Education reform from the top down: the federal government early this year passed the most comprehensive education legislation in recent memory. But there are many questions and few answers about the ramifications for states.

• Author: Michelau, Demaree K.

Strong bipartisan approval and public praise greeted reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), now known as the No child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Less than a year after taking office, President George W. Bush signed his top domestic agenda item--comprehensive education reform, signifying a fundamental change in the federal government's role in the nation's K -12 education system. Republicans, who had long advocated a diminished role for the U.S. Department of Education, and Democrats, who had vowed to reject sanctions against poor performing schools, reversed their traditional positions and joined forces with the president.

It was a welcome relief to all since prior efforts to address these issues brought spectacular partisan failures that drove a wedge between Congress and the Clinton administration.

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democrat, was the prime Senate sponsor and President Bush's new ally on education. With overwhelming congressional support and only 51 dissenting votes, (41 in the Republican House and 10 in the Democratic Senate) what could possibly concern state legislators about the law? The answer is ambiguous: It depends on your perspective.

WHAT DOES THE LAW DO?

The intent of the law is to hold schools, districts and states accountable for every student's performance and address the achievement gap between wealthy majority and poor minority kids. Built on the 1994 Improving America's Schools Act, which initiated a system of standards and testing for Title I students (poor and disadvantaged kids), this new act goes further.

The two aspects of the law most widely talked about are the accountability and testing requirements. Based on the Texas model of standards and annual testing, states will have to adopt rigorous academic standards and annually test all students in grades three through eight in reading and math by 2005-2006. Currently, all states have standards in mathematics and reading except Iowa, which has district-level standards. As of this spring, however, only 15 states met the new testing requirements.

States have to adopt science standards by 2005-2006. Fortunately, most already have them in place. The law also requires states to test all students in science once in grades three through five, six through nine and 10 through 12 by 2007-2008.

States and school districts must have distributed school report cards by the beginning of this school year. All states must participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress fourth and eighth grade reading and math tests.

ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS

The act requires states to define adequate yearly progress or annual performance targets that ensure all students are proficient in 12 years. Student performance, analyzed and reported by socioeconomic and demographic groups, including economically disadvantaged students, major racial or ethnic groups, students with disabilities and English language learners, is expected to gradually improve until all groups are 100 percent proficient.

Failure of any student group or subgroup to progress incurs increasing penalties the longer a school or district fails to meet the goals. This includes allowing parents to enroll their children in better public schools if their present schools have two years of inadequate performance; portable Title I grants for families to purchase supplemental tutoring services for students attending schools that are considered failing for three years; and reorganization of the school, its curriculum and staff after four years.

And what about the sanctions for poor performing schools? Initial versions were rejected by congressional conferees because the yearly progress net had been cast too wide. Conferees reworked the scope of that "net" before final passage. In the new, lower threshold actual state estimates of the progress standard indicate 70 percent to 80 percent of schools will be classified as failing.

The law also takes on teaching quality. It mandates that all new teachers hired with Title I funds be highly qualified by the current school year and that all teachers in core academic subjects be highly qualified by 2005-2006. To comply, states must submit their definitions and gain approval from the U.S. Department of Education.

READING IN THE EARLY YEARS

The new law emphasizes reading for primary kids through two initiatives--Reading First and Early Reading First, which pleases New Jersey Assemblyman Craig Stanley. "Early reading is the foundation for learning and if you don't have a strong foundation you have a much higher rate of failure later on," he says. Replacing the Reading Excellence Act, Reading First gives money to states and districts to improve instruction for kids in kindergarten through third grade. At least 80 percent of...