State Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is, quite possibly, the most comprehensive and systemic education reform act passed by Congress in the last 40 years. Given only 17 states ever fully complied with NCLB's predecessor, the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it is only proper that legislators, policymakers, and researchers are now asking how we, as a nation, are doing implementing the law this time around? The Education Commission of the States (ECS) attempts, in the following article, to answer the question. The article covers information ECS has harvested and some of the insights ECS has gained since first examining state policy enactments related to NCLB. It provides information on the structure of the database, the methodology used to gather and verify the information, major findings of the tracking and reporting activity, specific gains made by category, key issues that merit immediate attention, and finally specific actions for consideration should federal officials and state policymakers be inclined to make changes to the law.