What Parents Need to Know about No Child Left Behind

The spirit behind the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law is to create a climate where every child can reach his or her full educational potential. NCLB is based on the philosophy that all children can learn, and it puts the responsibility on the schools to find the best way to help them. In fact, the New Hampshire Department of Education is going beyond the requirements of NCLB to ensure that all children in our state receive a quality education. NCLB provides you as a parent with important rights and responsibilities regarding your child’s education. These include:

1. Understanding your school’s efforts for improving academic achievement and how you can be involved.
2. Knowing when you can take advantage of additional educational options for your child.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is the name given to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) when it was reauthorized in 2001 by the federal government. Here is what parents should know about it:

1. SCHOOLS ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR RESULTS

NCLB requires every state to set high standards for student academic achievement and to increase the number of students reaching those standards every year. To measure student progress, NH schools must test children in Math, English and Language Arts in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. Science is tested in grades 4, 8, and 11. Each school must then combine student test scores and show “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) towards state-determined targets for the whole school as well as for various sub-groups (minorities and students receiving special education, for example), for each subject tested.

For more information about school accountability, please click here.

Every year you should receive your child’s New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) scores as well as a local school report card that give an overall picture of how your child’s school and school district is doing.

For information on your school's NECAP testing scores, please see this NH Dept of Education page.

2. PARENTAL OPTIONS

When a school fail to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in any subject for two years in a row or longer, the NCLB law gives parents additional options for helping ensure their child receives a quality education:

• Public School Choice. All parents in Title I Schools must be offered the choice to send their child to another school. Priority is given to the lowest-achieving, low-income students. The school district must pay for and provide transportation to the new school. For more information about NCLB and public school choice, please click here.
  
  
• Supplemental Educational Services (SES). After the third consecutive year of missing AYP, schools must offer students free tutoring or other extra academic help in reading, writing, and/or mathematics. This extra help must be given outside the regular school day – before/after school, weekends, or summertime. Eligible students must be enrolled in a Title I school and qualify for the free or reduced-price lunch program. Your school district should send you a letter about how and where to sign up with SES providers. For more information about SES, please click here.
  
  
• Corrective Action & Restructuring. If a school misses AYP for 4 or more years in a row, it enters a period of review and possible restructuring. As a parent, you should be aware of this and take steps to involve yourself in school review and improvement so that the school can help all students reach their academic goals. For more information about NCLB Title I schools, please click here. For information about NCLB notifications the school must send parents, please click here.

3. NH & THE “FOLOW THE CHILD” GROWTH MODEL

NH is taking a more comprehensive approach to student academic improvement by encouraging schools to track each student’s progress year to year, not only academically but physically, socially, and personally. This way, teachers and school administrators can gain a better understanding of each child’s needs and performance, and develop strategies aimed to help each individual.For more information, please visit this NH Dept of Education web page.

For more information about the No Child Left Behind Law, including available workshops,
please contact NH State PIRC at 800 947-7005.