The Federal education policy No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has initiated high-stakes testing among U.S. public schools. The premise of the NCLB initiative is that all students reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014. Under NCLB, individual state education departments were required to implement annual assessments in grades two through eight within the math and English disciplines. These annual tests are considered high-stakes testing because low test scores within certain sub-groups, result in possible sanctions for school districts, such as reduced federal funds. Growing evidence, however, shows NCLB has not met its objective to improve academic achievement, especially among low wealth school districts. President Obama has shifted the focus of NCLB away from sanction and penalties on failing school district scores to rewarding and promoting high achieving school districts. Also, teacher quality has been brought to the forefront. The purpose of this study was to determine whether high-stakes testing has an impact on improving academic achievement on the following national exams: Advanced Placement, Advanced Placement U.S. History, and SAT reading/verbal and math. The study measured all Advanced Placement tests, the Advanced Placement U.S. History exam, and standardize reading/verbal and math exams in 42 states. By comparing states with high-stakes to non-stakes exams, the study examines whether national high-stakes exams are improving student achievement compared to states that have not enacted high-stakes graduating testing requirements. Furthermore this study examined the impact of teacher waivers to student performance on national exams. The No Child Left Behind Act required states to staff all core academic classes with "highly qualified" teachers. This study examined how states complied with the teacher requirement, and whether teacher waiver impacts student scores on national exams. This study also examined high school graduation rates, and the relationship between graduation rates and teacher waivers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]