No Child Left Behind: Trends and Issues

Resident Scholar Frederick M. Hess
The No Child Left Behind Act is the most ambitious piece of education legislation ever enacted by Congress. Designed to promote accountability and prod states to increase efforts to address educational inequities, NCLB includes significant provisions regarding assessment, sanctions for low-performing schools and districts, teacher quality and standards for educational research.

On Jan. 8, 2002, surrounded by members of both the Democratic and Republican congressional leadership, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act--called NCLB--into law. NCLB is the nation's most significant federal legislation on K-12 schooling since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, and the most ambitious federal intervention in a domain long regarded as the preserve of state and local governments.

Congress approved NCLB by large, bipartisan majorities, with the law passing 87-10 in the U.S. Senate and 381-41 in the House of Representatives. Emerging from an exhaustive year of negotiations, NCLB refashioned federal education policy in the areas of testing, accountability and teacher quality. . . .

Download file Click here to view the full text of this chapter as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Frederick M. Hess is a resident scholar and director of education policy studies at AEI. Rosemary H. Kendrick is a research associate at AEI.

Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine
About the Author

 

Frederick M.
Hess
  • An educator, political scientist and author, Frederick M. Hess studies K-12 and higher education issues. His books include "Cage-Busting Leadership," "The Same Thing Over and Over," "Education Unbound," "Common Sense School Reform," "Revolution at the Margins," and "Spinning Wheels." He is also the author of the popular Education Week blog, "Rick Hess Straight Up." Hess's work has appeared in scholarly and popular outlets such as Teachers College Record, Harvard Education Review, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, American Politics Quarterly, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, U.S. News & World Report, National Affairs, the Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic and National Review. He has edited widely cited volumes on education philanthropy, school costs and productivity, the impact of education research, and No Child Left Behind.  Hess serves as executive editor of Education Next, as lead faculty member for the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, and on the review boards for the Broad Prize in Urban Education and the Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools. He also serves on the boards of directors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, 4.0 SCHOOLS and the American Board for the Certification of Teaching Excellence. A former high school social studies teacher, he has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University and Harvard University. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government, as well as an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum, from Harvard University.


    Follow AEI Education Policy on Twitter

  • Email: rhess@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Max Eden
    Phone: 202-862-5933
    Email: max.eden@aei.org

What's new on AEI

image How to beat Memorial Day traffic forever
image Bernanke stumbles, markets react
image Don't edit the First Amendment
image Home Economics
AEI on Facebook
Events Calendar
  • 20
    MON
  • 21
    TUE
  • 22
    WED
  • 23
    THU
  • 24
    FRI
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Free beer: Liberating libations from ‘Bootleggers and Baptists’

Join us for a discussion of the history and future of federal and state alcohol regulation and competition, followed by a reception with beer, wine, and spirits.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
NCLB sanctions: Tests taken, lessons learned

Join education scholars and practitioners for a discussion about the latest NCLB research and its implications for future education policy.

Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Competing visions of the common good: Rethinking help for the poor

What shared commitments do we have as citizens and neighbors to care for one another? How can a proper ordering of America’s political economy enable the most people to have the best life? At this event, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime champion of human rights causes, and AEI President Arthur Brooks will join Wallis in addressing these and other questions.

No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled today.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.