Recent Important Educational Laws

Educational Law Summary: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) One of the most recent and controversial works of educational legislation passed by Congress has been that of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The rationale behind NCLB is to use standardized testing and other quantitative benchmarks on a regular basis to monitor the extent to which students are making adequate progress in school.

To receive federal funding, all states must test at least 95% of students enrolled in public school grades 3-8 and at least once in high school. There must also be reports on the results of historically underserved subgroups such as ESL students; students in historically discriminated against racial and socioeconomic classes; and special education students (Klein 2015; Cortiellia 2006).

The type of testing to which students are subjected, as well as the required proficiency level may be determined by the state itself but schools must make "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) to those goals and will be penalized if it misses its AYPs benchmarks. Students at failing schools must be given the option of transferring to adequate schools or receive tutoring although since the law's implementation in 2001 there is little evidence that students have availed themselves of either of these options on a mass scale (Klein 2015).

Because of the degree of penalization of schools, NCLB standardized assessments are often called "high stakes" testing (Cortiellia 2006) Critics of NCLB such as educational policy analysis Diane Ravitch note that the state-by-state method of setting benchmarks means that states can sent very low standards. "Most states are now using NAEP's 'basic' achievement level as their definition of proficiency because NAEP's 'proficient' level is far beyond their reach .. Tennessee, for example, says that 90% of its 4th-grade students are proficient in reading, while NAEP says that only 26% are" (Ravitch & Chubb 2009).

There have even been examples of teachers facilitating cheating amongst students to pass the test and virtually all critics of the law complain that teachers feel more motivated to structure their classroom curriculum to be focused on students passing standardized tests versus actually improving a student's basic skills (Strauss 2015). Another recent educational law is that of the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA).

IDEA mandates that schools provide special services to students with documented disabilities to ensure they make adequate progress in the least restrictive environment possible that can allow them to do so ("IDEA," 2015). One of the motivators behind IDEA was the concern that students with learning disabilities were being underserved and were not making adequate progress. IDEA was designed to level the playing field with the realization that equality does not always mean giving all students the same type of education.

For example, it is necessary for a child with autism to have support for his or her social skills just as it is necessary for a child with visual impairment to have access to Braille and talking books. All students with disabilities must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) although the goals of the IEP do not have to be aligned with state standards (Cortiellia 2006).

Under IDEA, states have the option of offering students with documented disabilities the opportunity to use alternative methods to demonstrate that they can meet grade level standards. Students unable to meet grade-level standards may also have the option of meeting lower standards deemed to be within their cognitive capabilities (Cortiellia 2006).