No Child Left Behind: Writing the Next Chapter

The last reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was on Jan. 8, 2002, when President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Before NCLB, the federal government’s role in education was limited to provided additional resources to targeted groups of disadvantaged students—the homeless, those living in dire poverty, and those needing special education. Grant conditions for these federal funds applied to specific activities in specific programs.

NCLB—with 1,000 pages of statutes and 1,000 pages of regulations—changed all that. As its name implies, the law affects all students in all public schools, not just those in schools receiving Title 1 funds. It prescribes school, district and state interventions, consequences for failing to meet proficiency targets, and teacher qualifications. Its testing and reporting requirements and its accountability system apply to all students in all schools that receive federal funding from the law.