Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called for a speedy re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), branded the "No Child Left Behind" law (NCLB) by the Bush administration. Since expiring in 2007, NCLB has continued under a series of temporary extensions. Some of NCLB practices are so controversial that major education groups have opposed the extension and Congress has been unable to assemble a majority to pass it. But "re-authorization can't wait," Duncan said recently, and he has pledged to get Congress to enact a new education law in 2010.
Most observers assume that the emphases placed in the current debate over Race to the Top will continue in the administration proposals for re-authorizing NCLB. See Race to the Top posts on this blog.
Major recent pieces on NCLB and resources: Riches Rothstein, Prospects for NCLB. http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/pm149/
Forum on Educational Accountability: http://www.edaccountability.org/
Fair Test. http://www.fairtest.org/k-12/national