Following is the exact wording in the section of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
dealing with annual state, district, and school report cards. The U.S. Department of Education
has not issued final regulations or guidance concerning NCLB, but certain provisions in the
law (including the preparation and dissemination of report cards) are in effect now. Public
dissemination of district and school report cards is detailed in the second to last paragraph.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001

PART A-IMPROVING BASIC PROGRAMS OPERATED BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

Subpart 1-Basic Program Requirements

SEC. 1111. STATE PLANS.

(h) REPORTS.-

(1) ANNUAL STATE REPORT CARD.-

   (A) IN GENERAL.-Not later than the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year, unless the State
   has received a 1-year extension pursuant to subsection (c)(1), a State that receives assistance
   under this part shall prepare and disseminate an annual State report card.

   (B) IMPLEMENTATION.-The State report card shall be-

   (i) concise; and
   (ii) presented in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided
   in a language that the parents can understand.

   (C) REQUIRED INFORMATION.-The State shall include in its annual State report card-

   (i) information, in the aggregate, on student achievement at each proficiency level on the State
   academic assessments described in subsection (b)(3) (disaggregated by race, ethnicity,
   gender, disability status, migrant status, English proficiency, and status as economically
   disadvantaged, except that such disaggregation shall not be required in a case in which
   the number of students in a category is insufficient to yield statistically reliable
   information or the results would reveal personally identifiable information about an
   individual student);

   (ii) information that provides a comparison between the actual achievement levels of each
   group of students described in subsection (b)(2)(C)(v) and the State's annual measurable
   objectives for each such group of students on each of the academic assessments required
   under this part;

   (iii) the percentage of students not tested (disaggregated by the same categories and subject to
   the same exception described in clause (i));

   (iv) the most recent 2-year trend in student achievement in each subject area, and for each
   grade level, for which assessments under this section are required;

   (v) aggregate information on any other indicators used by the State to determine the adequate
   yearly progress of students in achieving State academic achievement standards;

   (vi) graduation rates for secondary school students consistent with subsection (b)(2)(B)(vii);

   (vii) information on the performance of local educational agencies in the State regarding
   making adequate yearly progress, including the number and names of each school
   identified for school improvement under section 1116; and

   (viii) the professional qualifications of teachers in the State, the percentage of such teachers
   teaching with emergency or provisional credentials, and the percentage of classes in the
   State not taught by highly qualified teachers, in the aggregate and disaggregated by high-
   poverty compared to low-poverty schools which, for the purpose of this clause, means
   schools in the top quartile of poverty and the bottom quartile of poverty in the State.

   (D) OPTIONAL INFORMATION.-The State may include in its annual State report card such
   other information as the State believes will best provide parents, students, and other members
   of the public with information regarding the progress of each of the State's public elementary
   schools and public secondary schools. Such information may include information regarding-

   (i) school attendance rates;

   (ii) average class size in each grade;

   (iii) academic achievement and gains in English proficiency of limited English proficient
   students;

   (iv) the incidence of school violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, student suspensions, and
   student expulsions;

   (v) the extent and type of parental involvement in the schools; (vi) the percentage of students
   completing advanced placement courses, and the rate of passing of advanced placement
   tests; and

   (vii) a clear and concise description of the State's accountability system, including a
   description of the criteria by which the State evaluates school performance, and the
   criteria that the State has established, consistent with subsection (b)(2), to determine the
   status of schools regarding school improvement, corrective action, and restructuring.

(2) ANNUAL LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY [SCHOOL DISTRICT] REPORT CARDS.-

   (A) REPORT CARDS.-

   (i) IN GENERAL.-Not later than the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year, a local
   educational agency that receives assistance under this part shall prepare and disseminate
   an annual local educational agency report card, except that the State may provide the
   local educational agency 1 additional year if the local educational agency demonstrates
   that exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances, such as a natural disaster or a
   precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial resources of the local educational
   agency, prevented full implementation of this paragraph by that deadline and that the
   local educational agency will complete implementation within the additional 1-year
   period.

   (ii) SPECIAL RULE.-If a State has received an extension pursuant to subsection (c)(1), then
   a local educational agency within that State shall not be required to include the
   information required under paragraph (1)(C) in such report card during such extension.

   (B) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.-The State shall ensure that each local educational agency
   collects appropriate data and includes in the local educational agency's annual report the
   information described in paragraph (1)(C) as applied to the local educational agency and each
   school served by the local educational agency, and-

   (i) in the case of a local educational agency-

   (I) the number and percentage of schools identified for school improvement under
   section 1116(c) and how long the schools have been so identified; and

   (II) information that shows how students served by the local educational agency achieved
   on the statewide academic assessment compared to students in the State as a whole; and

   (ii) in the case of a school-

   (I) whether the school has been identified for school improvement; and

   (II) information that shows how the school's students achievement on the statewide
   academic assessments and other indicators of adequate yearly progress compared to
   students in the local educational agency and the State as a whole.

   (C) OTHER INFORMATION.-A local educational agency may include in its annual local
   educational agency report card any other appropriate information, whether or not such
   information is included in the annual State report card.

   (D) DATA.-A local educational agency or school shall only include in its annual local
   educational agency report card data that are sufficient to yield statistically reliable
   information, as determined by the State, and that do not reveal personally identifiable
   information about an individual student.

   (E) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION.-The local educational agency shall, not later than the
   beginning of the 2002-2003 school year, unless the local educational agency has received a 1-
   year extension pursuant to sub-paragraph (A), publicly disseminate the information described
   in this paragraph to all schools in the school district served by the local educational agency
   and to all parents of students attending those schools in an understandable and uniform format
   and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents can understand, and
   make the information widely available through public means, such as posting on the Internet,
   distribution to the media, and distribution through public agencies, except that if a local
   educational agency issues a report card for all students, the local educational agency may
   include the information under this section as part of such report.

(3) PREEXISTING REPORT CARDS.

   A State educational agency or local educational agency that
   was providing public report cards on the performance of students, schools, local educational
   agencies, or the State prior to the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 may use
   those report cards for the purpose of this subsection, so long as any such report card is modified,
   as may be needed, to contain the information required by this subsection.