Swift & Change Able

As Montgomery County ninth-grader Stephen Sabia [pictured above] reads "Romeo and Juliet" and studies the Holocaust and World War II for honors history and English, his mother credits an important ally in her years-long drive to secure the best education possible for her son with Down syndrome: the federal No Child Left Behind law. 

Ricki Sabia, Stephen’s mother, said the law "really pushed the envelope for expectations for Stephen. There is no more question of whether he should be learning the same material as other kids. He’s been exposed to literature and other academics at a level I don’t think he would have without No Child Left Behind." 

"We’ve got people in place in leadership right now who, I think, are committed to reauthorization and to making it stronger," said Andrew J. Imparato, president and chief executive of the District-based American Association of People with Disabilities.   

"The vast majority of these kids are capable of learning in schools what other kids are learning," said Thomas Hehir, a Harvard education professor who oversaw special education programs in the Clinton administration.

That achievement trends are even being studied is itself a victory, said Katy Beh Neas, vice president of government relations for Easter Seals, a nonprofit group that provides support to people with disabilities. In the past, such students often were excluded from testing. "We would never be talking about the academic progress of students with disabilities if it wasn’t for NCLB," she said.