Fact Sheet: Six Years of Student Achievement Under No Child Left Behind

President Bush Calls for Strengthening and Reauthorization of NCLB
CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--One day before the sixth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind
Act, President Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings today
discussed this landmark education law at Horace Greeley Elementary
School in Chicago. As the 2007 Nation's Report Card shows, No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) is helping raise achievement for all kinds of
children, in all kinds of schools, in every part of the country.
Students are achieving record success, with minority students, poor
students, and students with disabilities reaching all-time highs in a
number of areas. As a result, the achievement gap is beginning to
close.

-- The results achieved by students at Horace Greeley prove that
with high expectations and dedication, we can meet the goal of
NCLB and help every student reach grade level or above. Horace
Greeley was recently named a NCLB-Blue Ribbon School by the
U.S. Department of Education, an honor given to schools that
are academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains
in student achievement. Most of the students at Horace Greeley
come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and many speak English as
a second language. Yet test scores are soaring - from 2003 to
2007, student proficiency in reading increased 25 points to 76
percent, while student proficiency in math rose 26 points to
85 percent.

-- The Nation's Report Card, released this fall, shows
across-the-board improvement in 4th and 8th grade reading and
math nationwide.

-- In reading, scores for 4th graders were the highest on record.

-- In math, scores for 4th and 8th graders were the highest on
record.

-- African-American and Hispanic students are making significant
progress, posting all-time highs in a number of categories.

-- In 4th grade reading, the achievement gap between white and
African-American students is at an all-time low.

-- In math, 4th and 8th grade African-American students achieved
their highest scores to date.

-- In 4th grade reading and in 4th and 8th grade math, Hispanic
students set new achievement records. In reading, Hispanic 8th
graders matched their all-time high.

During The Past Six Years, We Have Seen That No Child Left Behind
Is Working, And Now It Is Time To Make This Law Even Stronger

The President has sent Congress several proposals to help
strengthen NCLB:

1. We need to increase flexibility for States and districts to
help them turn around struggling schools. The President has
proposed to let States and districts tailor interventions to
each school and to measure individual students' achievement
growth over time.

2. We need to empower parents with more choices. The President has
proposed allowing eligible students to transfer out of
low-performing schools to private or out-of-district public
schools or receive intensive tutoring.

3. We need to increase support for struggling students and
underperforming schools. The President has proposed helping
more students take advantage of NCLB's free tutoring by
ensuring that districts notify parents when their children are
eligible and by requiring school districts to use the full
Federal funds set aside for tutoring and school choice.

4. We need to reward our best teachers and encourage good
instructors to take jobs in underperforming schools. The
President has proposed increasing our investment in the
Teacher Incentive Fund to reward teachers for success in
raising student achievement in low-income schools.

5. We need to make sure our children graduate prepared for the
jobs of the 21st century. The President has proposed
increasing accountability in our high schools, expanding
access to Advanced Placement courses, and strengthening math
and science education. His Adjunct Teacher Corps would allow
math and science professionals to bring real-life experience
to the classroom as part-time teachers.

Unless Congress moves forward with reauthorization in the coming
months, President Bush will ask the Department of Education to begin
strengthening No Child Left Behind through administrative steps.
Members of Congress have had nearly a year to consider the
Administration's proposals. Secretary Spellings will also continue
discussing these important issues with our partners at the State and
local levels.

In the meantime, the Administration will do everything it can to
help Members of Congress pass bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the
No Child Left Behind Act. In 2001, President Bush worked with
Republicans and Democrats to pass NCLB. The reauthorization of this
bipartisan law is one of the President's top priorities and an area in
which he believes both parties can work together to build on NCLB's
success, expand opportunity for Americans of all backgrounds, and
provide all our children with the quality education they deserve.

White House Press Office
1-202-456-2580

Copyright Business Wire 2008