The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. NCLB focuses on educational opportunities for poor and minority children, low-achieving students, accountability for schools with low-performing students on state mandated tests, highly qualified teachers and mandates that each child will reach proficiency by 2013. School districts across the nation have been significantly impacted by NCLB requirements.

The research questions addressed in this study were: What is the impact of the NCLB assessment requirement on the curriculum and instructional practices of Arizona public schools on the Navajo Reservation? Secondly, what is the impact of the NCLB highly qualified teacher requirement on the recruitment and retention of teachers in Arizona public schools on the Navajo Reservation? And thirdly, what is the financial impact of meeting the assessment and accountability requirements of NCLB on the Arizona public schools on the Navajo Reservation?

A qualitative research methodology involving the analysis of data collected from interviews from faculty and administrators from the two largest Arizona public schools districts located on the Navajo Reservation Tuba City Unified School District and Window Rock Unified School District was used to answer the research questions. Included in the study were central office administrators, and principals from each district. A random selection of head teachers or department chairs were also included in the sample.

The results of this study documented the changes these school districts have made to comply with the NCLB mandates. Administrators and teachers expressed concern about the accountability requirements of NCLB and the difficulty in making Adequate Yearly Progress. Curriculum and instruction has changed in response to NCLB: teachers are now teaching to state standards and have a greater concern for curriculum alignment. Window Rock and Tuba City Unified School District administrators and teachers also lamented the loss of fine arts and high level content classes such as art, music, Navajo language, Navajo culture, Algebra, Chemistry and Physics.

They also agreed that recruiting and retaining "highly qualified teachers" is very difficult, particularly for these two districts which are located in remote areas on the Navajo Reservation. Recruiting is most difficult for special education, math, and, science teachers.