The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) enacts some of the most sweeping changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) since its inception, and represents the most significant expansion of the federal role in K-12 education since Congress mandated access to education for all handicapped children in 1975.
The new law is based on several changes. First, the federal government has set minimum qualifications for teachers in all the nation's public schools - whether or not the schools receive federal funding.
Second, the government has now established a mandatory national deadline for all public schools to bring all their children to an achievement level deemed "proficient" by the state.
Third, the new law authorizes use of federal funds for a voucher-like program of extra tutoring for children in the most troubled Title I schools, allowing religious schools to act as federally paid providers of such services.
The law also mandates the use of curriculum and techniques grounded in "scientifically-based research" for federally funded programs--a significant expansion of federal authority in the an area traditionally left up to state and local officials. New constraints are placed on assigning limited English proficient childrento language instruction programs. "Parents right to know" provisions make teacher credentials a matter of public record.
Standards and Assessments -
States must adopt challenging academic content and student achievement standards that apply to all schools and all children in the state. Academic content standards must specify what children are expected to know and be able to do. Student academic achievement standards must describe two levels of high achievement - "advanced" and "proficient" - that determine how well children are mastering the state standards. The standards also must describe a third level of achievement - "basic" - that provides complete information about the progress of the lower achieving children towards mastering the state standards.
Accountability and Adequate Yearly Progress -
States must develop a single statewide accountability system that applies to all public schools and all students, regardless of participation in the Title I program. The state will develop a definition of adequate yearly progress (AYP) that applies to the state educational agency (SEA), all local education agencies (LEAs) and all schools. The ultimate goal of each state's accountability system must be to ensure that all students will reach the "proficient" level of achievement within 12 years of the enactment of the law (or by the 2013-14 school year).
(http://www.doe.state.la.us/DOE/asps/home.asp?I=ACCPOL)
School and LEA Improvement, Corrective Action, and Restructuring -
An LEA must identify a school for improvement if the school has failed to make AYP for two consecutive years. Provisions must be made for school choice and transportation from identified schools. Supplemental services and transportation must be made available, and eventually a plan for restructuring a failing school must be implemented. (See State Rules and Regulations for specific details.)
Funding Allocations-
NCLB makes only one change to the requirement that a district rank all publi schools in order of poverty (highest to lowest), determine which school are eligible, and serve those schools strictly in rank order. This change is the re-introduction of a "grandfather" provision. Under this provision, if a school was previously eligible for Title I but fell out of eligibility for one year the LEA may permit the school to continue to participate for one more year.
Program Design -
The schoolwide program design continues. The primary change is that the poverty threshold for eligibility to operate schoolwide program drops to 40 percent. In a schoolwide program, the LEA may consolidate all federal, state and local funds to upgrade the entire educational program. Schools are not required to idenfity particular children or to provide supplelmental services to to identified students.
Professional Staff Qualifications -
NCLB sets significant new rules on the minimum qualifications for teachers and paraprofessionals. Teachers must be "highly qualified," which means that the teacher has passed the state certification or licensing exam and holds a bachelor's degree. In addition, NCLB requires the teacher to pass a formal assessment or state evaluation or have done major coursework in certain subject areas, depending on if the teacher is "new" or "not new" and what grade level is taught. (See State Rules and Regulations for specific details.)
Paraprofessionals must either have completed two years of higher education, earned an associate's degree or met a rigorous standard of quality and passed a formal state or local assessment. The paraprofessional requirements apply to any paraprofessional who works in a program supported with Title I funds, except those who work primarily in translation or parental involvement activites (they must have a high school degree or the equivalent).
Parental Involvement -
The traditional Title I parental involvement programs are continued without major change. However, 95 percent of the 1 percent LEA reserve for parental involvement must now be distributed to schools, and the law emphasizes SEAs' oversight responsibilities for LEA parental involvement programs.
New reporting mandates offer parents more isight into their children's education. SEAs and LEAs must give parents much more information about the achievement of their children and the performance of their schools, and the information must be provided in a form that parents can easily understand. "Parents right to know" provisions give parents the right to demand information about the credentials of their children's teachers, and parents must be notified when their children are taught for more than four consecutive weeks by teachers who are not highly qualified.
Equitable Service to Private School Students -
LEAs must provide equitable Title I services to eligible private school students.
Fiscal Requirements -
The three central fiscal requirements of Title I - supplement not supplant, maintenance of effort, and comparability - are unchanged in NCLB.
The New Title I: Balancing Flexibility with Accountability. Cowan, Kristen Tosh, Manasevit, Leigh M., Brustein & Manasevit, Washington, DC, Thompson Publishing Group, Inc., 2002.
