The Basics

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act is the main federal education law, describing federal requirements for the nation's public schools, most of which receive some form of aid under the statute, PL 107-110. Read the full text of the law (PDF, 670 pages).

ESEA was first enacted in 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It is revised every five to seven years. The latest revision, passed by Congress in 2001 and signed into law by the Bush administration in 2002, is known as the  "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001. Read a FAQ file from the House of Representatives.

Key programs include Title I, the flagship teaching and learning program that reaches 12.5 million students in high-poverty schools. Other ESEA programs provide funds to improve teacher training, student literacy, school technology, and school safety. Read a summary ( PDF, 28 pages) of the law from Learning First Alliance, a national coalition of education organizations.

Federal Education Law Glossary

Assessment – This usually means grades and tests. A student's academic achievement is compared to a norm or to an average of all students' performance.

AYP – (Adequate Yearly Progress) The minimum level of improvement that states, school districts, and schools must achieve each year as they progress toward being 100 percent proficient by 2014.

Basic skills – Reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Criterion-referenced assessments – These are meant to show what a student knows, understands, or can do in relation to specific performance objective. They are used to identify student strengths and weaknesses. They focus on what each child has learned and assume that most students can achieve the objectives of the curriculum.

ESEA – (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) The main federal law affecting pre-K–12 education in the United States. It was first enacted in 1965.

Grades – A grade is a symbol, traditionally a number or letter, that summarizes the level of a student's work.

IDEA – (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) The federal law designed to provide special education for specific categories of disability. For qualifying disabled students, school districts must provide free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment as specified in a child's annual individual education plan.

LEA – (Local Education Agency) The public board of education or other governing body that oversees public elementary or secondary schools within a city, township, county, school district, or other political subdivision.

Norm-referenced assessments – These are meant to show how a student's performance or test results rank when compared to the work of his peers. These assessments assume that some students will do very well, some will do very poorly, and most will fall somewhere in the middle. They focus on providing information about which child knows most and which knows least and how to rank the work of everyone in between.

SEA – (State Education Agency) The public board of education or other governing body that oversees state administration of public education programs.

Standardized test – A test taken by many students under identical conditions that are meant to allow results to be compared statistically to a standard such as a norm or an average.

Standards – Academic guidelines for what all students should know and be able to do in a variety of subjects such as math, science, or language arts.

Title I – The first section and flagship program of the ESEA; it refers to teaching and learning assistance to the nation's high-poverty schools. It serves 12.5 million children.