Understanding the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

Opportunities for Schools in Need of Improvement

Quick Key 2

2. Public School Choice

If your school is identified for improvement for two consecutive years, the public school choice provisions in NCLB give each parent in your school the opportunity to send his or her child to a participating higher-performing public school of his or her choice within the district. Low-achieving students from low-income families have priority, and transportation may be paid by the district.

Questions for Administrators:

1. What will my student body look like after students have exercised their choice option, and how will this impact the school's culture and practices?
2. What is the best way for schools that send students and schools that receive students to communicate with each other to ensure student success?
3. How do I manage the media and publicity around the choice option?

Questions for Parents:

1. What should I consider as I decide if my child should change schools?
2. How do I determine which schools are higher performing?
3. How do I determine which school will be the best fit for my child's needs?

Resources

No Child Left Behind Policy Brief: School choice
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/35/21/3521.pdf
This site provides an overview of the research regarding public school choice and student achievement as well as some possible solutions to ongoing challenges related to school choice policies and programs.

Public School Choice: Issues and concerns for urban educators. ERIC/CUE Digest No.63.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED322275
This digest publication addresses the politics of school choice, what the research says about school choice, variations in choice plans, and recommendations for more equitable choice.

Rhetoric vs. Reality: What we know and what we need to know about vouchers and charter schools
Brian P. Gill, P. Michael Timpane, Karen E. Ross, and Dominic J. Brewer
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1118/index.html
This book establishes a theoretical framework that accounts for the multiple purposes of education, examines the empirical evidence about the effectiveness of vouchers and charters, discusses unresolved empirical questions, and concludes with recommendations for voucher and charter policies.

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