Associations Among No Child Left Behind, School Engagement, and Academic Outcomes

• In Event: Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: Equity Issues in Education Policy

Abstract

Research increasingly suggests that school engagement is an important contributor to students’ success in school and long-term wellbeing. Unfortunately, researchers have also argued that the strict accountability system mandated by the federal education policy No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have reduced schools’ ability to engage with and educate students effectively. Because NCLB is a federal policy, few studies have been able to explore the effects of NCLB on these outcomes directly. Using a counterfactual interrupted time series design and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth this study assesses whether NCLB influenced students’ engagement with school and academic growth. Evidence suggests that NCLB improved mathematics, but not reading, achievement. Moreover, there is also evidence that NCLB reduces emotional engagement with school.

Author

• Anna J Markowitz, Georgetown University