The "No Child Left Behind Act" was signed into law early in 2002. It was a
             reauthorization of an earlier bill that had the goal of improving school
             achievement for all students (Jorkenson & Hoffmann, 2003). The bill was
             intended to increase accountability for student achievement or lack of
             same, tying this accountability to federal funds. It requires that local
             school districts increase parental involvement, monitor student achievement
             closely, and in cases where student achievement is not progressing
             adequately, determine the reasons and apply remedies.
             Emphasis for monitoring progress was placed at the state level and
             requires that each state establish assessment methods that track all
             student learning against a set of nationally-set standards. It emphasizes
             the idea that increased funding alone will not increase achievement or new
             rules and emphasizes public accountability for student progress or lack of
             The roots of NCLD are in the 1981 National Commission on Excellence in
             Education authorized under 20 U.S.C. 1233a, which was charged with the task
             to "review and synthesize the data and scholarly literature on the quality
             of learning and teaching in the nation's schools, colleges, and
             universities, both public and private, with special concern for the
             educational experience of teen-age youth." (Jorkenson & Hoffmann, 2003) The
             commission looked at four elements of education: content, expectations,
             time, and teaching (Jorkenson & Hoffmann, 2003). Among their findings were
             that over 13% of the nation's high school students were functionally
             illiterate (Jorkenson & Hoffmann, 2003). Their recommendations were
             published as A Nation at Risk and called for sweeping reforms. New
             expectations were codified when the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994
             (IASA) was passed in 1994 (Jorkenson & Hoffmann, 2003),
             This law and its companion bill, the Goals 2000: Educat
             ...