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Education
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
In 2002, President Bush signed the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001, what we know as No Child Left Behind. This law requires that all states establish standards for high academic achievement in the core subject areas and a state testing plan to ensure that students are making progress toward meeting these educational goals each year.
Main Topics for Parents to Know
- Adequate Yearly Progress – Each school must show that its students are learning and making progress in the general curriculum. This accountability is accomplished by testing students each year. Student in subgroups, such as students with disabilities or students with limited English proficiency, must also make progress; all students must meet Georgia’s proficient level of achievement by 2013-2014. Tests that count toward AYP are the CRCT and CRCT-M (elementary and middle school), GHSGT (High School Graduation Test), and GAA (Georgia Alternate Assessment for students with significant disabilities).
- Highly Qualified Teachers – Schools must show that their teaching staff has been certified and is qualified to provide excellent instruction. Teachers receive training in providing the best possible instruction. There are also new standards for paraprofessionals, who must have a two-year degree or pass a test to be qualified for their position.
- School Choice – Parents have the right to move their child from a school that has not achieved Adequate Yearly Progress for two or more years in a row to a higher performing school. Parents can also move their child from a “persistently dangerous” school or when their child has been the victim of violence at school.
- Supplemental Services – Schools that do not make AYP for two or more years are placed on the Needs Improvement list and expected to provide before- and after-school programs to improve achievement.
- Intensive Support – The state Department of Education has designed and implemented a plan to provide resources and support for schools that need improvement.
What NCLB Does for Parents
- NCLB helps you to know how your child is progressing
- NCLB helps you to know if your child’s school is performing well
- NCLB gives you an option to make a change if your child’s school is under-performing
- NCLB gives you the assurance that your child will have a certified teacher of high quality
- NCLB assures you that resources will be given to schools that need to improve