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On
January 8, 2002 President George Bush signed the No Child Left
Behind Act. This act reauthorized and amends federal education
programs established under the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) of 1965.
The
major focus of No Child Left Behind (also known as ESEA) is to
provide all children with a fair, equal and significant opportunity
to obtain a high-quality education. The law was developed around
four basic education reform principles: stronger accountability for
results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options
for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been
proven to work. NCLB is a complex law that affects school
communities throughout the nation. In essence, it extends the
standards-based education reform efforts undertaken in our district
and in Washington state since 1993.As part of this federal law,
schools and districts are held accountable for making "Adequate
Yearly Progress" in the achievement of students. In our state,
results from the Washington Assessment of Student Learning are
being used as the basis for measuring whether schools and school
districts made "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) under the federal
No Child Left Behind Act. Achievement is measured for all students,
as well as for several subgroups of students based on special
education needs, race and ethnicity, English-language fluency and
family income. All public schools and districts in states receiving
NCLB funds (Title I) must calculate and report on AYP. Districts
and schools that fail to make AYP for two consecutive years are
identified for improvement. Results of the adequate yearly progress
calculations as well as scores for individual schools and school
districts are available on the state superintendent's Report Card website.
For Seattle school district WASL results please
click here.
While Seattle has been
identified as a district in improvement, we have many examples of
successful schools. Our challenge is to eliminate the achievement
gap and to maintain a standard of excellence in every school. The
district’s academic vision and
the strategic
framework outline the plan to meet this challenge. We invite
you to partner with us in our work. For information on ways you can
become involved please
click here.
Included below are
some additional resources to help you understand the federal law.
As new information is brought to light, this Web page will provide
details about its implication for Seattle Public
Schools.
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