The "No Child Left Behind" act is undergoing an overhaul of sorts, one which promises to improve accountability and transparency, uniform and disaggregated graduation rates and do something that few thought would ever be promoted within NCLB. The new regulations, which are now being implemented based on a comprehensive study of NCLB over the last six years, promise improved parental notification for supplemental education services and, most importantly, public school choice.

Where at one time, NCLB was focused almost entirely on meeting aptitude test goals and graduation requirements, the newest round of changes will also be focused on grading educational facilities and allowing parents access to the results. Parents should gain a better picture of their children's schools, additional options and have an easier time sending them to their preferred institution.

Part of the reason for the change in policy likely stems from the move toward private education among the nation's middle class. Private school enrollment in 2008 has reached an all time high of 11% of the nation's students, which is perceived as a reflection of the public's lack of trust in the public school system. By informing parents of alternatives within the public school system, the Department of Education is seeking to retain students and avoid class segregation within the public school system.

Additionally, the DOE is taking a firm step toward helping parents locate additional resources for improving their children's performance – specifically: what tutoring services are available, how the service providers are approved and monitored and how effective they are in helping students achieve performance goals that meet or exceed the national guidelines.

One of the biggest complaints heard by university students surrounds the unavailability of research journals through online library portals. Though many universities subscribe to multiple portals, most state schools and smaller colleges usually subscribe to only one. This can make writing papers, research projects and most of all, thesis construction difficult as information is limited to specific journals and published academic periodicals.

Luckily, there are a number of online libraries students can subscribe to which are better suited to large scale research. Questia and other, more topically specific databases can be a great resource for those students who find themselves limited to a singular, small college library database.

Another often overlooked resource, provided you live in a major metropolitan area, is the local library. Students can often find a great deal of far ranging journals to examine and have the added benefit of a quiet place to work.

If push comes to shove, there is also the internet itself. While an internet citation won't be credible for most college professors, especially on serious research projects, it can help you find published studies related to your topic as well as where they are located. You can then attempt to access the databases on which they are found or try a local source. Some outdated or esoteric journals may be out of reach, but an internet search will usually provide a lot of options as long as you don't mind combing the search results.

Happy hunting.