Official maps No Child Left Behind goals

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings says she's prepared to move forward on the No Child Left Behind program, even if Congress isn't.

The centerpiece education policy of the Bush administration isn't up for renewal this year, but the administration has called for education reforms.

"Congress has had over a year to consider these reforms, but students and teachers need help now," Spellings said in remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, "If Congress doesn't produce a strong bill quickly, I will move forward."

She said, "We must stay true" to the tenets of the legislation -- annual testing, publishing data and helping students and schools that lag behind.

"We must make sure educators have the best ways to chart student progress over time, the flexibility to improve struggling schools and more accurate ways to measure dropout rates," she said.

Spellings said the Education Department has released an information resource, the National Dashboard, that provides data on indicators such as graduation rates and narrowing achievement gaps. The department's Web site also has a new tool to help parents and policymakers understand how their state is performing.