MythBuster

No Child Left Behind is pie-in-the-sky unrealistic, leaning toward the utopian, say some. But it is actually fairly modest.

It's Being Done

West Jasper Elementary School in Jasper, Alabama, has gone from a school in which most children couldn’t read to one where most children are reading – but that’s not the end of the story. West Jasper is now being used as a model in a thoughtful, systematic attempt to do what could be considered “replicating the DNA” of good schools. Only Alabama is doing it in quite this way, and it’s worth studying because it points the way to systemic reform.

The Achievement Alliance
The Achievement Alliance was founded to provide accurate,
non-partisan information about student achievement and
No Child Left Behind. It is a project of the following
organizations:
Business Roundtable
Citizens Commission on Civil Rights
Education Trust
National Center for Educational Accountability
National Council of La Raza

What's New

The achievement gap is narrowing in elementary schools, but stubbornly remaining in secondary schools; if you want to be sure to get a bachelor’s degree by the time you’re 25, take calculus in high school; high school dropouts say they were bored in high school and rarely academically challenged; the ACT says that high school students are often given unchallenging things to read; the non-partisan No Child Left Behind Commission names its commissioners and begins to plan hearings; and “comparability” emerges as a major issue for Title I.

Other Voices

The Cincinnati Enquirer calls No Child Left Behind “flawed, messy - and utterly courageous;” The Hartford Courant takes Connecticut to task for its “horrendous achievement gap” and says the state should drop its suit against No Child Left Behind.