• Letter to State and local education leaders outlining adequate yearly progress provisions under No Child Left Behind (July 24, 2002)

• Final regulations for the inclusion of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in Title I assessments (December 9, 2003)

• Title I--Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged; 34 CFR Part 200; Final regulations; correction (January 8, 2003)

• Title I--Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged, Final regulations, 34 CFR Part 200 (December 2, 2002)

• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Title I (August 6, 2002)

• Title I--Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged, 34 CFR Part 200, Final Regulations for Standards and Assessment (July 5, 2002)

• Standards and Assessments Peer Review Guidance: Information and Examples for Meeting Requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (April 28, 2004)
  MS WORD (977K) PDF (268K)

• Press Release: In an effort to help states implement the No Child Left Behind Act, the Secretary of Education announced new policies for calculating participation rates - the percentage of enrolled students who participate in an assessment program. (March 29, 2004)

• NCLB Policy Letters to States

• Press Release: New Policies to Help English Language Learners - States, school districts will have greater flexibility to assist Limited English Proficient students (February 29, 2004)

• Standards and Assessments Non-Regulatory Guidance, March 10, 2003
  MS WORD (879K)

• Testing for Results: Helping Families, Schools and Communities Understand and Improve Student Achievement, February 2002

  The guidance below applies to the 1994 reauthorization of the ESEA:

• Guidance on the $45 Million Set-aside in the Fiscal Year 2001 Appropriation for Standards, Assessment and Accountability, April 2001
  MS WORD (76K)

• Memo and Guidance on Identifying Schools and School Districts in Need of Improvement or Corrective Action When Moving From Transitional to Final Assessments, September 2000

• Summary Guidance on the Inclusion Requirement for Title I Final Assessments, April 2000

• Guide for States Submitting Evidence of Final Assessment System, 2000
  MS WORD (43K) | PDF (41K)

• Peer Review Guidance for Evaluating Evidence of Final Assessments under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, November 1999
  MS WORD (386K) | PDF (316K)

• Guidance on Standards, Assessments and Accountability, 1997

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education today, February 27, 2002, announced the 21 members of the negotiating committee that will help develop new rules related to standards and assessments under Title I (Part A) of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Comprised of education practitioners including state and local education administrators, teachers, school board members and also parents, the committee will come to Washington, D.C. in mid-March to negotiate the substance of draft regulations.

The law requires that the Department use a negotiated rulemaking process to develop draft rules on standards and assessments, to commence after the comment period closed (Feb. 19) and before proposed regulations are issued for public comment in the Federal Register.

The press release, Federal Register Notice of Meetings to Conduct a Negotiated Rulemaking Process, and the Draft Regulations for the Negotiated Rulemaking Process are available on the negotiated rulemaking page.

• Requires the development of science standards by the 2005-06 school year.

• Maintains 1994 ESEA requirement for assessments in reading and math at three grade spans (3-5, 6-9, 10-12) through the 2004-2005 school year. Requires annual assessments in reading and math for grades 3-8 beginning in 2005-2006, with the addition of science assessments in 2007-2008 (but only in same three grade spans as the 1994 law). Implementation of new assessments may be deferred if Congress does not appropriate specified levels of funding for assessment development and administration, ranging from $370 million for fiscal year 2002 to $400 million in fiscal year 2005. Subpart 1 of Part A of Title VI authorizes $490 million in fiscal year 2002 for formula-based State assessment grants and a related Grants for Enhanced Assessment Instruments program.

• Requires reading assessments using tests written in English for any student who has attended school in the US (excluding Puerto Rico) for 3 or more consecutive years, with LEA discretion to use tests in another language for up to 2 additional years. States also must annually assess English proficiency for all LEP students beginning with the 2002-03 school year.

• Requires, beginning in school year 2002-03, biennial State participation in NAEP reading and math assessments for 4th and 8th graders so long as the Department pays the costs of administering those assessments.

Overview of Grants to Local Educational Agencies (Title I, Part A)

Overview of Title I Evaluation and Demonstrations (Title I, Part E, Sections 1501-1503 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.)

• Press Release: $17 million in Enhanced Assessment Instrument grants to help states develop assessments under NCLB (February 11, 2003)

• Enhanced Assessment Instruments web page

• Letter to Chief State School Officers regarding the process for amending State accountability plans (February 5, 2004)
  MS WORD (30K)

• Press Release: All States on Track by Submitting No Child Left Behind Accountability Plans on Time (February 3, 2003)

• Approved State Accountability Plans Under Title I of ESEA as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

• Decision Letters -- State Accountability Plans

• Decision Letters on State Final Assessment Systems Under Section 1111(e)(2) of Title I of ESEA as amended by the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994

In October 2002, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education hosted a series of four regional meetings as part of its work to ensure the effective implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.