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Note: Congress has reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the statute formerly known as No Child Left Behind. The new statute, Every Student Succeeds Act, was signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015.

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No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

In 2001, when Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (and renamed it the "No Child Left Behind Act"), they described the purpose of the No Child Left Behind Act as follows:

"The purpose of this title is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assesssments. (emphasis added) This purpose can be accomplished by ... meeting the educational needs of low-achieving children ... [including] children with disabilities." 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (See Statement of Purpose on pages 137-138 of Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind)

For children with disabilities who receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), NCLB requires that the child will receive "reasonable adaptations and accommodations for students with disabilities ... necessary to measure the academic achievement of such students relative to State academic content and State student academic achievement standards."

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

When Congress reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004, they found that:

"The education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by ... having high expectations for such children and ensuring their access to the general curriculum to the maximum extent possible, in order to meet the developmental goals and ... the challenging expectations that have been established for all children and ... be prepared to lead productive and independent adult lives ..." 20 U.S.C. 1400(c) (See Findings and Purposes page 45 in Wrightslaw: Special Education Law)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act states that your child's IEP must be based on "the child's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance." The IEP must include "a statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals, designed to meet the child's needs that result from the child's disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum ..."

Your child's IEP must include "a statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aides and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child or on behalf of the child to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum ..." 20 U.S.C. 1414(d). (See Individualized Education Programs on pages 99-101 in Wrightslaw: Special Education Law

And that's not all.

When Congress reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, they added new language about "individual appropriate accommodations" on state and district testing and new requirements for alternate assessments. The child's IEP must include "a statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and districtwide assessments ..." 20 U.S.C. 1414(d)

State Academic Standards

What do you know about your state academic standards? These standards describe what children in each grade need to know and be able to do.

To get a copy of your state's state's academic standards, go to the website of your state department of education and download your state academic content standards. Your state may refer to this as "academic standards" or "grade level expectations" or "curriculum frameworks."

After you read and review these academic standards, you'll know what your child should know and be able to do in each grade. This is the "general education curriculum" that Congress said your child should be involved in and make progress in.

Print the academic standards for the grade your child will attend next year. You can use these academic or curriculum standards and information from current evaluations of your child to write appropriate, measurable IEP goals for the upcoming year.

Parents, Laws, and NCLB. An Interview with Suzanne Whitney - "The more you read the easier it gets. When a parent first enters the education process it takes a while to learn the system and the jargon. Every state has academic content standards."

Learn more about IEPs

Read more Doing Your Homework columns by Sue Whitney.

Revised: 11/26/19