State Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act

Posted by on July 23, 2004

STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

States are making substantial progress implementing the controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), although they still have far to go in some areas, says a new report by the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Through its research, ECS found that as of March 2004: (1) All 50 states had met or were partially on track to meeting half of the 40 key requirements of NCLB (an 11% increase over March 2003); (2) All but two states and the District of Columbia had met or were partially on track to meeting 75% of the requirements (an impressive 109% increase over March 2003); (3) Five states (Connecticut, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania) had met or were partially on track to meeting all 40 NCLB requirements. Challenges however, remain. The findings show the following: (1) Few states are on track to implementing high quality professional development for all teachers; (2) Only 10 states appear fully on track to ensuring that both new and veteran teachers are qualified to teach in their subject areas; (3) Fewer than half the states are on track to making sure that scientifically based technical assistance is provided to low-performing schools; and, (4) Many states do not have in place the technical infrastructure needed to collect, disaggregate and report data at the school, district and state levels. ECS outlined several detailed recommendations that address specific components of NCLB. In addition, the report looks at how states are doing, what states are doing, and issues and challenges states face in addressing seven major categories of the law: standards and assessment, adequate yearly progress, school improvement, supplemental services, safe schools, report cards and teacher quality.

To read the full report, visit: http://www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/special/nclb/reporttothenation/reporttothenation.htm