| Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act is the largest federally funded program for elementary and secondary schools. Its purpose is to provide federal funds to schools with high concentrations of children living in poverty that are not achieving academically well. NCLB strengthens Title accountability by requiring States to implement statewide accountability systems covering all public schools and students. It also requires States to develop annual assessments for grades three through eight and once in high school that are aligned with State standards and to use achievement on these assessments as the measure of district and school accountability. The system is meant to ensure that districts and schools make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward having all children proficient in reading and mathematics by the 2013-2014 school year. For Title I schools that fail to meet the AYP established by each state, the law mandates a set of progressive consequences for schools that fail including public school choice, supplemental educational services, school restructuring, decentralization of the school, reassigning staff, state takeover, and contracting out services. In addition, there are more opportunities for parents to become involved including being informed about the quality of teachers in the school, the development of district and school parental involvement policies, choice of another public school, selection of an outside entity that would provide supplemental education services for students, and participating on a school action team in the case of a low performing school.
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