Elementary and Secondary Education: Reconsideration of the Federal Role by the 107th Congress

Publication Date: February 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Education

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Abstract:

On January 8, 2002, the No Child Left On January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a bill to extend and revise the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was signed into law as P.L. 107-110. This legislation extensively amends and reauthorizes many of the programs of federal aid to elementary and secondary education. Other legislation authorizing federal support for educational research, statistics, and assessment expired at the end of FY2000 (most continued to be funded). These include the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act; and the National Education Statistics Act.

The programs supported by these pieces of legislation can be divided into four categories: (1) programs for the education of disadvantaged children; (2) programs that help pay the costs of systemwide support services or curricula in priority subject areas; (3) programs that support the development and dissemination of educational innovations, research, technical assistance, and assessments; and (4) programs to help pay the costs of educating pupils whose parents live or work on federal property.

Major features of P.L. 107-110 include: (a) states will be required to implement standards-based assessments for pupils in each of grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics by the 2005-2006 school year, and at three grade levels in science by the 2007-2008 school year; (b) grants for assessment development are authorized; (c) all states will be required to participate in National Assessment of Educational Progress tests in 4th and 8th grade reading and mathematics to be administered every 2 years; (d) states must develop adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards, incorporating a goal of all pupils reaching a proficient or advanced level of achievement within 12 years, and apply them to each public school, LEA, and the state overall; (e) a sequence of consequences, including provision of public school choice and tutorial services options, would apply to schools and LEAs that fail to meet AYP for 2 or more consecutive years; (f) Title I allocation formulas are modified to increase targeting on high poverty states and LEAs and to move Puerto Rico gradually toward parity with the states; (g) within 4 years, LEAs must ensure that all paraprofessionals paid with Title I funds have completed at least 2 years of higher education or met a “rigorous standard of quality”; (h) several new programs aimed at improving reading instruction are authorized; (i) teacher programs are consolidated into a state grant program authorizing a wide range of activities to improve teaching, such as teacher recruitment, professional development, and hiring; (j) states participating in Title I will be required to ensure that all of their teachers meet the bill’s definition of “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005-2006 school year; (k) states and LEAs are authorized to transfer or consolidate funds under selected programs; (l) federal support of public school choice is expanded in several respects; (m) several current programs are consolidated into a state grant program supporting integration of technology into elementary and secondary education; (n) the Bilingual and Emergency Immigrant Education Acts are consolidated into a single formula grant and existing limits on the share of grants for specific instructional approaches are eliminated; and (o) the 21st Century Community Learning Center program is converted into a formula grant with increased focus on after school activities.