Should schools be held primarily responsible for improving student achievement, or do they need help from health and social programs to ensure their students' success? Two sets of prominent educators and policy leaders released statements last June 2008 emphasizing different answers to that question. Both groups acted with the same purpose: to…

This article reports that the six states that now have federal approval to change the way they hold schools accountable under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act will use six different ways to distinguish between schools with minor problems and those that need total overhauls. The variety of approaches will help inform Congress when it resumes…

Buried deep within the campaign Web site of Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican explains the principles that define his K-12 agenda: choice, accountability, and teacher quality. But his 25-year congressional record and statements in his current campaign do give a glimpse of what Senator McCain--better known for his views on defense and…

Almost 30,000 schools in the United States failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in the 2007-2008 school year. For states with comparable data for the 2006-2007 school year, the number of such schools increased by 28%. Half those schools missed their achievement goals for two or more years, putting…

Democrats are almost certain to leave their convention in Denver united behind Senator Barack Obama of Illinois as their nominee for president. However, it is less likely that they will settle an intraparty disagreement over the most pressing question in K-12 education policy: How much can the public expect of schools? The stark differences…

This article reports on the draft bill that outlines key House members' plans to change the accountability system by measuring students' academic growth and adding other indicators to those in reading and mathematics. The release this week of a preliminary proposal for reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act starts a busy fall in…

Six years after the No Child Left Behind Act became law, many states still haven't completed one of its most important tasks: establishing a testing system that meets the law's requirement that they track all students' progress toward proficiency in reading and math. Although the progress has been slow, U.S. Department of Education officials and…

In a comprehensive action intended to change how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) law is carried out, the U.S. Secretary of Education formally proposed a package of new regulations that would require state and local school officials to provide more and better information about high school graduation rates, student test performance, and the…

The community in Rockland County is working together to come up with proposed changes to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This may be the only community-wide effort in the United States to closely study the lengthy law and recommend detailed changes to it. Under the Rockland County plan, which is discussed in this article, the tests in the…

This article reports on the "discussion draft" released on September 6, about a week after a preliminary proposal to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law's core Title I program was unveiled. Under the latest House proposal for reauthorizing the NCLB Act, the federal government would invest billions in improving the nation's…

George W. Bush entered the White House determined to change federal education policy. In his first year as the president, Bush forged a bipartisan consensus around the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which he signed into law on January 8, 2002. For the first time, states receiving federal K-12 education funding would be required to hold districts…

This article reports on two national teachers' unions that have mounted a vigorous lobbying campaign to rewrite language linking teacher bonuses to student test scores and other incentive-pay provisions contained in a draft bill for reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act. Members of the National Education Association circulated in the halls of…

President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton have both enacted significant expansions in federal oversight of K-12 schools during their terms. In the combined 15 years of the Clinton and Bush presidencies so far, the federal government has required states to set academic goals for their students and has made schools and districts…

In this article, the author talks about the debate that flared regarding aid given to states. Officials of the Bush administration countered complaints that Republicans are inadequately financing the No Child Left Behind Act. They said the states didn't spend all of the federal K-12 money available to them in a timely manner. State officials…

Faced with a conflict between state and federal laws, Texas officials have come down on the side of their own law and set up a possible showdown with the U.S. government over millions of dollars in education aid. In determining which schools and districts were meeting annual goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the state last February…