The higher the standards, the less attention is given to low achieving students

Evidence on whether No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has had adverse effects for low achieving students is mixed.

The authors of this study hypothesized that the incentive to shift attention away from the lowest achieving students increases with the rigor of state standards.

Using panel data from students in North Carolina, the study exploits two natural experiments: increases in the rigor of standards in math in 2006 and then again in reading in 2008.

The study finds an increase in test score gaps between low and high achievers and students near grade level. Adverse effects on low achievers are largest in the lowest achieving schools.