NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

    The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) became effective on January 8, 2002. This massive Act has implications for all aspects of public education, including special education.  The heart of the Act is new requirements for states to develop and implement challenging academic standards and assessments and state accountability systems.  The new accountability provisions require states to determine whether  students in local school districts and in individual buildings are making adequate yearly progress and to implement a school improvement process in districts and buildings when students are not.  NCLB also imposes new requirements on teachers and paraprofessionals, greatly expands the Reading First program, revises the McKinney Homeless Education Act, requires states to address unsafe schools, and sets forth a host of other new requirements for districts.

    The U.S. Department of Education has issues a series of policy letters, guidance documents and proposed and final regulations.  These documents can be accessed by links provided at the Department's NCLB web page: www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/asst.html

    The Department will continue to issue guidance documents for some time to come.  It has already issued final regulations implementing requirements for challenging academic standards and assessments.  It issued proposed regulations regarding the state accountability system and the new requirements for teachers and paraprofessionals on August 6, 2002.  The comment period for these proposed regulations closed on September 5, 2002.  Final regulations could issue as early as October, 2002.

    We will note significant developments regarding NCLB on this page as they occur.