NCLB Reporting and Public Dissemination 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under NCLB, what was the purpose of requiring report cards to be written in 'plain language'?
- To reduce printing costs for districts
- To ensure parents and the community could understand and use the data (Correct answer)
- To comply with copyright law on educational materials
- To standardize the format across all 50 states
Correct answer: To ensure parents and the community could understand and use the data
NCLB's plain language requirement was explicitly designed to make report card data accessible and meaningful to parents and community members without education expertise.
Question 2: NCLB required that school report cards include graduation rates. For which student population did NCLB specifically require a separate graduation rate calculation?
- Students who transfer between districts
- Each disaggregated subgroup, such as racial and ethnic groups (Correct answer)
- Only students who received free or reduced-price lunch
- Only students who participated in gifted programs
Correct answer: Each disaggregated subgroup, such as racial and ethnic groups
NCLB required graduation rates to be disaggregated by the same subgroups used for AYP determinations, exposing disparities by race, disability, and other factors.
Question 3: A district receives Title I funds. Under NCLB, the district's annual report card must include which of the following regarding school safety?
- The number of days each school was closed for weather or illness
- The number of persistently dangerous schools and violent incidents at each school (Correct answer)
- The names of schools that failed a fire safety inspection
- The percentage of students who reported feeling unsafe
Correct answer: The number of persistently dangerous schools and violent incidents at each school
NCLB required LEA report cards to disclose the number of schools identified as persistently dangerous and the number of violent criminal offenses per school.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the relationship between AYP status and public reporting under NCLB?
- AYP status was confidential and shared only with the state education agency
- AYP status was publicly reported on state and district report cards each year (Correct answer)
- AYP status was reported only to the U.S. Department of Education, not to the public
- AYP status was optional for districts with fewer than 1,000 students
Correct answer: AYP status was publicly reported on state and district report cards each year
NCLB required AYP status to be publicly disclosed on annual report cards so families and communities could see how their schools were performing.
Question 5: Under NCLB, if a state did not have sufficient numbers in a particular subgroup to report separate results, what was the required approach?
- The state had to create a combined multi-state reporting pool
- The state was not required to report that subgroup's data separately to protect student privacy (Correct answer)
- The state had to estimate the data using neighboring district statistics
- The state had to report results for every student individually
Correct answer: The state was not required to report that subgroup's data separately to protect student privacy
NCLB allowed states to set minimum 'n-size' thresholds for subgroup reporting to protect individual student privacy when group sizes were too small.
Question 6: NCLB report cards were required to include information about the professional qualifications of teachers. Which specific credential data was required?
- Whether teachers held National Board Certification
- Whether teachers were licensed and had demonstrated subject matter competency (Correct answer)
- Whether teachers held advanced degrees beyond a bachelor's
- Whether teachers had completed more than three years of professional development
Correct answer: Whether teachers were licensed and had demonstrated subject matter competency
NCLB defined 'highly qualified' as holding state licensure and demonstrated subject matter competency, and report cards had to reflect these criteria.
Question 7: Under NCLB, how frequently were states required to publish their annual report cards?
- Every two years, aligned with federal budget cycles
- Once per year, with data from the preceding school year (Correct answer)
- Once every three years, coinciding with NAEP testing cycles
- Quarterly, to allow mid-year accountability adjustments
Correct answer: Once per year, with data from the preceding school year
NCLB mandated annual report cards so that accountability data was updated each school year and remained current for parents and policymakers.
NCLB Reporting and Public Dissemination 4
Under NCLB, what was the purpose of requiring report cards to be written in 'plain language'?