摘要：The upcoming reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will be contentious, especially given the
size of the act and the role it gives the federal government. When making decisions about reauthorization, it is important
to consider the early evidence about the act¡¯s implementation and effectiveness.
The fi rst important fi nding about NCLB is that states have implemented the act with widely varying standards.
States are given the right to set profi ciency levels for the student achievement tests, and a review of the
evidence shows that some states have set very high standards and some states have set very low standards. States
also have the duty of setting levels of profi ciency for schools to make adequate yearly progress (AYP); again, there
is great variation in the decisions states have made regarding these AYP cutoffs, and these differences have affected
the rate at which schools fall short of AYP. Finally, while NCLB requires all teachers to pass a content test to prove
they are highly qualifi ed, some states have made it very easy for teachers to pass these tests, while others have made
it very hard. The variability in the implementation of these provisions is diffi cult to justify.
The big question is whether NCLB is causing student achievement to increase. The answer is not clear, but
the evidence is more positive than negative. There is a mild upward trend in mathematics achievement since the act
was implemented, and this trend is occurring at a greater rate than it was before 2002. Still, there is concern that
achievement overall is going up while students at the top and the bottom of the distribution have made no gains.
This may be due to the AYP cutoffs, which reward schools for moving the students right around the cutoff, not the
students at either end of the distribution. There is evidence of very minor progress toward closing the achievement
gaps since NCLB was fi rst passed. NCLB holds schools accountable for their students¡¯ learning, a strategy which
may help raise achievement. However, if the system were to take all students into account by measuring achievement
gains, it may help make the system even more effective. Teacher quality does not appear to have changed
much since NCLB; low-income students are still more likely to have unqualifi ed teachers than high-income students.
While school choice is included in the act, the evidence shows that few have taken advantage of the offer of
school choice, in part because parents are often notifi ed too late to make a decision.
Overall, the evidence on the act is mostly neutral to positive, and there is little evidence that the negative
effects of the act some predicted have materialized. For reauthorization, lawmakers may consider the following
suggestions: taking student achievement gains (value-added to student achievement) into account rather than just
student achievement levels; evening out some of the variation in profi ciency standards, teacher requirements, and
content standards across states; discussing national standards; revising AYP targets to make the 2014 goal more
reasonable; holding students accountable for their achievement; and providing supplemental services that are shown
to be effective through educational research. With these changes, the act should continue to help teachers improve
student achievement though high quality instruction and a rigorous curriculum.
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