According to an essay published on the Duff, White & Boykin, LLC websites, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has implications for students who have been identified as disabled under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Under NCLB, students with disabilities are one of the major subgroups required to achieve educational proficiency by 2014. NCLB and IDEA are similar in that both are outcome-oriented. NCLB focuses on annual progress against standardized tests. IDEA focuses on assessing disabled students to ensure they are making measurable improvement against individual educational objectives.
Philosophically, NCLB and IDEA are different. Special education focuses on developing programs intended to meet students' individual needs. NCLB mandates outcomes regardless of individual limitations or needs. NCLB requires that all students meet State standards and become proficient by 2014. This requirement is at odds with the traditional focus of special education programs which concentrates on the progress of individual students, not progress against standardized tests.
Both NCLB and IDEA acknowledge the need for standardized testing programs for all students, but the purpose of testing is different under the two programs. NCLB requires each state to develop a uniform assessment system to ensure students make sufficient academic progress each year to meet State standards. Under IDEA, disabled students take standardized tests to ensure they are making individual progress รป not to ensure they meet State standards.
According to Libby K. Nealis in an essay published by the National Association of School Psychologists online, the main goal of NCLB, which is both praiseworthy and unrealistic, is to get 100 percent of students in America at grade level in reading and math by 2014. Under NCLB, each State must set annual assessment targets for schools to meet on math and reading tests in grades 3 through 8. Schools...