More than two and a half years since President Bush signed the landmark No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), only a handful of states--Connecticut, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania--are on track to fully implementing the law, according to a report from the Education Commission of the States (ECS).

Though most states have raised the bar in terms of student achievement, the Denver-based nonprofit says few are keeping pace in terms of improving teacher quality, among other demands.

Billed as the most comprehensive measure of where states stand in meeting the requirements of NCLB, "ECS Report to the Nation: State Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act" derives its findings from ECS's one-of-a-kind national database, built with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

The study was released just as the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the 2005 education budget. Critics of the legislation, including proponents of educational technology, lambasted the bill for failing to provide states with enough money to implement the law's many requirements (see "House bill would slash ed-tech funding").

The report compares state progress from March 2003 through March 2004. It focuses on states' progress related to seven major categories of the law: standards and assessment, adequate yearly progress (AYP), school improvement, supplemental services, safe schools, report cards, and teacher quality.

"There has been and continues to be a great deal of discussion around NCLB on many levels," said Ted Sanders, president of ECS. "But this is the first chance the nation has had to view the issues in terms of what states are actually doing."

Despite the fact that just five states are on task to meet every major aspect of the law, Kathy Christie, vice president of the ECS clearinghouse, said a majority of states have demonstrated remarkable progress since the bill was inked in 2001.

"States are taking NCLB very seriously, and we think the way they have evolved is very encouraging," Christie said.

The landmark legislation requires every state and the District of Columbia to collect and report data on individual student performance, including mandatory testing in reading and math for all students in grades 3-8.

Schools that fail to demonstrate AYP for two consecutive years are labeled "in need of improvement" and must give students the option of transferring to a better-performing school. Schools that fail to meet AYP standards for three years in a row must offer tutoring services to students whose parents request them, and the sanctions get progressively worse as schools on the "needs improvement" list continue to fall short of the law's goals.

Education leaders, for the most part, have praised the law for its good intentions but have protested its ballooning costs. In many cases, critics say, the law has pushed state and local coffers to the brink.