Groups representing educators, civil rights advocates, and business have teamed up in a new alliance they say will seek to deepen public understanding of the No Child Left Behind Act and counter what they describe as a flurry of ill-informed attacks on the 2½-year-old federal law.
The Washington-based Achievement Alliance acknowledges that implementation of the law has posed some challenges, but it argues in a statement that the measure is still “the nation’s best chance to raise overall student achievement and close academic achievement gaps.”
The group is composed of the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, the National Alliance of Black School Educators, Just for the Kids/National Center for Educational Accountability, the Education Trust, and the Business Roundtable. The group says it will provide information about student achievement and the No Child Left Behind law to policymakers, journalists, and the public. Its Web site is www.achieve mentalliance.org.
