A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

The Obama administration's blueprint for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), released March 13, 2010, challenges the nation to embrace educational standards that would put America on a path to global leadership. The blueprint represents the overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which was established in 2002 under the last reauthorization of ESEA.

The blueprint replaces NCLB’s requirement that every American child reach proficiency in reading and math with the goal that all students should graduate from high school college-ready by 2020. To this end, it provides incentives for states to adopt academic standards that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace.

Rather than relying on test scores alone, as did NCLB, the plan proposes measuring academic growth on indicators such as pupil attendance, graduation rates and learning climate. It supports the creation of accountability systems that reward student growth and school progress toward college- and career-readiness. It proposes continuing NCLB’s practice of urging states and districts to focus on the achievement gap by identifying and intervening in schools that are persistently failing to close those gaps. However, it suggests lessening federal interference in tens of thousands of reasonably well-run schools.

Read the report.