Learning from No Child Left Behind: How and Why the Nation's Most Important but Controversial Education Law Should Be Renewed

What have we learned from No Child Left Behind—and how can we improve it?

John E. Chubb, writing on behalf of the Koret Task Force on K–12 Education, presents a convincing case that, despite the controversy it has ignited, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law is making a positive difference and should be renewed. He outlines ten specific lessons and recommendations that identify the strengths and weaknesses of NCLB and offers suggestions for improving the law, building on its current foundation. Chubb tells how to strengthen that foundation by

Raising academic standards
Focusing the measurement of achievement on growth
Differentiating accountability to match consequences with needs
Broadening the tested curriculum to include science and social studies
Building information systems to facilitate more intelligent accountability
Encouraging teachers to be supported and rewarded based on their actual effectiveness
Offering effective choice
Offering effective tutoring
Closing schools that fail to improve

These improved strategies, says the author, should increase and accelerate the already positive effect of NCLB on achievement. Thus, policymakers should aim to reform and reauthorize NCLB as fast as possible.

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Copyright © 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

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John E. Chubb is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, a member of the Koret Task Force on K–12 Education, and chief development officer of Edison Learning, which he helped found in 1992. He has authored numerous studies of student achievement and education reform, including Liberating Learning in 2009.