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…

President-elect Barack Obama and his team started work this week on a transition that includes searching for the people who will bring to life his agenda of expanding preschool, improving the quality of teachers, and fixing the major federal law in K-12 education. Within 24 hours of his election, the Illinois Democrat assigned a team of campaign…

Throughout the presidential campaign, the leading Democrats have been speaking from a similar script on education--until this month, when U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois suggested that he could be persuaded to support private school vouchers. "If there was any argument for vouchers, it was "Let's see if the experiment…

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…

Making college more affordable, raising the minimum wage, and other domestic items were at the top of Democrats' agenda during their meeting at Capitol Hill. President Bush made clear that reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act is one of the priorities. To mark the fifth anniversary of his signing the measure into law on January 8, 2007, the…

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…

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…

When President Bush and Congress crafted the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, they agreed on one specific goal for academic achievement: All students would be proficient in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2013-14 school year. This article reports on the reconsideration of this law's timeline on proficiency. Once considered sacrosanct,…

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…

For all the debate over the effectiveness of the No Child Left Behind Act, researchers and policymakers say that, despite the law's flaws, it has successfully identified 1,200 public schools that need help, some of them desperately so. Now the question is: How can the federal law be changed to make sure such schools get that help? As Congress…

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…

President Bush's new plan to heighten the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act's focus on high schools is being questioned by policy makers. This article discusses how the Bush administration, with its proposals to reauthorize the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the NCLB, wants to use the law to change the way high…

In her three years as U.S. secretary of education, Margaret Spellings has been a celebrity contestant on "Jeopardy!," a guest on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," and an occasional subject of Washington's best-read gossip column. Above all, though, she's been the nation's leading spokeswoman for the No Child Left Behind Act…

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…

The goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is simply stated: All children should be proficient in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. More than five years after the law was enacted, it remains unclear what "proficient" means. Because the federal law gives the states the power to define proficiency, there are 50…