Juvenile Justice Education and No Child Left Behind: A National Collaboration

The purpose of this project is to assist states in successfully implementing the various requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for juvenile justice schools. This project's methods will focus upon the development and maintenance of effective working partnerships in each state between those responsible for juvenile justice education, the national project staff, the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), and the United States Department of Education (USDOE). These partnerships will involve collaboration throughout all phases of the project to assist states in their appropriate implementation of the NCLB requirements in juvenile justice schools. Following an initial survey and assessment of each state's juvenile justice education system, the findings will be used to develop individually tailored implementation plans for each state that will meet NCLB requirements. Throughout the process, ongoing training, technical assistance, and evaluation will be provided to ensure successful implementation of the NCLB requirements in each state's juvenile justice education system.

This project will fulfill five main goals in Year 1 of the project's implementation.

Goal #1: Identify each state's juvenile justice education system administrative structure including, those personnel responsible for administration and evaluation, as well as those responsible for implementing the requirements of NCLB for neglected and delinquent youth.

Goal #2: Determine current education evaluation capacities and identify common problems for all states, problems shared by certain groups of states, and problems that are unique to specific states.

Goal #3: Develop a network of agencies, administrators, and evaluators responsible for juvenile justice education across the nation.

Goal #4: Provide information on NCLB requirements and evaluation methods to states in order to improve their ability to meet NCLB requirements and effectively evaluate their juvenile justice education systems.

Goal #5: Measure and report the first year's progress of the project on the capabilities of states to meet NCLB requirements and effectively evaluate their juvenile justice education systems.NCA/NCF