No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It mandated standards-based education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals could improve individual outcomes in education. To receive school funding from the federal government, U.S. states had to create and give assessments to all students at select grade levels.

The act did not set national achievement standards. Instead, each state developed its own standards. NCLB expanded the federal role in public education through further emphasis on annual testing, annual academic progress, report cards, and teacher qualifications, as well as significant changes in funding. While the bill faced challenges from both Democratic Party and Republican Party politicians, it passed in both chambers of the U.S. Congress with significant bipartisan support.

Some of its provisions, such as restructuring schools that failed their students six years in a row, were controversial. After more than a decade, bipartisan criticism had increased so much that a bipartisan Congress stripped away some features of NCLB and turned the rest over to state governments in the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act.