No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) | ESEA

It's Time for a Change.

Where We Stand

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is the current incarnation of President Lyndon Johnson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), whose purpose was to raise achievement and close achievement gaps. NEA strongly supports these goals and is working to give all children great public schools. But educators know that NCLB as currently written can’t get us there.

NEA has made many proposals for rewriting and improving the law.

Statements of principle.

Detailed proposals to Congress (May, 2010).

In brief:

ESEA should promote innovation, high expectations, and encourage development of 21^st century skills in public schools.
ESEA should end the obsession with high-stakes, poor-quality tests by developing high-quality assessment systems that provide multiple ways for students to show what they have learned.
ESEA should help provide great educators and school leaders for every student.
ESEA should promote public education as a shared responsibility of parents, communities, educators, and policymakers.
ESEA should provide increased funding to all states and school districts to meet the growing demand for globally-competitive education of U.S. students.

Letter to Congress
List of Elimination Programs

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SHARE AND DISCUSS

Change NCLB - But How?

The "No Child Left Behind" law was supposed to dramatically reduce achievement gaps and boost achievement. It has done neither. Now NCLB is overdue for reauthorization, which means it will be changed. What changes would you like to see? What provisions should be kept? How can the federal government really help schools close achievement gaps and improve achievement?

Post your ideas on our discussion board and see what your colleagues are saying.

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