 The No Child Left Behind Act and
High School Reform
Published 2005
Executive Summary
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In 2001, Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The law includes significant requirements, sanctions, incentives and resources for states and offers both challenges and opportunities for state policymakers. These include increased accountability for states, school districts and schools; greater choice for parents and students, particularly those who attend low-performing schools; requirements that education methods and practices be proven effective through scientific research; and more flexibility for states and local educational agencies in the use of federal education funding.
The goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is to close or dramatically narrow the differences in achievement among American students with regard to skin color, ethnicity, English language proficiency, disability, and economic status. State legislatures and local schools have been working for many years to achieve this goal. The standards-based reform movement, which has gained momentum during the last two decades, was created to improve education quality for all students and to address the academic achievement gap. With the passage of NCLB, state legislators, policymakers and education officials are expected to increase efforts to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, receive a quality education and meet state standards.
Although much of the attention around the No Child Left Behind Act has focused on its effects on elementary and middle schools, the law also significantly affects high schools. If high schools are receiving NCLB Title I funds, they are subject to the same sanctions with regard to school choice, supplemental educational services, corrective action and restructuring. At present, fewer than one in 10 high schools receive Title I funding; as a result, states and local education agencies are not required to apply the rewards and sanctions that are the centerpieces of NCLB accountability to the vast majority of American high schools. States and districts can, however, create state accountability systems that use state law and funding to hold all high schools to the standards of NCLB, ensuring that high schools increase the number of proficient students and graduation rates for all students.
This report examines the opportunities and challenges presented by the No Child Left Behind Act for state legislatures that are working on high school reform agendas. Most of the requirements of the act, including all that are referenced in this report, apply to all school levels and are not unique to high schools; however, state policymakers may wish to understand how the requirements, sanctions, incentives and resources apply to recent and ongoing high school initiatives at the state policy level. This report focuses on the No Child Left Behind Act through the lens of high school redesign efforts in the states.
posted 2/24/2006
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