STANDARDS-BASED EDUCATION UNDER NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001

Over the past forty years education in America has§been in a reform §mode. The latest reform has come in the form of the§No Child Left §Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). NCLB has dictated§standards to all §schools in the nation. While many schools have§joined the reform §movement, few have made the systemic changes§necessary to §sustain achievement. A particular concern among§reformers is the §effect of standards reform on the urban and/or rural§poor. §This book examines one rural school district s§efforts to develop a §standards-based education program. This school meets§the federal §criteria for both poor and rural having 100% of its§students §qualifying for the free and reduced lunch program. §In addition, over §30% of the student population comes to school without§knowledge §of the English language. In spite of these apparent§disadvantages, §the school has achieved success as exhibited by a§growth of over §100 points as measured by the California Academic§Performance §Index (API).§A qualitative, descriptive-analytic case study§methodology was §employed to provide an in-depth investigation of the§school site s §implementation of fiduciary and curricular matters.