President Barack Obama gave the go ahead yesterday for the U.S. Department of Education to waive the key accountability requirements for states under the No Child Left Behind Act, a move intended to provide “relief in return for reform,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement yesterday.

States would not have to meet the requirement that 100 percent of students reach proficiency in math and reading by 2014 if they can demonstrate they are making progress in improving schools, according to Duncan’s statement. Here’s an excerpt:

“The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) got it backwards — it was loose on the goals but tight on the means — and today it’s forcing states into one-size-fits-all solutions that just don’t work.

The President understands this and he has directed the Department of Education to move ahead in providing relief in return for reform.

With the new school year fast approaching and still no bill to reform NCLB, it’s time to create a process for states to gain flexibility from key provisions of the law, provided that they are willing to embrace education reform.

We will not be giving states a pass on accountability. There will be a high bar for states seeking flexibility within the law, working off a framework that the states themselves have put together with the Council of Chief State School Officers.”

This piece in The New York Times calls the move “the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in the 1960s.” The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in 2002, is the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main federal education legislation. It requires annual testing of all students in reading and math in 3rd through 8th grades, and once during high school. Under the law states are expected to help all students reach proficiency by 2014, a goal that many educators and policy experts have deemed admirable but unrealistic.

The Obama Administration has called for changes in the law, but its reauthorization has stalled in Congress.

The Education Department answers some key questions about the new flexibility here. Read more about the announcement and possible implications in this news coverage from the Washington Post, Education Week, and the Learning Matters blog.

More details will be announced in September and waivers will be given out this coming school year to states that are aggressively pursuing reform, Duncan said.