One Hundred Percent Proficiency: A Mission Impossible

Abstract

Applying microeconomic theory to No Child Left Behind predicts that its use of significant consequences for schools that do not reach 100% proficiency on rigorous standardized tests by 2014 will likely prevent most, if not all schools, from providing a high-quality education for their students. The central problem is cost. Quality assurance models predict that costs associated with achieving the required 100% pass rate will rise well above typical school budgets. Thus, No Child Left Behind, or any reform that combines a rigid demarcation between passing and failing with a 100% proficiency requirement, will fail as prohibitively expensive.