A new report maps out the consequences for school districts that are identified as in need of improvement under the main federal law in precollegiate education.
“Identifying School Districts for Improvement and Corrective Action Under the No Child Left Behind Act” is available online from the Center on Education Policy. ()
Districts that don’t make “adequate yearly progress” for two years in a row must take a number of actions under the No Child Left Behind Act. The report from the Washington-based Center on Education Policy, for instance, spells out how those districts must devise improvement plans and explains that they may not provide tutoring services to their students. If districts don’t improve, they ultimately may be restructured or taken over by their states.
The report concludes that the federal law gives states more flexibility in dealing with districts than with schools deemed in need of improvement. The report also points out that states appear to be looking for ways to identify fewer districts for improvement, in some cases requiring a district to fail to make AYP in all three grade spans, elementary, middle, and high school, in the same subject for two consecutive years before it is identified for improvement.
