The DOI matches its Crossref record; 34 of the 34 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Gauging Growth: How to Judge No Child Left Behind?
Abstract
Many policymakers feel pressure to claim that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is boosting student performance, as Congress reconsiders the federal government’s role in school reform. But how should politicians and activists gauge NCLB’s effects? The authors offer evidence on three barometers of student performance, drawing from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and state data spanning the 1992–2006 period. Focusing on the performance of fourth graders, where gains have been strongest since the early 1970s, the authors find that earlier test score growth has largely faded since enactment of NCLB in 2002. Gains in math achievement have persisted in the post-NCLB period, albeit at a slower rate of growth. Performance in many states continues to apparently climb. But the bar defining proficiency is set much lower in most states, compared with the NAEP definition, and the disparity between state and federal results has grown since 2001. Progress seen in the 1990s in narrowing achievement gaps has largely disappeared in the post-NCLB era.
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“For these reasons, the NAEP data should be relatively immune to concerns about accountability-driven test score inflation (Jacob 2005, Fuller et al. 2007, Koretz 2009).”
From The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Student Achievement (2011) · cites this paper as Fuller et al. 2007
In the citing paper
“Even though principals in rural Missouri reported an increase in the percentage of schools meeting AYP in mathematics, a recent study reported that there have been declines in reading since the implementation of NCLB (Fuller, et al., 2007).”
From Impact of No Child Left Behind on Curriculum and Instruction in Rural Schools (2018) · cites this paper as Fuller, et al., 2007
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Metadata
- Authors
- Fuller, B., Wright, J., Gesicki, K., & Kang, E.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Served as a research assistant at the Berkeley–Stanford Center, Policy Analysis for California Education, before leaving for a teaching post in South Korea. She currently works on early childhood programs with the First 5 California Children and Families Commission; .
- ORCID
- Fuller, Bruce
- Venue
- Educational Researcher
- Published
- 2007-06
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 268-278
- ISSN
- 0013-189X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-102X
- OpenAlex
- W2107063766
- Cited by
- 124
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 54.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational Researcher (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Assessment and Improvement
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Politics, Economics, and Education Policy
- Keywords
- No Child Left Behind Act, academic performance, National Assessment of Educational Progress, fourth grade, mathematics achievement, federal education policy, achievement gap, educational reform, federal role in education
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