Many educators and policymakers are working hard to interpret and implement those provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that impact the K-12 community. Often, however, the act?s implications on early learning and early childhood educators are not fully considered or discussed. The goal of this brief is twofold: (1) to inform early learning educators and policymakers better about specific NCLB components, and (2) to begin to discern what implications ? both positive and negative ? NCLB holds for the early learning field. [The Rhode Island KIDS COUNT and the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative provided additional support for this policy brief.]