No Child Left Behind

2001

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) derived from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). This is a federal law that authorizes federal spending toward K -12 education. ESEA was enacted to provide all students, especially low-income students, with opportunities for equal education. NCLB was enacted under the Bush administration. There are many federal programs covered under NCLB. The areas of NCLB to receive the most attention are their testing, accountability, and school improvement requirements. All public schools are to rest their students and then publicly post the test results as accountability measures. NCLB state that all students were to be proficient in math and reading by the year 2014. To work towards this goal, the schools were to state their “adequate yearly progress” towards this goal. Schools who were not able to reach their yearly goals after two consecutive years would be identified as “school improvement” and have to develop a school improvement plan and devote 10 percent of the federal funds to professional development. In 2011, the Obama administration allowed for certain states to receive waivers under the No Child Left Behind Act if they adopted certain educational ideas. As of today, 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are receiving the ESEA waiver.