I've said this before and I'll say it again: Some people just don't test well. A brilliant student, who otherwise gets high marks could fail the MCAS and not be able to graduate high school. This is just not right.

I still think my major gripe with NCLB is funding. I just don't think it's right to hold the schools responsible for high standards on a federal level, and then expect the schools, communities and states to come up with most of the funding to support and achieve it. If the public school system is going to be regulated by the federal government, the federal government should pay for it. I suppose there will never be a happy medium when it comes to this type of thing but something somewhere is just not working.

Coming soon...and entry about the proposed cuts to educational funding in my town and how I feel about that.