No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

Congress passed the landmark No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (H.R. 1) in late December 2001. The legislation reauthorized the better-known Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), sanctioning most federal elementary and secondary education programs.

NCLB was due for reauthorization in 2008 (an automatic extension was written into the law), but Congress was not able to pass legislation before the November elections. Nonetheless, members of Congress have introduced a number of bills intended to improve the law, and the House and Senate education committees released discussion drafts of their respective bils in the fall of 2007. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced plans to go on a six-month "listening tour" before taking up the reauthorization in 2009.

In preparation for reauthorization, NASSP formed a task force in October 2004 to study the law’s effects on school leaders and their students. They developed proposals and formal recommendations for Congress to enhance NCLB, which were released in June 2005.