Schools Found Likely to Miss NCLB Targets

Seperate studies cite problems meeting AYP and proficiency goals.

Two new studies cast doubt on U.S. schools’ ability to make the academic improvements required under the No Child Left Behind Act, a topic likely to be of prime concern to members of Congress next year as it prepares to review the law’s core goals during reauthorization.

One study probes a central tenet of the nearly 7-year-old federal law: that all students will reach academic proficiency by the 2013-14 school year, a goal viewed as unrealistic by many policymakers and observers.

Using statistical-modeling techniques, the study’s authors examine the progress of the nation’s most populous state, California, in attempting to meet the proficiency mark. They conclude that nearly all the state’s elementary schools will fail to meet that target, in large part because of the difficulty of bringing English-language learners and economically disadvantaged students...