Nclb how does it work

No Child Left Behind is based on stronger accountability for results, more freedom for states and communities, proven education methods, and more choices for parents. Under No Child Left Behind , states are working to close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency.

Annual state and school district report cards inform parents and communities about state and school progress. Schools that do not make progress must provide supplemental services, such as free tutoring or after-school assistance; take corrective actions; and, if still not making adequate yearly progress after five years, make dramatic changes to the way the school is run.

Under No Child Left Behind , states and school districts have unprecedented flexibility in how they use federal education funds. For example, it is possible for most school districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they receive under the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs to any one of these programs, or to their Title I program, without separate approval.

This allows districts to use funds for their particular needs, such as hiring new teachers, increasing teacher pay, and improving teacher training and professional development. Apart from accountability, NCLB made other changes to federal education law.

Here are a few of the most important. This meant that special education teachers had to be certified and demonstrate knowledge in every subject they teach. This is no longer the case. Now, federal law only requires teachers to be state certified and licensed. NCLB gave more flexibility to states in how they spent federal funding, so long as schools were improving. The law also required schools to use science- and research-based instruction and teaching methods.

Lastly, kids with Individualized Education Programs IEPs and plans often have accommodations to help them learn in school. NCLB required states to allow these kids to use accommodations on statewide tests. This rule still applies. Read more about accommodations on standardized tests. People have mixed feelings about NCLB. On the positive side, many believe NCLB led to a greater focus on struggling students. The law set the expectation that they learn alongside their peers.

And schools must set aside 10 percent of their Title I funding to pay for the tutoring services. Subgroups: Different groups of traditionally overlooked students, including racial minorities, students in special education, English-language learners, and low-income children. It refers to schools identified as one of the lowest performers in the state and subject to dramatic interventions, including potential leadership changes.

The latest news about the Every Student Succeeds Act including, archives, Commentaries, and special features. Examines the promise and pitfalls of the waivers, after three years of implementation.

August An interactive look at the changes the Obama administration has made in waiver policy and implementation. Explores the divergent accountability systems proposed under the first round of NCLB waivers.

December A comprehensive look at President George W. By David Hoff. An explanation of what policymakers saw as the shortfalls of the No Child Left Behind law right before it was due for a rewrite.

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Many people credit NCLB with creating unprecedented transparency, and it may well have increased the general availability of data on test scores and other measures. And nationally normed tests that schools have been using for decades have shown individual students where they have stood compared to national averages.

That means one state can try a policy innovation, and if it works other states are free to adopt it. And states, while all suffering from numerous problems that are inherent to policymaking at any governmental levels, have an incentive to find better ways of educating children because they compete with one another to attract new businesses, residents, etc. Of course, states are also welcome to try school choice on their own, which I believe — and evidence suggests 6 — is the key to sustained innovation in education and empowerment of all families.

But the federal government should not attempt to foster choice, including helping charter schools, as the Senate and House bills do. This too should be a decision made at the state level, and the laboratories should be allowed to work. Unfortunately, efforts to reduce some of the prescriptiveness of NCLB by the Obama Administration, using waivers of dubious legality, has in some ways exacerbated the problem of uniformity impeding competition and innovation, especially by putting pressure on states to adopt nationally uniform standards and tests.

This began with the Race to the Top, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, that de facto required states to adopt the Common Core curriculum standards and participate in one of two testing consortia to compete for funds. The Student Success Act and Every Child Ready for College and Career Act would move in the right direction by prohibiting such federal pressure, as well as similar pressure to move states toward more uniform evaluations of teachers.

Again, a major benefit of a federal system is that states are free to try new and different things, and to adapt policies to their own needs.