History of Education in The United States - Policy Since 2000

Policy Since 2000

No Child Left Behind, passed by a bipartisan coalition in Congress in 2002, marked a new direction. In exchange for more federal aid the states were required to measure progress and punish schools that were not meeting the goals as measured by standardized state exams in math and language skills. By 2012 half the states were given waivers because the original goal that 100% students by 2014 be deemed "proficient" proved unrealistic.

Start times for high schools have been delayed from the earliest of the three types of schools, to the latest. The intent was to better align the school's starting times with findings about adolescent sleep cycles, which biologically tend to be later than in other periods of life.