2004 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION pp 42 50 doi 10 1598 JAAL 48 1 4 No Child Left Behind What it means for U S adolescents and what we can do about it Mark W Conley Kathleen A Hinchman The No Child Left Behind Act promises all students a better chance to learn but does that promise include adolescents Behind NCLB seems unconnected to adolescents and their needs despite assertions that this new legislative approach will improve the performance of the United States elementary and secondary schools Conley teaches at Michigan State University 359 Bush 2001 However comparisons Erickson Hall East Lansing between adolescent literacy research Through considerable effort over the MI 48824 USA E mail conleym msu edu and the new U S federal policies propast decades researchers have conHinchman teaches at vide a unique opportunity to review tributed a great deal to our underSyracuse University what we have learned about adolesstanding of adolescents and adolescent cent literacy reconfirming and literacy learning Reviews in the strengthening some of our insights and raising Handbook of Reading Research have provided usequestions about future directions ful syntheses of this research see Alvermann Moore 1991 Bean 2000 as has the International This article explores the connection between Reading Association s Summary of Adolescent what we know about adolescent literacy and No Literacy A Position Statement Moore Bean Child Left Behind Our purpose is to consider Birdyshaw Rycik 1999 ways in which research policy and classroom Despite these advancements the U S federal government recently launched an unprecedented push for an overhaul of early literacy education in the form of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 In signing this legislation President George W Bush optimistically declared practice could be more forcefully directed toward supporting adolescents and their literacy learning Today begins a new era a new time for public education in our country Our schools will have higher expectations we believe every child can learn From this day forward all students will have a better chance to learn to excel and to live out their dreams Committee on Education and the Workforce 2002 With No Child Left Behind President George W Bush captured the frustration felt by many about the progress or lack of progress in U S schools President Bush noted At first glance with its emphases on early literacy and early intervention No Child Left 42 The new legislation and adolescent literacy As America enters the 21st Century full of hope and promise too many of our neediest students are being left behind Today nearly 70 percent of inner city fourth graders are unable to read at a basic level on national JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT ADULT LITERACY 48 1 SEPTEMBER 2004 No Child Left Behind What it means for U S adolescents and what we can do about it reading tests Our high school seniors trail students in Cyprus and South Africa on international math tests And nearly a third of our college freshmen find they must take a remedial course before they are able to even begin regular college level courses Bush 2001 p 1 These claims are especially disturbing considering that the federal government spends US 120 billion each year while states and local communities spend additional untold billions on elementary and secondary education In short for the amount being spent many politicians argue the U S public has not been getting its money s worth In January 2002 the principles of NCLB were incorporated into the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act ESEA The reauthorized ESEA redefines the federal role in K 12 education and will help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers It is based on four basic principles stronger accountability for results increased flexibility and local control expanded options for parents and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work www ed gov programs readingfirst legislation html This legislation suggests that greater accountability is to be gained through increased attention to results of annual assessments in grades 3 through 8 Parents administrators and policymakers are more able to pressure schools to make needed improvements closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and other groups of students Reduction of bureaucracy is to result in greater local control More options are to be available for parents of children from failing schools such as school choice and vouchers The bill authorizes US 900 million in funds to be spent on early literacy instruction grounded in scientifically based reading research Funds are also targeted to improve literacy education for limited English proficient students and others at risk of failure due to lack of understanding of essential elements of reading The principles of the NCLB legislation embodied in the reauthorization of ESEA represent the most sweeping national education reforms since the Sputnik inspired reforms of the 1960s Given the political concerns underlying the legislation and the principles inherent in the legislation itself it is critical to discover what effect NCLB has on U S adolescents Evidence exists of deepening crises for our older youth especially with respect to literacy related concerns Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development 1998 U S Department of Education 1997 1999a 1999b 2000 Will NCLB offer support for adolescents who face increasingly complex learning health social and emotional issues Reviewing what we know Before considering whether or how NCLB might be helpful to adolescents and those who work on their behalf it is important to review the findings and implications of the wealth of research that has been conducted in adolescent literacy We used metaethnography Noblit Hare 1988 that is an interpretive synthesis to review recent research and reviews of research on adolescent literacy We used this strategy as opposed to a statistical review because much of the recent work in adolescent literacy has been qualitative in nature Also this approach allowed us to examine the implications of both qualitative and quantitative studies Our review considered research from the past 10 years inReading Research Quarterly and Journal of Literacy Research Two recent compilations of adolescent literacy research Alvermann Hinchman Moore Phelps Waff 1998 Moje O Brien 2001 and various more focused reviews from the Handbook of Reading Research were