No Child Left Behind Highlights
In 2001, Congress passed President Bush’s No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), re-authorizing the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of
1965. The ESEA establishes guidelines for
distributing federal money to states for education
purposes. In order to receive federal funding,
states must comply with the ESEA guidelines. The
following are reforms contained in the 2001
reauthorization.
Education Department Issues Final Regulations for NCLB
On Nov. 26, 2002, Secretary of Education Rod Paige
released the final regulations for the NCLB. Included in
the regulations are clarifications on accountability
measures, the definition of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP),
paraprofessional requirements and school choice
provisions. Most significantly, the regulations clarified
that states can integrate AYP formulas into their existing
accountability systems. Many state officials worried that
current systems would have to be abandoned after years of
development in order to meet the requirements of the law.
The added flexibility should assist states in effectively
implementing the NCLB. For more information on the NCLB or
to view the regulations, visit http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov/.
Accountability
Probably the most significant reforms contained in the
NCLBA are the provisions establishing new guidelines for
accountability. According to the NCLBA, states must create
standards for what a child should know and learn for all
grades. States have until the 2005-06 school year to
develop standards for science, but must develop math and
reading standards immediately. Once the standards are in
place, states must test each student's progress toward
those standards by using tests that are aligned with the
standards. Beginning in the 2002-03 school year, schools
must administer tests in each of three grade spans: grades
3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12 in all schools.
Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, tests must be
administered every year in grades 3 through 8 in math and
reading. Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, science
achievement must also be tested. Each state, school
district and school will be expected to make adequate
yearly progress toward meeting state standards. Adequate
yearly progress will be measured for all students by
sorting test results of students who are economically
disadvantaged, from racial or ethnic minority groups, have
disabilities or have limited English proficiency. School
and district performance will be publicly reported to the
public in district and state report cards. Individual
school results will be included in the district report
cards. If a district or school continually fails to make
adequate progress toward the standards, it will be subject
to sanctions ranging from a loss of funding to complete
restructuring and state take-over. For complete
information on the accountability provisions of the NCLBA,
visit http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov/
Funding
The Texas Education Agency estimates that Texas will
receive $3.4 billion dollars in federal funding and
approximately $470 million in new funding under NCLBA. The
funding will be broken up into grants for programs under
each title of the NCLBA and will be allocated either as
competitive grants to districts, formula grants to
education agencies for specific programs, or discretionary
grants for activities fitting within the scope of a given
title. The largest block grant is allocated under Title I,
which contains the largest amount of discretionary
funding. Discretionary funding is funding that local
education agencies can use as they see fit provided it is
with in the scope of Title I. Title I funding will be
distributed to 99 percent of Texas school districts,
binding those districts to comply with the reforms of the
NCLBA.
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