The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 promotes high-quality educational services for all children and youths, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, disability, income, or background. Despite the law's laudable goals, one group continues to be left behind: youths who are incarcerated in juvenile correctional facilities. These youths—particularly those with emotional or behavioral disorders—often fail to receive high-quality educational services for a multitude of reasons. The authors review current knowledge about youths with disabilities in juvenile corrections and factors associated with high-quality education programs. They then examine aspects of NCLB in the context of current practices in correctional education and conclude with a brief discussion of how NCLB might be used to improve education programs for incarcerated youths.
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