What was a key goal of the No Child Left Behind Act?

The key goal of the No Child Left Behind Act was the improvement of educational standards and accountability. Enacted in 2001, this comprehensive education reform aimed to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, received a high-quality education. One of its central components was to set high academic standards and implement standardized testing to measure students' progress. This framework sought to hold schools accountable for their students' performance, with the intention of identifying and addressing achievement gaps among various populations. By promoting accountability, the act aimed to encourage schools to improve educational outcomes and support all students in achieving academic success.

The other options, while related to education, do not encapsulate the primary objective of the No Child Left Behind Act. For instance, reducing standardized testing contradicts a major element of the act, which actually aimed to implement more testing to track progress. Similarly, increasing teacher salaries and expanding school facilities, although important in the context of education, were not central goals of this legislation. The focus of the No Child Left Behind Act was specifically on establishing high educational standards and holding schools accountable for meeting them.