"We are honored and trusted with the responsibility of ensuring our next generation is equipped to participate in the American Dream."
— U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings

Building On Results: A Blueprint for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act is designed to provide additional tools to our schools and educators to close the achievement gap and help America's students read and do math at grade level by 2014.

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, limited English proficient (LEP) students have received more attention than ever before. By shining the light on achievement results for this emerging population, educators and policymakers can better direct resources and target instruction.

The No Child Left Behind Act has evolved from idea to law to a way of life. It's the foundation upon which we must build, and the time to act is now. To further gains made by limited English proficient students, the President's proposal:

• Increases the amount school districts can expend on extra tutoring for limited English proficient students above what is already available under the supplemental educational services provision of NCLB.

• Acknowledges schools making significant progress in moving LEP students toward English language proficiency within state and school accountability systems and gives credit to schools for that progress.

• Enables states to use growth models to achieve grade-level proficiency by 2014, as long as they have robust data systems, well established assessments, and set annual goals based on proficiency, not on students' backgrounds.

• Holds states and districts accountable for ensuring that all students, regardless of their native language, can read and do math at grade level or better by 2014.

• Continues to require the disaggregating of achievement results and participation rates so that students in critical subgroups remain the focus of attention.

• Expands the Striving Readers program, which provides intensive intervention to students in grades 6-12 who are struggling to reach grade level in reading / language arts, in order to reach more students.

• Continues to invest in Reading First, the largest, most successful early reading initiative ever undertaken in this country.

• Substantially increases Federal Title I funds to serve low-income high school students, while protecting funding for low-income elementary and middle schools.

• Requires states to, by 2010-11, develop course-level academic standards for English and mathematics that prepare high school students to succeed in college and the global workplace.