No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

In January 2002, President Bush signed into law Congress’s revised/reauthorized version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and renamed it the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB requires states to set target goals for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) based upon 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 student achievement data.  States are required to “raise the bar” for AYP each year to meet the NCLB goal of having all students, including nine different subgroups of students, proficient in reading and math by the 2013-2014 school year.  Connecticut’s statewide assessment program serves as the basis for calculating AYP in Connecticut. Under NCLB, it’s important for schools as a whole to meet target AYP goals.  Also, all subgroups in a school must meet the target goals; if even one group does not meet the AYP target goals, the school will not make AYP.

The law requires that each year the school district publish and disseminate district and individual school report cards.

The district report card must contain:

• The number and percentage of schools identified for school improvement and how long those schools have been in need of improvement.
• Comparison of the academic achievement of students in the school district and the statewide student population, as indicated by the required tests.
• Comparisons of academic achievement among the demographic populations within the school district.
• The percentage of students in the district not tested among each demographic.
• The most recent two-year academic trend in subjects and grades where testing is required, indicating if students are making consistent improvement.
• Graduation rates for high school students in the district.
• Teacher qualification and credential trends within the district, including the percentage of teachers with emergency credentials and the percentage of classes not taught by “highly qualified” teachers.
• An elementary school indicator chosen by the state. This is an additional measure of achievement.

The school report card must:

• Indicate if the school has been identified as in need of improvement under the AYP criteria.
• Indicate how students at that school performed on the state assessments compared to other schools in the school district.
• Indicate how students at that school performed on the state assessments compared to other students in the state as a whole.

The Stratford Public School district’s school improvement plan addresses our school improvement needs, including those identified under NCLB. We will be posting our report cards as they become available.  For more information you can visit the following websites:

• www.pta.org
• www.learningfirst.org

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