“President Bush today signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act – the most sweeping reform of federal education policy in a generation.” (1)

Yesterday, I went on the Colbert Report to discuss my goals for education in this country. We talked about the importance of increasing our expectations for every child. because they are our future. While No Child Left Behind did a good job of articulating the problems , we have to start focusing on solutions.…  (2)

I wondered where and to whom the Secretary of Education was speaking. After researching I found my answer and was surprised to say the least: One on One with Colbert was

an American satirical late night television program that airs Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States (3)

Why? As a hard working American parent I had to give up watching late night TV shows many years ago, when I was still a relatively irresponsible undergraduate.  Also, I have simply never found the concept of teaching children to read a joke. The state of strained relations between political parties creates the controversy over how children are learning in school. For the sake of children learning in school I am a parent and ridicule is a vice when used in relation to how well children are learning. The Secretary of Education is mentioning solutions to problems while a problem exists in that Education is being ridiculed on late night comedy. All kidding aside, it is not easy for parents these days to understand what the heck is going with the education of their children.

The No Child Left Behind Act was enacted for the benefit of children, to ensure that they were learning in school, and resulted in teachers expecting that they would be held accountable for their students’ ability to learn; The implementation of a system of testing, teaching for the test, and outwardly concerned teachers became not only a measure of how much a student learned, but in addition the system of testing has become a means by which the analysis of a teacher’s ability to teach effectively is assessed. As a result, teachers held accountable for the educational progress of your children in American public schools may have found relief from the responsibility of making sure their students are learning, and at the expense of not teaching your children. Since former President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 the reaction has been surprisingly controversial.

A parallel idea to the present condition of the public school system is found in Newton’s Law of Motion in physics and can be imagined when considered.  The universal notion of the body, or the school system, remained in a state of rest until acted upon with force then there was a reaction “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” A pressure to perform in school paved the way for alternative and competitive schools to emerge from within and outside the system.  Hence we taxpayers have seen the growth of autonomy in the boom of the development of the fine, sought after charter school and the surge of alternative and technical studies programs within the traditional public schools and more. As a result, while students may now be learning not what was the former president’s intention through the No Child Left Behind Act, or the what was the purpose of the creation of the MCAS; Instead, the learning process has expanded towards the future and we now have three clear choices for our children to choose from on the path to their best education to reach their individual fullest potential: traditional, technical, and the charter school.

This article intends first to outline some facts from the No Child Left Behind Act and thus eliminate confusion and blame for lack of proper implementation; second, provide information about the direction in which the present administration is guiding educators to go; and third, to give you some ideas to help you to know, as a parent, when to make an educational decision that will affect your children. I hope you will gain knowledge about how to help your children choose their best educational path, and how to ensure that your children are learning according to their best ability. (4)

In 2002 when President Bush first signed The No Child Left Behind Act he had high hopes for education reform.  The following are some of the comments he made while speaking to a group of students in their school:

“Our schools will have higher expectations.  We believe every child can learn.  Our schools will have greater resources to help meet those goals. Parents will have more information about the schools, and more say in how their children are educated.  From this day forward, all students will have a better chance to learn, to excel, and to live out their dreams. …First principle is accountability.  Every school has a job to do.  And that’s to teach the basics and teach them well.  If we want to make sure no child is left behind, every child must learn to read.  And every child must learn to add and subtract.  (Applause.)  So in return for federal dollars, we are asking states to design accountability systems to show parents and teachers whether or not children can read and write and add and subtract in grades three through eight….The fundamental principle of this bill is that every child can learn, we expect every child to learn, and you must show us whether or not every child is learning…The story of children being just shuffled through the system is one of the saddest stories of America…. The first step to making sure that a child is not shuffled through is to test that child as to whether or not he or she can read and write, or add and subtract….The first way to solve a problem is to diagnose it.  And so, what this bill says, it says every child can learn.  And we want to know early, before it’s too late, whether or not a child has a problem in learning.  I understand taking tests aren’t fun.  Too bad.  (Laughter.)  We need to know in America.  We need to know whether or not children have got the basic education…. this bill’s second principle is, is that we trust parents to make the right decisions for their children.  Any school that doesn’t perform, any school that cannot catch up and do its job, a parent will have these options — a better public school, a tutor, or a charter school.  We do not want children trapped in schools that will not change and will not teach….The third principle of this bill is that we have got to trust the local folks on how to achieve standards, to meet the standards…And a fourth principle is that we’re going to spend more money, more resources, but they’ll be directed at methods that work.  Not feel-good methods, not sound-good methods, but methods that actually work. Particularly when it comes to reading. … You know, a huge percentage of children in poverty can’t read at grade level.  That’s not right in America.  We’re going to win the war overseas, and we need to win the war against illiteracy here at home, as well.  And so this bill — (applause) — so this bill focuses on reading.  It sets a grand goal for the country.  Our children will be reading by the third grade.That’s not an impossible goal.  It’s a goal we must meet if we want every child to succeed.  And so, therefore, we tripled the amount of federal funding for scientifically-based early reading programs.  We’ve got money in there to make sure teachers know how to teach what works.  We’ve got money in there to help promote proven methods of instruction…There are no more excuses, as far as I’m concerned, about not teaching children how to read.  We know what works.  The money is now available, and it’s up to each local district to make sure it happens.  It’s up to you, the citizens of Hamilton, to make sure no child is left behind.  And the federal government can spend money and we can help set standards, and we can assist upon accountability.  But the truth of the matter is our schools will flourish when citizens join in the noble cause of making sure no child is left behind.” (5)

As you can read from the former President’s remarks, he was very enthusiastic about education reform when he signed The No Child Left Behind Act. As a result an ambitious federal funding plan was implemented through each individual state. Former President Bush also placed an emphasis on learning to read programs along with learning the basics of reading, writing, adding, and subtracting. Afterwards, hindsight shows the casual onlooker that two things happened: a debate erupted over what could be classified as a basic in learning, and why did it seem that funding was not exactly reaching our public school classrooms. Since then, options for better public schools, tutors, and charter schools have had financial limitations making them not exactly available to those in need of alternative choices for learning. Also, the high school drop-out rate continued to climb. Still, a fair amount of high school students can be heard wondering what they are in school for anyways as they contemplate daily the benefits of taking the GED to get out of school early, and with good reason. Why not get a job and earn some money instead of sitting in a boring classroom all day.

Likewise, while the “War Against Illiteracy” may not have been won in a high school student’s lifetime, any high school student today may very well be more concerned about going to fight in or watching their friends die in the War in the MidEast that has been waging throughout their entire public school experience. Not to blame anyone in particular, I just felt like writing that last sentence because I thought maybe somebody would read it! Who could concentrate on reading at a time like this? Better yet, could you play some video games in school? What is a teacher to do, by the time methods get scientifically tested and approved technology advances. We are living in a fast age of learning. Can the American public School system keep up?

Well, I can tell you one thing for sure, the technique required for reading the English Language remains the same no matter how fast our technology advances. And another thing, two plus two equals four just like one plus one equals two no matter how you look at the universe. I am a parent who thinks that teachers could listen to students more and students could listen better in school if they would learn to read more. Learn to read more, I know you know how to read.  I would like to see students that have already learned to read, learn to read more.

Who is to say that former President Bush and then First Lady Laura did not have similar concerns about the education of children in America?  The following is documented fom the expansion quotations from the No Child Left Behind Act for further viewing in case you have not read it:

Expanded Choices for Parents: Enhances options for parents with children in chronically failing schools – and makes these options available immediately in the 2002-03 school year for students in thousands of schools already identified as failing under current law.Public/Charter School Choice: Once a school is identified as failing, parents will be allowed to transfer their child to a better-performing public or charter school.Supplemental Services: For the first time, federal Title I funds (approximately $500 to $1,000 per child) can be used to provide supplemental educational services – including tutoring, after school services, and summer school programs – for children in failing schools. Services can be provided by faith- and community-based organizations.Charter Schools: Expands the charter school initiative, creating more opportunities for parents, educators and interested community leaders to create schools outside the education establishment. (6)

— Focusing Resources on Proven Educational Methods: Focuses educational dollars on proven, research-based approaches that will most help children to learn.Implements President Bush’s Reading First initiative by increasing federal funding for reading programs from $300 million in FY 2001 to more than $900 million in FY 2002, and tying federal funding to the use of scientifically-proven methods of reading instructiImplements a new Early Reading First program to support early language, literacy, and pre-reading development of preschool-age children, particularly those from low-income families.Strengthens teacher quality by providing $2.8 billion for teacher quality programs and allowing local school districts to use additional federal funds to hire new teachers, increase teacher pay, improve teacher training and development or other uses. (7)

Accountability for Results: Creates strong standards in each state for what every child should know and learn in reading and math in grades 3-8. Student progress and achievement will be measured for every child, every year.Results from these tests will be made available in annual report cards so parents can measure school performance and statewide progress, evaluate the quality of their child’s school, the qualifications of teachers, and their child’s progress in key subjects.Statewide reports will show progress for all student groups in closing achievement gaps between disadvantaged students and other groups of students.Schools will be held accountable for improving performance of all student groups, so every school will be performing at proficient levels within 12 years. (8)

The President believes that investment in education must be accompanied by reform and innovation. The President supports the expansion of high-quality charter schools. He has challenged States to lift limits that stifle growth among successful charter schools and has encouraged rigorous accountability for all charter schools. (9)

— Unprecedented State & Local Flexibility & Reduced Red Tape: Provides new flexibility for all 50 states and every local school district in America in the use of federal education funds.Every local school district in America and all 50 states will receive the freedom to target up to 50 percent of federal non-Title I dollars to programs that will have the most positive impact on the students they serve.The new law consolidates and streamlines programs and targets resources to existing programs that serve poor students, reducing the overall number of ESEA programs from 55 to 45. (10)

Fast forward in time to the year 2009, President Obama, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

Education Progress

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested heavily in education both as a way to provide jobs now and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity.

The Act includes $5 billion for early learning programs, including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, and programs for children with special needs.

The Act also provides $77 billion for reforms to strengthen elementary and secondary education, including $48.6 billion to stabilize state education budgets (of which $8.8 billion may be used for other government services) and to encourage states to:

Make improvements in teacher effectiveness and ensure that all schools have highly-qualified teachers;

Make progress toward college and career-ready standards and rigorous assessments that will improve both teaching and learning;

Improve achievement in low-performing schools, through intensive support and effective interventions; and

Gather information to improve student learning, teacher performance, and college and career readiness through enhanced data systems.

The Act provides $5 billion in competitive funds to spur innovation and chart ambitious reform to close the achievement gap.

The Act includes over $30 billion to address college affordability and improve access to higher education.(11)

I am writing about the idea of education reform which I see as an ongoing endeavor throughout different administrations. My perspective attempts to include the time period between the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act as a beginning reference point for the initiating constructive efforts based on known facts to the present administrations’ efforts to observe the application of educational reform. In respect to all efforts to ensure that the youth of America maintain a respectable rate of learning, I propose an idea here to look at the system theoretically and imagine education as moving forward. I hope to, amid political controversy and educators’ concern over job security, provide information allowing parents and students to understand the system, how it works, and enable them to make confident choices about education. Consider a universal formal principle that learning in a vacuum propagates with a steady speed in terms of any system of inertial coordinates regardless of the state of motion of the learning source-Regardless of how fast information is moving into the vacuum, students learn at the same pace and at that fixed pace learning multiplies. This is a relative theory to The Principle of Invariant Light Speed.(12) (I have replaced the concept of light with the concept of learning for a new axiom I call “The Principle of Invariant Learning Speed). From this principle it can be derived that learning that happens within a vacuum(a space with nothing at all in it) propagates (multiplies) with a fixed constant speed of any system of inertial(a fixed condition without change unless affected by some outside force)coordinates(to bring into proper order or relation, to harmonize is to become coordinate – function harmoniously.) regardless of the state of motion of the learning source. Learning happens at a constant speed within a fixed condition between coordinates which function harmoniously and are without changes unless affected by some outside source at which time then learning is interrupted.

Am I suggesting that students learn in a vacuum? Not exactly.  I am suggesting that each individual student has a set rate of learning no matter how much information is being thrown at them.  Creating an atmosphere for learning will help the student know their own ability.  For example, in an English class I might ask students how fast they read. They never know – they look at me like what a wild question. Then I tell them how many pages I read in an hour. I go on to explain that because I know my speed of reading I can estimate how long it will take me to read a chapter of a book.  If they could figure that out for themselves then they would know that their homework assignment of reading twenty pages would take them one hour. Then they could read for half an hour Saturday and half an hour Sunday. This knowledge would help them not stress out about having homework over the weekend. Simple, but a revelation to them! That is just an example however each subject may have a separate rate of learning for each individual student. The concept of a vacuum like environment makes sense when you think about that student looking for two half hour time slots within their weekend that they plan on setting aside to read.  While they may prefer to sit in front of a quiet T.V. and read, or read with soft music on, or read in the quiet of their room is up to them; yet I do not think any of them would choose to read where deliberate distractions take place like in the right field of a baseball game. Students prefer to learn in environments that eliminate interruptions so that they can learn at their own pace – or most quickly learn, get it over with, and move on. Rate of learning remains constant when uninterrupted. A students’ rate of learning may vary between subjects. A harmonious situation within a school would allow for time The Principle of Invariant Learning Speed to develop each individual students’ potential for learning.

In an attempt not to leave any child behind from learning, I suggest spaces be created for learning more according to the concept of a vacuum – or create spaces with less distractions in a classroom which would enable a more constant speed of learning and then multiply learning. How? Investment, or who has the power, privilege or authority to make changes in American classrooms? Parents and teachers must involve themselves in the process if their students or children are to succeed.

It does not matter what you are learning, the principle remains the same.Learning relies upon the space and the fixed condition of that space. The Principle of Invariant Learning Speed may be applied within one school and work in relation to another.  In other words, different schools may function harmoniously with each other. A revolving door between schools would create an atmosphere for all to move forward in the same direction, that is towards success, within any local educational system.

Universal principles require that the frames of reference are adhered to and it is understood that progress in education always moves with respect to some other reference frame.  Consequently, one relies upon the other – The No Child Left Behind Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act frame of references work in respect of each other. As educators continue to base their constructive efforts on known facts, the time and distance from reference points will allow their frame of reference to take effect in applications to help students learn more. The initiatives from Federal Government resources are provided to individual States and then allocations are made to local school districts. While all of the progress in education may be relative to those predetermined frames of reference, the forward motion of learning gains momentum from outside resources and have a greater effect when the schools within a local system realize their dependence on each other and interact.

We have heard many promises from two Presidents about the financial support of education. Remember, the allocation of federal funds became the responsibility of each State through the endorsement of our former President enacting the No Child Left Behind Act. An interesting area of research may be to look into your home State’s financial records in regards to their Department of Education to see where and how the allocation of funds worked, could have worked, or are expected to work to implement new programs.  The advancement of educational opportunities may often be the result of individual members of a community who are concerned enough to do the paperwork or grant writing to request funds for educational resources that are made available according to their States’ requirements.  Although the processes may be tedious, allocated funds have more than likely been made available to those who followed the processes put in place to receive grants.  Otherwise, state legislatures could answer your questions.

According to relative theory, there is no absolute reference frame. Everything is always moving with respect to some other reference frame.  When speaking of education, I have decided to use two frames of reference: One, The No Child Left Behind Act; and Two, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and when they move education forward at the same speed and in the same direction they may be referred to as comoving. Comoving defeats controversy.

How to Access Money? Ask your State Department of Education. Hold your state accountable which may be why President Obama is now encouraging increased parental involvement in education. Is your child learning in school? How can you or your school help your child learn better? Who is benefiting from all the reform initiatives? Start asking questions.Learning is a process for all of us, teachers included. Information is available to parents.

For Example, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has created a website for their Department of Education which provides information about money that is available to help promote student’s learning under the column of assessment/ accountability. I have seen on that same website accountant information pertaining to past years also.

I have found the development of three areas of educational reform within the typical school system: traditional, charter, and technical. Sometimes nontraditional learning and technical learning are made available within the coordinates of the traditional school, and function harmoniously.  However, these three types of schools work independently of each other for the most part. When there is a revolving door applied to the schools within a school system all of the schools are functioning harmoniously within that school system. Furthermore, if a revolving door idea existed within a classroom or school then the theory of The Principle of Invariant Learning could be applied.  Students who learned at their optimal speed could then move on to learn from different fields of study at a rate that was most fitting for them.  As a result there would be less classroom disturbances; more learning opportunities; multiplied learning; harmoniously functioning schools and school districts; and overall happier students with a brighter future.

If you are a working parent who thinks that fulfilling your obligations as a parent ends with dropping your children off at school then think again. You probably think that you are sending your children off to school to a place that is just like where you went to school.  Think again.  Schools have changed and you are not sending your children to a place that is the same as when you went to school. Today’s schools are filled with all sorts of information; all sorts of teachers; all sorts of classmates; all sorts of viewpoints.  Do you even know what is written in the books that your children are reading?  Your obligation as a parent to your children is to become involved with their learning process.  Get to know your children and become aware of how well they are learning. When our former President talked about learning the basics in school between the grades 3-8 and learning to read before graduating from the third grade (and by basics meaning addition subtraction and learning to read and write), he made perfect sense according to the frame of reference that he had to work with at the time. Now that our present President has created the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – I ask you parents, have the basics changed? I think not.  However, according to the opportunities that have been made available to your children, they could be learning those same basics at different time periods within their life.  The amount of particular information that a child learns may happen at a constant speed within coordinates, yet the subject could vary. While our world is not a vacuum chamber, we can create environments that help children to learn in our homes and schools.  As a parent, you can understand best how well your child learns and how adept they are at the basics you feel they ought to know.

I am simply a parent who learned along the way while my children journeyed through school.  Situations arose that alarmed me many times.  I always spoke to my children first then to my child’s teacher if my child was comfortable with my speaking to their teacher. As a parent, we are most often outsiders looking in when it comes to our children’s classrooms or schools.  We really can not get a great idea of what is going on in the schools from the outside so we have to acknowledge our children from the home front. I placed the Alphabet around the wall of my dining room table where my children did homework when I noticed my son’s first grade classroom had no alphabet on the wall there. Trust in your instincts as a parent and always be respectful of the teachers even when you do not agree with their philosophies.  I found that I could always express myself to my children at home and the varying viewpoints gave me opportunity to speak, so I was grateful. In the long run, you can make a difference in the life of your child. My experiential advice would be to make sure that your child learns the basics first, and by that I mean reading, writing, adding, and subtracting; and once they have a grip on that explore other areas of learning especially when they appear to loose interest – then it is time to find something of interest to them.  The following information will give parents the recent school choices updates about what is available within the public school systems today:

1. Charter School

What is a charter school?

A charter school is a nonsectarian public school of choice that operates with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The “charter” establishing each such school is a performance contract detailing the school’s mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. (13)

2. Technical School

A” district is applying for grants to fund the program — which could take over $400,000 over three or four years to implement — but the board has yet to act on a proposal. About 40 high schools in the country are New Tech high schools, which use a unusual combination of education practices. Students have extensive use of technology — programs maintain one-to-one computer to student ratio — and also learn through small-group projects that cut across traditional school disciplines. The district is exploring the possibility of starting a high school program based on the national New Tech High School.” (14)

New Technology Foundation will become a division of KnowledgeWorks, supporting the rapid expansion of an innovative, learner-centered network of high schools nationwide. This integration is expected to be completed as of October 1, 2009. KnowledgeWorks’ goal is to double the number of these learner-centered high schools over the next two years, from approximately 100 high schools to more than 200, and to reach 500 schools by 2015. Building on a successful partnership, KnowledgeWorks will make New Tech the centerpiece of a new strategy to provide comprehensive leadership and technical assistance on high school innovation across the country, leveraging a complementary portfolio of cutting-edge approaches to learning that are tailored to the specific challenges of each school and community KnowledgeWorks serves. As part of KnowledgeWorks, the New Tech organization will be rebranded and organized as “New Tech Network,” recognizing the growing national network of schools that share the New Tech approach to education. Reflecting this change, the organization will be introducing a new logo and website for the New Tech Network … (15)

3,Traditional School

School report cards released is an example of a traditional school curriculum:

Students in grades three through eight are tested in reading and math. High school students are tested in some or all of the following subjects: English I, Algebra I, Algebra II, geometry, biology, chemistry, physical science, physics, civics and economics, and U.S. history.

Report cards show the percentage of teachers at each school who have completed licensure requirements and the percentage of classes taught by highly qualified teachers, the teachers that are fully certified and/or licensed by the state, hold at least a bachelor’s degree, and demonstrate competence in each core academic subject they teach. Wednesday, (16)

There may be more alternative or technical programs that you know of and at different grade levels. In my home town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, The Plymouth South High School has developed a successful technological program that has been in place for years within the same school building as the traditional student and functions harmoniously by allowing traditional college prep student to enroll in technical courses, enabling them to take courses through both technical and traditional departments. The fact is some students prefer to change out of the traditional school for a charter school or even a technical school. If you are a parent you may question the reasoning behind your children’s desires to make unusual choices.  Parents may expect their children to progress along the same path that they did twenty or thirty years ago however much has changed in education since then. Help your children to progress along a steady learning path at a rate that you know belongs to them. When an overload of information invades the coordinates of their world learning may be inhibited for a time until they get on track again. I would try to understand the complications of my child’s world before anything. Simplify their environment when necessary. So much is available to learn yet their learning rate is fixed and multiplies within set coordinates, functions harmoniously through a revolving door system which is relative to reference points – this theory of The Principle of Invariant Learning Speed provides a reason to help you as a parent help your children find their direction to a path for success. You can ensure that your child is learning to the best of their ability when you know how to help them choose their best path. Know the facts about what opportunities exist in your school system.  Remember the primary set of reference points include learning the basics as afore mentioned and seeing what opportunities are being developed within the public school system in your local area. Look forward to the future as brilliant minds are many in the American Public School classroom.Anza Books

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108.html

2.One-on-One with ColbertPosted by Secretary Arne Duncan on October 06, 2009 at 03:22 PM ESThttp://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/One-on-One-with-Colbert (viewed09nov09mms)

3.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colbert_Report (viewed10nov09mms)

4. http://www.whitehouse.gov/search/site/no%20child%20left%20behind%20act (viewed 09Nov09MMS)

5.http://georgewbushwhitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/200201081html(viewed09nov09mms6.http://georgewbushwhitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108.html(viewed10nov09mms)

7.http://georgewbushwhitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108.html(viewed10nov09mms)

8.http://georgewbushwhitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108.html(viewed10nov09mms)

9. http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education (viewed 10nov09mms)

10,http://georgewbushwhitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108.html(viewed10nov09mms)

11.http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education (viewed 10nov09mms)

12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity(viewed 14nov09mms)

13.  http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/o/faq.html#3(viewed 09nov09mms)

14.http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x870208262/Holland-explores-new-type-of-high-school By Stephen Kloostermanwww.newtechnetwork.org. The Holland Sentinel MichiganPosted Nov 11, 2009 @ 07:00 AM (viewed 10nov09mms)

15.http://eon.businesswire.com/portal/site/eon/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090729006487&KnowledgeWorks and New Technology Foundation Will Combine to Advance Learner-Centered Education NationwideJuly 30, 2009 12:00 AM Eastern Time EON(viewed 10nov09mms)

16. November 11, 2009 9:06 AM ESTBy Luci WeldonFor The Warren RecordWarren CountyNewsWarrenton,N.C.http://www.vancnews.com/articles/2009/11/11/warrenton/news/news58.txt

*Posted one week ago.

**Maryann is licensed to teach High School English by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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Tagged as: Charter school, Education, Education in the United States, Education reform, No Child Left Behind Act, United States