NCLB, the Bush administration's signature strategic educational law, was designed to close education gaps, especially in rural and high-poverty areas, and to ensure that all children would be able to read and write. Recently, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings introduced the two percent flexibility rule in hopes of helping states better implement NCLB. Along with this change, NCLB was extended to the nation's high schools, with the intent that no student would enter college unprepared to face the challenges of a higher education curriculum. What do all these changes mean for states? How will children benefit from the changes? Will the changes help states better implement NCLB? The presenter will answer these questions and more as he discusses a common sense approach to NCLB.