While the No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top program have a similar purpose and similar qualities, the definitions or standards for these qualities vary. The No Child Left Behind Act was signed by President George W. Bush in the year 2002 with the intention to close the gaps between students. In other words, the No Child Left Behind Act was placed to create an equal level of education for those who performed well in school and for those who performed poorly. The Race to the Top program has similar intentions but can be viewed as a kind of competition that schools willingly participate in. Both act and program have similar qualities needed in order to receive federal money. For example, the No Child Left Behind act requires states and local …show more content…
The No Child Left Behind act has states adopt challenging content in various subject areas. The states are then required to have the same standards and student expectations for all schools in that particular state. They must then set achievement standards that must be aligned with state content standards. This act allows states to develop its own standards and assessments and even allows the states to decide on what a passing score is. The Race to the Top Program also has standardized exams, but it requires a state that receives a grant to promise to use common k-12 standards for students. These standards are set up with several other states in a consortium. As for teacher and principal effectiveness both No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have different requirements. For the No Child Left Behind act in order to be a highly qualified administrator, you must have full state certification and not be teaching under a certification waiver. For elementary teachers there are several additional requirements. To be a highly qualified elementary teacher, you must hold at least a bachelor’s degree and have passed a state subject exam. The Race to the Top grant focuses not only on teacher effectiveness, but also