No Child Left Behind

January 8, 2002 the Act of 2001 called No Child Left Behind became a law signed by President Bush. It came in at a time when the state of education was in the forefront of public concern. The legislation for the NCLB placed requirements in place that were spread across the majority of public schools in the United States. The federal role in education was expanded and focused its aim on disadvantaged students and improving their educational level.

The core of the act

In the very heart of the No Child Left Behind Act, student achievements were driven by a number of measures for improvements and states as well as schools were held in stricter accountability for the progress of its students. Significant changes were made to the landscape of education through this Act.

Testing Annually

By the school year from 2005-2006, required testing was to be administered by the states beginning at the third grade level through the eighth grade level in mathematics and reading. By the school year 2007 to 2008 tests were administered in elementary school, middle school, and high school. These tests had to meet state academic standards. In every state samples of 4th graders and 8th graders participated in a National Assessment of Educational Process. This testing program covered reading and math. This provided a point of comparison for the test results from the state.

Academic Progression

All students in every state were required to be brought up to a proficient level in state testing by the school session of 2013-2014. Adequate yearly progress for target goals were required on each individual school level. This was applied to the student populations on the whole and some demographic subgroups. Schools that received Federal Title I funding and failed to meet the target within two consecutive years, it would be given technical assistance and students would be given the opportunity to select a different public school to attend. For those who failed to reach an adequate progress within a three year period were given additional educational services that were supplemental that also includes private tutors. If failures continued on, the school would be subject to additional corrective measures and other governing changes.

The Report Card

At the start of the 2002-2003 school year, each state was required to provide report cards on an annual basis that offered a range of information that includes data of student achievements were broken down by different subgroups and other information of how the districts performed. Each District must also furnish a similar report card that shows data school by school.