No Child Left Behind | United States education [2001]

No Child Left Behind (NCLB), in full No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, U.S. federal law aimed at improving public primary and secondary ... NoChildLeftBehind TableofContents NoChildLeftBehind Introduction FastFacts Facts&RelatedContent More MoreArticlesOnThisTopic AdditionalReading Contributors ArticleHistory Home Politics,Law&Government Law,Crime&Punishment NoChildLeftBehind UnitedStateseducation[2001] Actions Cite verifiedCite Whileeveryefforthasbeenmadetofollowcitationstylerules,theremaybesomediscrepancies. Pleaserefertotheappropriatestylemanualorothersourcesifyouhaveanyquestions. SelectCitationStyle MLA APA ChicagoManualofStyle CopyCitation Share Share Sharetosocialmedia Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/No-Child-Left-Behind-Act GiveFeedback ExternalWebsites Feedback Corrections?Updates?Omissions?Letusknowifyouhavesuggestionstoimprovethisarticle(requireslogin). 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Alternatetitles:NCLB,NoChildLeftBehindActof2001 By BrianDuignan SeeAll LastUpdated: Oct10,2022 EditHistory TableofContents Date: January2002 ...(Showmore) Location: UnitedStates ...(Showmore) KeyPeople: GeorgeW.Bush JohnBoehner ...(Showmore) Seeallrelatedcontent→ NoChildLeftBehind(NCLB),infullNoChildLeftBehindActof2001,U.S.federallawaimedatimprovingpublicprimaryandsecondaryschools,andthusstudentperformance,viaincreasedaccountabilityforschools,schooldistricts,andstates.TheactwaspassedbyCongresswithbipartisansupportinDecember2001andsignedintolawbyPres.GeorgeW.BushinJanuary2002.NCLBintroducedsignificantchangesinthecurriculumofpublicprimaryandsecondaryschoolsintheUnitedStatesanddramaticallyincreasedfederalregulationofstateschoolsystems.Underthelaw,stateswererequiredtoadministeryearlytestsofthereadingandmathematicsskillsofpublicschoolstudentsandtodemonstrateadequateprogresstowardraisingthescoresofallstudentstoaleveldefinedas“proficient”orhigherby2014.Teacherswerealsorequiredtomeethigherstandardsforcertification.Schoolsthatfailedtomeettheirgoalswouldbesubjecttograduallyincreasingsanctions,eventuallyincludingreplacementofstafforclosure.SupportersofNCLBciteditsinitialsuccessinincreasingthetestscoresofminoritystudents,whohistoricallyperformedatlowerlevelsthanwhitestudents.Indeed,Bushinthe2000presidentialcampaignhadtoutedtheproposedlawasaremedyforwhathecalled“thesoftbigotryoflowexpectations”facedbythechildrenofminorities.Critics,however,complainedthatthefederalgovernmentwasnotprovidingenoughfundingtoimplementthelaw’srequirementsandthatithadusurpedthestates’traditionalcontrolofeducationasprovidedforintheConstitution.Moreover,theychargedthatthelawwasactuallyerodingthequalityofeducationbyforcingschoolsto“teachtothetest”ortolowerstandardsofproficiencywhileneglectingotherpartsofthecurriculum,suchashistory,socialscience,andart.FollowingunsuccessfuleffortsinCongresstoremovethe2014proficiencydeadlinefromNCLB,theBarackObamaadministrationacceptedapplicationsforwaiversofthedeadlinein2011.Thefollowingyearwaiversweregrantedtostatesthathadreformedtheiracademicstandardsandestablishedplansforimprovingpoorlyperformingschoolsandforevaluatingtheeffectivenessofteachersandprincipals. In2015ObamasignedintolawtheEveryStudentSucceedsAct(ESSA),whichrescindedseveralofthemost-unpopularprovisionsofNCLB.Underthenewlaw,forexample,stateswerestillrequiredtoadministerstandardizedfederaltestsbuthadgreaterlatitudeindetermininghowandwhensuchtestswouldbegiven.Stateswerealsopermittedtoincludeothermeasuresofstudentandschoolperformanceintheiraccountabilitysystemswithinbroadfederalguidelines.ESSAencouraged,butdidnotrequire,statestodeveloptheirownteacher-evaluationsystemsandeliminatedNCLB’srequirementthatteachersincoresubjectsbe“highlyqualified.”Italsopermittedschooldistrictstodesigntheirownremediesforimprovingpoorlyperformingschoolswithtechnicalassistancefromthestates. JeannetteL.Nolen BrianDuignan TheEditorsofEncyclopaediaBritannica