No Child Left Behind Act - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

The No Child Left Behind Act, also known as NCLB, was a federal law passed in 2001 that aimed to improve the quality of K-12 education in the United States. The law required states to administer annual standardized tests to students in order to assess their proficiency in reading and math. Schools that did not meet certain benchmarks for student achievement faced penalties, including funding cuts and restructuring. The law was controversial, with some educators and parents arguing that it placed too much emphasis on high-stakes testing and did not adequately support struggling schools and teachers. NCLB was replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015.