NCLBA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and built upon accountability requirements created under a previous reauthorization, the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA). Under ESEA, as amended, Congress sought to improve student learning by incorporating academic standards and assessments in the requirements placed on states. Academic standards, which describe what students should know and be able to do at different grade levels in different subjects, help guide school systems in their choice of curriculum and help teachers plan for classroom instruction. Assessments, which states use to measure student progress in achieving the standards, are required to be administered by states. NCLBA further strengthened some of the accountability requirements contained in ESEA, as amended. Specifically, NCLBA’s accountability provisions require states to develop education plans that establish academic standards and performance goals for schools to meet AYP and lead to 100 percent of their students being proficient in reading, math, and science by 2014. This proficiency must be assessed annually in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and periodically in science, whereas assessments were required less frequently under the IASA. Under NCLBA, schools’ assessment data generally must be disaggregated to assess progress toward state proficiency targets for students in certain designated groups, including low-income students, minority students, students with disabilities, and those with limited English proficiency. Each of these groups must make AYP in order for the school to make AYP. Schools that fail to make AYP for 2 or more consecutive years are required to implement various improvement measures identified in NCLBA, and these measures are more extensive than those required under IASA. Education, which has responsibility for general oversight of NCLBA, reviews and approves state plans for meeting AYP requirements. As we have previously reported, Education had approved all states’ plans—fully or conditionally—by June 2003. NCLBA also recognizes the role of teachers in providing a quality education by requiring states to ensure that all teachers in core academic subjects are “highly qualified.” Under this requirement, teachers generally must have a bachelor’s degree, be fully certified, and demonstrate their knowledge of the subjects they teach. Previously, there were no specific requirements regarding teacher quality under ESEA, as amended. According to our analysis of NLS-NCLB data from Education, most principals reported their schools focused on multiple instructional practices in their voluntary school improvement efforts. These strategies were used more often at schools with higher proportions of low-income students (“high-poverty schools”) and schools with higher proportions of minority students (“high-minority schools”) than at schools with lower proportions of low-income students (“low-poverty schools”) and schools with lower proportions of minority students (“low-minority schools”). Likewise, the survey of math teachers in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania indicates teachers were using many different instructional practices in response to their state tests, and teachers at high-poverty and high-minority schools were more likely than teachers at low-poverty and low-minority schools to have been increasing their use of some of these practices. Some researchers we spoke with suggested that differences in the use of these instructional practices exist because schools with low- poverty or low-minority student populations might generally be meeting accountability standards and, therefore, would need to try these strategies less frequently. According to nationally representative data from Education’s NLS-NCLB, in school year 2006-2007 most principals focused on multiple strategies in their school improvement efforts. The survey asked principals the extent to which their schools were focusing on ten different strategies in their voluntary school improvement initiatives. The three most common strategies were: (1) using student achievement data to inform instruction and school improvement; (2) providing additional instruction to low- achieving students; and (3) aligning curriculum and instruction with standards and/or assessments. (See fig. 1.) Nearly all school principals placed a major or moderate focus on three or more surveyed strategies in their school improvement efforts, and over 80 percent of principals placed a major or moderate focus on six or more strategies. However, as Education’s report on the survey data cautioned, the number of improvement strategies emphasized was not necessarily an indication of the intensity or quality of the improvement efforts. While nearly all principals responded that they used multiple improvement strategies, there were statistically significant differences in principals’ responses across a range of school characteristics, including percentage of the school’s students receiving free or reduced price lunch (poverty), percentage of minority students, the school’s location, and AYP status. For example, when comparing schools across poverty levels, we found that principals at high-poverty schools were two to three times more likely than principals at low-poverty schools to focus on five particular strategies in their school improvement efforts: Restructuring the school day to teach core content areas in greater depth; Increasing instructional time for all students (e.g., by lengthening the school day or year, shortening recess); Providing extended-time instructional programs (e.g., before-school, after- school, or weekend instructional programs); Implementing strategies for increasing parents’ involvement in their children’s education; and Increasing the intensity, focus, and effectiveness of professional development. Likewise, when comparing schools across minority levels, we found that principals at high- and moderate-minority schools were approximately two to three times more likely than principals at low-minority schools to make six particular school improvement strategies a major or moderate focus of their school improvement efforts. For instance, principals at schools with a high percentage of minority students were more than three times as likely as principals at schools with a low percentage of minority students to provide extended-time instruction such as after-school programs. A school’s location was associated with differences in principals’ responses about the strategies they used as well: principals at rural schools were only about one-third to one-half as likely as central city schools to make five of these school improvement strategies a moderate or major focus of their school improvement efforts. When we compared principal responses based on AYP status, there was some evidence of a statistically significant association between AYP status and the extent to which principals focused these strategies in their school improvement efforts, but it was limited when the other variables such as poverty and minority were taken into account. AYP status had some correlation with the demographic characteristics of poverty and minority, and those characteristics explained the patterns of principals’ responses more fully than the AYP characteristic. However, our analysis generally showed that schools that had not made AYP were more likely to make six of these school improvement strategies a moderate or major focus of their school improvement plan than schools that had made AYP. Additionally, Education reported that schools identified for improvement under NCLBA—that is, schools that have not made AYP for two or more consecutive years—were engaged in a greater number of improvement efforts than non-identified schools. Therefore, principals of the non- identified schools may have been less likely than principals of identified schools to view specific strategies as a major or moderate focus. We spoke with several researchers about the results of our analysis of the principals’ responses, especially at high-poverty and high-minority schools. While the researchers could not say with certainty the reasons for the patterns, they noted that high-poverty and high-minority schools tend to be most at risk of not meeting their states’ standards, so that principals at those schools might be more willing to try different approaches. Conversely, the researchers noted that principals at schools meeting standards would not have the same incentives to adopt as many school improvement strategies. The RAND survey of elementary and middle school math teachers in California, Georgia and Pennsylvania showed that in each of the three states at least half of the teachers reported increasing their use of certain instructional practices in at least five areas as a result of the statewide math test (see fig. 2). For example, most teachers in Pennsylvania responded that due to the state math test they: (1) focused more on standards, (2) emphasized assessment styles and formats, (3) focused more on subjects tested, (4) searched for more effective teaching methods, and (5) spent more time teaching content. As we did with the survey responses of principals, we analyzed the teacher survey data to determine whether math teachers’ responses differed by school characteristics for poverty, minority, location, and AYP status. As with the principals’ responses, we found that elementary and middle school math teachers in high-poverty and high-minority schools were more likely than teachers in low-poverty and low-minority schools to report increasing their use of certain instructional practices, and this pattern was consistent across the three states (see fig. 3). For example, 69 percent of math teachers at high-poverty schools in California indicated they spent more time teaching test-taking strategies as opposed to 38 percent of math teachers in low-poverty schools. In Georgia, 50 percent of math teachers in high-poverty schools reported offering more outside assistance to non- proficient students in contrast to 26 percent of math teachers in low- poverty schools. Fifty-one percent of math teachers at high-poverty schools in Pennsylvania reported focusing more attention on students close to proficiency compared to 23 percent of math teachers doing so in low poverty schools. Similar to what our poverty analysis showed, survey responses provided some evidence that math teachers in high-minority schools were more likely than those in low-minority schools to change their instructional practices.