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No Child Left Behind and Student Achievement

Selected Research, Commentary and Congressional Testimony

California Preschool Study Finds Ways To Improve the State's Childhood Education System Despite Scarce Resources — May 28, 2009

Child's hands fingerpainting

In an era of fiscal crisis, California can still improve access and quality in its early childhood education system through low-cost improvements, such as adopting efficiencies and better use of existing resources. Such measures will also allow the system to lay the foundation for greater improvements in the future when more resources are available.

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Five Key Education Priorities for the Obama Administration — Apr. 8, 2009

teacher in classroom

A set of five policy briefs address key education priorities for the Obama administration and the 111th Congress. Each brief summarizes the current research on the topic and the implications for federal policymakers.

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What Are the Effects of Charter Schools on Educational Attainment in Eight States? — Mar. 18, 2009

three high school graduating boys

Along with the growth of the charter school movement has come contentious debate about its effects on both charter students and those in nearby traditional public schools. This study helps determine why previous research has drawn differing conclusions through its examination of charter schools' effect on overall educational attainment.

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Final Report on State and Local Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act Finds Parents Largely Unaware of Options — Feb. 10, 2009

woman with small children and books

A key aim of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is to provide school choice or supplemental educational services to predominantly low-income parents whose children are attending Title I schools identified for improvement, but in recent years only a small fraction of families have taken advantage of these options.

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No Child Left Behind School Improvement Efforts Should Be Customized to Locale — Nov. 10, 2008

teacher helps young student

This update to a 2007 study on provides an additional year of data on the strategies states, districts, and schools are using to implement standards-based accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and how these strategies are associated with classroom practices and student achievement in mathematics and science.

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Assistance and Accountability in Externally Managed Schools: The Case of Edison Schools, Inc. — Sep. 5, 2008

classroom with kids

A four-year study of the nation’s largest private contractor of public school management reveals the ways in which Edison’s comprehensive approach, which aims to promote high-quality instruction, is affected by variation in school leadership and district policies.

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Public and Private Collaboration Can Provide Arts Education, Aid Child Development — Jun. 18, 2008

elementary school art class

Amid cutbacks in school arts education funding, public and private organizations in six urban regions have collaborated to expand access to arts learning for children in and outside of public school.

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Room for Improvement in California's Use of High-Quality Preschool Programs — Jun. 18, 2008

preschoolers learn to count

More than half of California’s preschoolers attend center-based early care and education programs, but the children who have the most to gain from preschool frequently are those least likely to participate in the programs.

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Charter School Students in Chicago Enjoy Better Graduation, College Entry Rates — May 7, 2008

High school graduation

Chicago's multi-grade charter high schools (those serving students in grades 7-12, 6-12 or K-12) appear to improve their students' chances of graduating and attending college, as compared with the city's traditional public high schools.

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Spirituality for Kids After-School Program has Significant Positive Effects — Apr. 29, 2008

Three students in school hallway

A nonreligious after-school program, Spirituality for Kids (SFK) seeks to build resilience in children. Interestingly, it improves not just social and internal outcomes but also school-related outcomes, even though it is not an academic intervention.

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Miscommunication Hindered Student Participation in Programs Created by NCLB — Apr. 4, 2008

Student at chalkboard

Student participation in school choice programs authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act was hindered because parents did not receive clear and timely communication from schools.

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What are the Costs and Benefits of Out-of-School-Time Youth Programs? — Feb. 29, 2008

Group of teenagers

Evaluation of youth programs offered during the time that students are not in school shows that the programs that are costlier and provide more-intense resources to youth perform the best.

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No Child Left Behind Panel Discussion — Feb. 25, 2008

NCLB panel discussion

In a panel discussion hosted by the RAND Corporation, RAND researchers and experts in the field made observations on the implementation and effectiveness of No Child Left Behind. Audio of the event is available online.

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California Lags Nation in Tracking Students' Educational Progress — Jan. 29, 2008

Student in classroom with book

While California has basic tracking system architecture in place to allow the state's educators to closely follow the progress of students from kindergarten to post-secondary education, officials must overcome political and financial barriers.

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RAND Review, Fall 2007: Passing or Failing — Dec. 20, 2007

Student standing in front of school

The Fall 2007 issue of RAND Review presents a midterm report card for "No Child Left Behind", discusses drug benefit plans driven by short-term savings, and analyzes the threat of ungoverned territories.

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NCLB Accountability Systems in Place, But Act's Promises Remain Uncertain — Nov. 19, 2007

Girl in classroom

After five years of effort, states have implemented most of the test-based accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, and now must focus their efforts on improving poor-performing schools that have been identified.

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Revamp NCLB to Fulfill Its Promise — Sep. 16, 2007

Student taking a test

Research reveals that NCLB has flaws, but changes can be made that preserve its basic goals of school accountability and student improvement, writes Brian Stecher.

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Assessing Teacher Quality Under No Child Left Behind — Aug. 30, 2007

boy at desk in classroom

A central goal of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is to ensure that every child is taught by a highly qualified teacher. Most teachers meet their states requirements, but it is uncertain if some states' standards are sufficiently high.

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What Do We Know About Vouchers and Charter Schools? — Aug. 16, 2007

girl writing at desk

Vouchers and charter schools are two of the most prominent and far-reaching forms of family-choice policies currently in evidence in the nation's schools. An updated version of the report Rhetoric Versus Reality takes a detailed look at what is known about the effects of school choice.

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Students Benefit from Supplemental Education Under No Child Left Behind — Jun. 27, 2007

Student being tutored

Students in underperforming schools generally made statistically significant gains in math and reading after participating in supplemental educational services such as tutoring and remediation.

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Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind — May 23, 2007

girl taking a test

How are educators responding to the standards-based accountability provisions in the No Child Left Behind (NLCB) Act? A review of three states representing different approaches, regions, and student populations helps answers this question.

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The Limits of Average Test Scores — May 11, 2007

Student taking test

[State] test scores provide one useful piece of information to parents, school and governmental officials, and other taxpayers... But while this type of reporting provides one way of judging school quality, other information is needed to understand how well schools are actually educating their students, writes Laura Hamilton.

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Think It Through on Tests — Mar. 27, 2007

Girl writing at chalkboard

While testing can serve a valuable purpose, it can only do so if: the tests are designed to measure complex, important content; safeguards are developed to address harmful effects on students; and the tests are used as one part of a comprehensive strategy for producing more-qualified graduates, writes Laura Hamilton.

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Academic Gains Not Superior for Students at Privately Run Public Schools — Feb. 1, 2007

Young student at desk

Academic improvement among students attending Philadelphia public schools managed by private operators kept pace, but did not exceed, the achievement gains of students in the rest of the district in the past four years.

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Making Sense of Data-Driven Decision Making in Education — Nov. 27, 2006

Teen taking test

Data-driven decision making, applied to student achievement testing data, is a central focus of many school and district reform efforts. Yet many unanswered questions remain about the use of data to inform decisions and the effects on student achievement.

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Most Schools Fail to Fully Adopt Reform Models for Boosting Student Achievement — Nov. 9, 2006

Teacher helping student

Schools that embrace comprehensive reform models designed to improve student achievement frequently do not fully adopt all recommended practices. The reason most often cited was a shortage of support for needed improvements and investments such as teacher training.

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'No Child' Leaves Too Much Behind — Sep. 13, 2006

child writing

The No Child Left Behind law focuses on a very narrow set of outcomes, and ignores many elements that students and their families find satisfying, challenging and motivating about their schools, writes Brian Stecher.

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Instructional Reforms Could Help Bridge Achievement Gap — Nov. 1, 2005

teacher in classroom

Improving school systems is critical to bridging the achievement gap and achieving federal accountability goals. Research in three urban districts sheds light on promising instructional reform strategies and challenges to bringing about systemwide change.

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Edison Schools Match or Exceed Gains of Comparable Public Schools — Oct. 11, 2005

Boy writing at desk

Most public schools operated for at least four to five years by the for-profit company Edison Schools have shown student achievement gains that match or exceed gains in schools with similar student populations.

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