Report Finds NCLB Rigid and Confusing
NCLB "In Need of Improvement"

According to a recent report released by the Harvard University Civil Rights Project, the No Child Left Behind Act, despite its stated goal to improve educational achievement for all students across the country, has imposed inconsistent and rigid requirements on state education systems. Inspiring Vision, Disappointing Results: Four Studies on Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act, a four-part report on the effects of the implementation of NCLB, applauds its goals, but concludes that states are experiencing difficulty complying with the many regulations and requirements of the law. Although states are moving towards compliance, the federal government has allowed little flexibility and has not consulted with education experts and officials.

Expanded Role of the Federal Government

Expansion of Federal Power in American Education: Federal-State Relationships Under the No Child Left Behind Act, Year One notes the "troubling" effects of this unprecedented expansion of the federal government's role in education. Researchers discovered that local education officials were not greatly involved during the writing of the law and financial resources from the federal government have fallen below the promised level. The federal government has allowed little flexibility for states when implementing NCLB, and support for the law has eroded as states are having difficulties complying with its complexities and deadlines.

Accountability

The authors of Large Mandates and Limited Resources: State Response to the No Child Left Behind Act and Implications for Accountability studied efforts in six states - Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, Virginia, and Georgia - to meet NCLB's accountability requirements. They found that NCLB's requirements conflict with already existing accountability systems in individual states.

NCLB creates an "uneven playing field," the report states, by failing to recognize that schools must improve by different amounts to reach proficiency. Researchers also found NCLB's "one-size-fits-all approach to test-based accountability" to place schools containing more subgroups at a disadvantage. Schools educating higher numbers of minorities, low-income students, and English Language Learners were less likely to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals.

School Choice and Supplemental Services

An analysis of school choice in ten urban public school districts was completed for Does NCLB Provide Good Choices for Students in Low-Performing Schools? Results showed that only a small percentage of students requested transfers under NCLB. In these urban districts, the school choice provision added an increased administrative and financial burden to school districts. The report concludes that urban areas are more likely to contain a higher number of schools granting transfers, and will have a difficult time providing students with opportunities to attend schools with much higher achievement levels.

The authors recommend that students in schools "in need of improvement" should have better access to well-performing schools. They also emphasize that NCLB's school choice program should not interfere with already existing desegregation efforts.

According to Increasing Bureaucracy or Increasing Opportunities? School District Experience with Supplemental Educational Services, a very small percentage of students took advantage of the supplemental services provision of NCLB. The authors recognize that additional academic services can improve achievement for at-risk students, yet the additional financial and administrative burden has an even greater detrimental effect on schools in danger of not meeting AYP.

As more schools are classified as failing to meet AYP, the need for accountable and financially-supported supplemental services will increase, the authors conclude.

NCLB "In Need of Improvement"

Although NCLB has renewed public interest in education across the nation, the report says, many of the strict federal mandates have placed an increased burden on schools already facing painful budget cuts. The authors stress that NCLB could positively improve the nation's public schools if a collaborative effort between federal and local education experts takes place to revise the law's more contentious and damaging policies.

Prepared February 25, 2004