Spring 2003 Parent notification on Educator Qualification provisions Fall 2003 Full Implementation of School Choice provisions Full Implementation of Supplemental Services provisions Fall 2005 Full Implementation of Annual Statewide Testing Spring 2006 All educators in system must be "Highly Qualified" Year 2014 State must set Adequate Yearly Progress Measurements to achieve 100% proficiency

In January 2002, the federal government passed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The Act has three core principles:

1. Holding schools accountable to improve student achievement
2. Providing quality options for all students
3. Ensuring highly qualified teachers for every child

In order to fulfill these goals, the Act:

• Expands statewide standardized testing and reporting on school performance.
• Requires school districts to give students at schools that have not made adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years the option of transferring to a school that is making adequate yearly progress.
• Requires school districts to provide supplemental educational services (after-school tutoring) for students at schools that have not made adequate yearly progress for three consecutive years.
• Requires school districts to make sure that by 2005-2006 all students are taught by “highly qualified” teachers and paraprofessionals in core subjects. The law also requires districts to make information available to parents on teacher and paraprofessional qualifications, and to notify parents if their children are being taught by a teacher who does not meet the NCLB “highly qualified” standard.

CPS core strategies overlap with NCLB in many important ways. We have had a strong district accountability system for many years and recently updated it to better measure school performance, recognize schools for making significant gains and provide appropriate support to schools at all levels of performance.

We are deeply committed to creating high quality schools in every neighborhood—making neighborhood schools appealing choices to students in every neighborhood in Chicago. We offer many different “voluntary” choice options to all of our students. In fact, roughly a third of our students exercise “choice” by attending magnet schools, gifted centers, small schools and charter schools.

Finally, we are committed to providing every child with a highly qualified teacher. In the past three years, we have overhauled our teacher recruitment, hiring, professional development and support system. We have notified teachers who do not meet certification standards that they have a limited amount of time to meet those standards, and we are providing them with the help they need to meet those requirements.

This web site offers resources for parents, school staff and community members to better understand the law and what CPS is doing to comply with it.

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