provisions
Requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act are complex and open to multiple interpretations. The main components of the act include:

Every state must test all students annually in reading and math in grades 3 – 8 and 11. By 2007-08, students must be tested in science too.

The state definition of AYP must include measurements against state standards instead of a norm-referenced test. The state definition must define AYP so that in 12 years all students will achieve at the state-defined “proficient” level.

The state is required to ‘raise the bar’ gradually, but in equal increments to reach 100% proficiency,

States must demonstrate ‘adequate yearly progress’ toward state learning standards for all students. Along with overall student achievement, specific subgroups must also be measured including:

  • economically disadvantaged students
  • racial/ethnic groups
  • disabled students
  • limited English proficient students

The goal is to achieve 100% proficiency for all students by the 2013-2014 school year.

  • In May 2005, the US Department of Education announced that two percent of all students being tested could take a modified test and have their scores count toward adequate yearly progress. The 2% is in addition to the current 1% flexibility covering students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The new flexibility is not automatically implemented. States must revise their accountability plan and detail how they would utilize the new flexibility in their state.

There must be ‘highly qualified’ teachers to teach core academic subjects in every classroom. Specifically, an elementary school teacher must have a bachelor’s degree and pass a rigorous test in core curriculum areas. Middle and high school teachers must demonstrate competency in the subject matters they teach by passing a test or by completing an academic major, graduate degree or comparable coursework.

Teachers in kindergarten through third grade must teach reading based on ‘scientifically based’ reading research. Schools may be eligible for “Reading First” grants to assist with improving reading instruction.

Most teachers’ aides and other ‘paraprofessionals’ must complete two years of college or the equivalent type of training by the end of the recently completed 2005/2006 school year

States must have an ‘Unsafe School Choice Option’ – a plan that allows students to transfer to a safe school if they attend a school designated as a persistently dangerous school or if they become victims of violent crime.

Grants and benefits under the No Child Left Behind Act include:

  • Grants for teacher training – including district flexibility in how they can spend federal funds designated to find and retain quality teachers, including alternative certification, merit pay an bonuses for teachers of high-need subjects such as math and science.
  • Grants for reading instruction. A key component of the Act is a national initiative called ‘Reading First’ that aims to help every child learn to read. Almost $6 billion will be distributed over several years to states submitting grant proposals for reading instruction based on “scientifically based” research in kindergarten through third grade.
  • Flexibility in spending federal funds. School districts have leeway in spending up to 50% of their non-Title I funds in categories such as teacher quality, technology, after-school learning and Safe and Drug-Free schools.

All schools and all school districts are required to make annual report cards available to the public. The report cards must include details on:

  • Student academic achievement for all student groups
  • A comparison of students at the basic, proficient and advanced levels of academic achievement within the school district  and compared to other students statewide.
  • High school graduation rates and dropout rates
  • The professional qualifications of teachers
  • The percentage of students not tested
  • The names of schools identified as in “need of improvement”The U.S. Department of Education also requires states to participate in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and math assessments for fourth and eighth grade students every two years. The tests allow parents to compare how students are performing in different states.