"The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.
NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office. The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress.
NCLB supports standards-based education reform, which is based on the belief that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades, if those states are to receive federal funding for schools. The Act does not assert a national achievement standard; standards are set by each individual state.
Since enactment, Congress increased federal funding of education from $42.2 billion in 2001 to $54.4 billion in 2007. Funding tied to NCLB received a 40.4% increase from $17.4 billion in 2001 to $24.4 billion. The funding for reading quadrupled from $286 million in 2001 to $1.2 billion."
Taken from wikipedia definition
