Business Group Merges With Education Center

By Catherine Gewertz

The National Alliance of Business, a prominent supporter of efforts to improve education, has merged with a group that uses data to drive better school performance. The newly configured organization will help states implement the nuts-and-bolts systems deemed necessary for higher student achievement.

With last week's merger announcement, the NAB is officially out of business. But its mission will continue under the banner of the Austin, Texas-based National Center for Educational Accountability. The merger was conceived as a way to bring the strengths of each organization to bear as states struggle to fulfill the mandates of the federal "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001.

"Now that the legislation is passed, we are in a new stage," said Roberts T. Jones, the former chief executive officer of the NAB, who will now serve on the NCEA's board of directors. "We are getting into the detailed implementation of very complex things, because everything in that legislation is based on data...