Improving student achievement is the goal of the ABCs of Public Education, launched in 1995 in North Carolina, and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, signed into federal law in January 2002.

Several key parts of the new Act are well-aligned with North Carolina's ABCs. For some other states that do not have accountability programs in place, the challenges are greater.

North Carolina is receiving millions of new federal dollars to implement NCLB (the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 2001) provisions.

Both the ABCs and the No Child Left Behind initiatives focus on greater local school accountability for student achievement and staff quality, rewards for success and sanctions for not meeting standards, and flexibility in resource allocation.

In addition, just as parent involvement has been key to the success of the ABCs, NCLB expects parents to be included by schools in the development of improvement plans both for the school and for their children.