The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Opportunities for Career Technical Education.

Overview & Synopsis

Many believe that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 represents the most sweeping national education reform legislation in decades. NCLB's provisions have created numerous potential opportunities and challenges for career and technical education (CTE), including in the following areas: (1) teacher quality; (2) expansion of the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 (Ed Flex); (3) professional development; (4) assessment; (5) counseling; (6) adequate yearly progress; (7) opportunities for Native Americans, Hawaiians, and Alaskans; (8) comprehensive school reform; (9) women's education; and (10) opportunities for other specific groups, such as individuals with limited English proficiency and immigrants, inmates of correctional institutions, and homeless children. Specific implications of NCLB for CTE are as follows: (1) some state CTE programs with a role in core academic courses will have to adhere to new requirements regarding teacher qualifications; (2) NCLB makes various Perkins Act programs eligible for participation in Ed Flex; and (3) all students, including CTE students, will be expected to perform at "proficient" levels on state assessments by 2014. Eight World Wide Web sites dealing with NCLB are listed. (MN)