The Potential Impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on Equity and Diversity in American Education

With its overriding emphasis on accountability, testing, sanctions, rewards, and public school choice, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) raises both the hopes and fears of educators concerned with the impact of the legislation on minority groups, on multicultural curricula, and on equity issues within public education. Drawing on evidence from state-level systemic-based accountability initiatives, coupled with a detailed analysis of the legislation itself, this article assesses the potential positive and negative effects of NCLB on diversity, multiculturalism, and equity issues in schooling. After examining the strengths and weaknesses of the legislation, this article concludes that the promise of NCLB to enhance equity and opportunity by reducing the achievement gap will likely remain unfulfilled due to insufficient funding and an overly simplistic definition of the achievement gap.