The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA. First passed in 1965, the ESEA provides federal money to schools that serve a high population of students whose families have low income. Since it was passed, the ESEA has been reauthorized several times. The current authorization, No Child Left Behind, requires states and schools to comply with new regulations in order to continue to receive these federal funds.

Many of the new regulations under NCLB address parents' "right to know" about school performance. One of the ways the law seeks to inform parents about what is happening in schools is through the use of School Report Cards. Unlike student report cards that parents receive for their children each semester, school report cards are intended to communicate about overall student performance. This is measured by totaling student scores on standardized tests. Maine's standardized tests are called the Maine Educational Assessment, or MEA. Under NCLB, students will be required to take a version of the MEA every year in grades 3-8, and again in grade 11. It's important to note that the name for the MEA may be changing as the NCLB testing and reporting schedule begins in the 05-06 school year.

Overall student test scores must be reported to parents and the community annually. There are two types of school report cards required under NCLB: Local and State. Local report cards include data on student test scores in the entire district and in individual schools. Test scores must be reported several different ways. An average score for all students in the district and in each school must be shown. In addition, scores must be totaled for the following "subgroups": boys, girls, students of specific racial and ethnic identities, students who receive special education, students whose families have low income, students who have migrant status, and students who are English Language Learners.

Maine PIRC (Parent Information and Resource Center)
PO Box 2067 Augusta, ME 04338
1-800-870-7746 or (207) 623-2144
Website: www.mpf.org Email: parentconnect@mpf.org