No Child Left Behind Act

he No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, commonly known as NCLB, is a United States federal law that was passed in the House of Representatives on May 23, 2001 and signed on January 8, 2002, that reauthorized a number of federal programs aiming to improve the performance of U.S. primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts and schools, as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend. Additionally, it promoted an increased focus on reading and re-authorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). NCLB is the latest federal legislation (another was Goals 2000) which enacts the theories of standards-based education reform, formerly known as outcome-based education, which is based on the belief that high expectations and setting of goals will result in success for all students. The act also requires that the schools distribute the name, home phone number and address of every student enrolled to military recruiters, unless the parent specifically opts out. The effectiveness and desirability of NCLB's measures are debatable. Up for possible reauthorization in 2007, a new Congress is considering major revisions, as one group of 50 Republican senators and representatives introduced legislation in March 2007 to provide states much greater freedom from NCLB's controls and punishments. Proponents say NCLB improves test scores, increased accountability, attention to minorities, quality of education, school choice, and funding. Critics say NCLB funding system is a failure, there are problems with the standardized tests, it allows people to 'game' the system, it is a violation of the separation of church and state, facilitates military recruitment, and has a narrow definition of research and curriculum.