Keeping the Promise of "No Child Left Behind" : Success or Failure Depends Largely on Implementation by the U.S. Department of Education. Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce Oversight Hearing on the Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act / Christopher Jr. Edley.

This testimony by the co-director of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, Christopher Edley, examines the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE's) early implementation efforts regarding the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB), recommending actions that the DOE should take to ensure that states, districts, and schools understand and comply with the NCLB's requirements (especially requirements designed to improve educational opportunity and achievement for disadvantaged students). Despite some meaningful progress related to the NCLB, long-standing racial and ethnic disparities in educational opportunity and achievement continue. The testimony highlights three broad areas in which the DOE has taken action and should take additional action: accountability (data, assessments, graduation rates, and adequate yearly progress); parental involvement (public input, access to information, and administrative complaint procedures); and resources (teacher quality, technical assistance, supplement-not-supplant, and funding). The testimony questions whether there is sufficient focus on and commitment to the mechanisms within the NCLB that might directly address racial and ethnic gaps in achievement; the determination within the DOE to anticipate state and local problems and invest creatively in technical assistance to ensure compliance with the NCLB; sufficient willingness within the DOE to collect needed data; and willingness by Congress to do its part to keep the promises of the NCLB. (SM)

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