The way we define excellence dictates the way we achieve it. The author looks at four models of excellence that operate in schools today. The first looks only at the lowest-performing students, focusing all resources on getting these students to score above "proficient" on standardized tests so that the school will be in compliance with NCLB. The second lavishes its attention on the highest-performing students in an effort to get more graduates into prestigious colleges. The third focuses on the middle, celebrating social and intellectual conformity. The fourth looks only at the statistical average in an attempt to compare favorably with other schools in the area. The author proposes a better model for achieving excellence, which is to focus on excellence for all students in not only the traditional three R's (reading, writing, and arithmetic) but also the other three R's (reasoning, resilience, and responsibility).