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Under Title IV of the No Child
Left Behind Act, local prevention programs and activities
are required to meet the Principles of Effectiveness.
This means that the program or activity must:
- Be based on an assessment of objective data regarding
the incidence of violence and illegal drug use in
the elementary schools, secondary schools, and communities
to be served;
- Be based on performance measures aimed at ensuring
that these schools and communities have a safe, orderly,
and drug-free environment;
- Be grounded in scientifically based research that
provides evidence that the program to be used will
reduce violence and illegal drug use;
- Be based on an analysis of the prevalence of "risk
factors, protective factors, buffers, assets, or other
variables" identified through scientifically-based
research that exist in the schools and communities
to be served;
- 5. Include consultation with and input from parents; and
- Be evaluated periodically against locally selected
performance measures and modified over time to refine,
improve, and strengthen the program.
The Principles of Effectiveness were developed by the
U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Program (SDFSP) several years ago to help teachers, school
administrators, and prevention program developers achieve
safe learning environments where students are free from
fear of violence and the influence of drugs. This is the
first time that they have been codified by law.
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On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into
law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Act, which embodies
the President's education reform plan, is the most sweeping reform
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since ESEA was
enacted in 1965. It redefines the federal role in K-12 education and
will help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority
students and their peers.
Under the new law, states and school districts will develop strong
systems of accountability based upon student performance. The new
law also gives states and school districts increased local control
and flexibility, removing federal red tape and bureaucracy and putting
decision-making in the hands of those at the state and local levels.
Parents will have options to participate in public school choice programs
or to obtain supplemental services such as tutoring, and teachers
will be encouraged to use teaching methods based upon scientific research
demonstrating that they work.
"Education is a national priority, and for the first time federal
policies will focus squarely on improving student achievement,"
said Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "For too long, many of
our schools did a good job educating some of our children. With this
new law, we'll make sure we're providing ALL of our children with
access to a high-quality education." Secretary Paige also said
that he looks forward to working with state and local education leaders
and others to develop partnerships with the states to make sure the
reforms contained in the bill will benefit all American students.
Among other provisions, the Act will:
- Enhance accountability for results by
requiring states to issue annual report cards on school performance
and statewide results;
- Authorize $400 million to help states
design and administer tests for students in grades 3 through 8
that are aligned to state standards for what a child should be
able to do in the basic subjects of reading and math;
- Provide unprecedented state and local
flexibility for all 50 states and every local school district
in America in the use of federal education funds;
- Give parents of children in failing schools
the option to transfer their child to a better-performing public
or charter school, and allow federal Title I funds to be used
to provide supplemental education services (including tutoring,
after-school services, and summer school programs);
- Triple the federal funding investment
in reading and ensure that teachers are using instructional methods
that have been proven to work; and
- Invest almost $3 billion in improving
teacher quality this year alone while asking states to put a highly
qualified teacher in every public school classroom by 2005.
continued on
the next page:
What Does the Act Mean for Safe and Drug-Free Schools?
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