Public Dissatisfied Over Key NCLB Provisions, Report Says

Students and parents should have more say in law’s reauthorization, PEN argues.

The public is largely disenchanted with the way the federal No Child Left Behind Act measures student learning and teacher quality, and it would like greater input into the law’s implementation, a report scheduled for release this week by the Public Education Network finds.

The report from PEN, a Washington-based advocacy group of individuals and more than 80 local education funds around the country, is based on a series of public forums conducted in 10 states from fall 2005 through this past January. The meetings, which were modeled on congressional hearings, were attended by about 250 people each and held primarily in cities with a large number of Title I schools, including New York City, Orlando, Fla., and Austin, Texas.

Federal Title I aid for schools with needy students is used in carrying out many provisions of the 4-year-old No Child Left Behind law, which was an overhaul of the Elementary...