Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind : facts and recommendations / Brian M. Stecher, Georges Vernez, with Paul Steinberg.

"Prepared for the U.S. Department of Education."

"RAND Education."

"MG-977-USDE"--P. [4] of cover.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-74).

Introduction -- How Did States Implement the NCLB Provisions? -- How Did Districts and Schools Perform with NCLB in Place? -- How Did Education Stakeholders Respond to Improve Student Performance? -- How Did Parents Respond to the Services Provided? -- How Can NCLB Be Made More Effective? -- Appendix A: Data Sources for This Report -- Appendix B: Abstracts of Reports.

This report synthesizes findings and draws lessons about the implementation and results of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) as reflected primarily in two longitudinal studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Progress to date suggests that NCLB's ambitious goal of having 100 percent of U.S. students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014 will not be met. In addition, the flexibility provided to states by the law has resulted in the establishment of a different accountability system in every state, each with different academic standards, levels of student proficiency, and teacher requirements. Parents have not responded in great numbers either to school choice or to receiving supplemental educational services options. Should Congress reauthorize NCLB, the authors recommend that it consider making the following changes to the law: promote more-uniform academic standards and teacher qualification requirements across states, set more-appropriate improvement targets, broaden the measures of student learning beyond multiple-choice tests in reading and mathematics to include more subjects and tests of higher-thinking and problem-solving skills, focus improvement efforts on all schools while continuing to offer parental choice, and provide incentives for highly qualified teachers to teach in low-performing schools.