In this article, the author suggests that good teachers add value in a number of measurable and immeasurable ways. While the gain of a student in mathematics can be measured, it is impossible to measure the impact of a teacher who motivated a child to want to do math. Teachers cannot control how kids enter the classroom and should not be held…

Like a lot of superintendents, Pennsylvania's Steve Iovino believes in a simple axiom: the more student test data the better. Warwick School District, a 4,100-student district located in southeastern Pennsylvania, tested its students even in years when state-mandated exams were not required. But Iovino did not know exactly what to make of all this…

Georgia's High Schools That Work program aims to improve career-bound students' reading, mathematics, science, technical, and problem-solving capabilities by integrating college preparatory program content with vocational studies and by stressing effort over ability. Other key elements include raising expectations, requiring a career major, and…

The pressure is on. For the first time in the nation's history, schools are being required to produce measurable evidence that all students are learning, and they are being asked to do so amidst fiscal crises at the state and local levels. While several legitimate criticisms have been made about No Child Left Behind and its unfunded mandates, few…

One of the top questions about the No Child Left Behind Act, both before and after its passage, was "why isn't adequate yearly progress based on growth rather than just on year-to-year snapshots?" Now, three years into the implementation of this sweeping federal education law, the winds of change are blowing in Washington, and the use of…

Teachers deceive children when they concentrate on making them feel good regardless of their levels of accomplishment. Studies show great discrepancies between U.S. students' comparatively low academic performance and their "above-average" self-evaluations in mathematics. Deprived of appropriate standards, children could later face harsher critics…

In 1983, "A Nation at Risk" made policy recommendations in leadership and fiscal support; standards and expectations; and content, teaching, and use of classroom time and stressed importance of continuous learning and excellence for all students. Symptoms of education's low status remain prevalent--from inadequate student motivation and…

Through its recent attempts to establish national curriculum standards, the National Collegiate Athletic Association is creating enormous problems for high school students, parents, and educators. Good grades are no longer enough. The NCAA has opted to specify content of acceptable high school courses to standardize college-entrance requirements…

In this article, the author states that gifted student population is itself diverse, with variability in intensity, maturity, risk-taking, creativity and degree of giftedness, among other traits. Appropriate services are equivalent to a life preserver; the opportunity to spend time with others who are sufficiently similar in ability, interests and…

By adding courses in math, science, English, foreign languages, and geography to their admission standards, colleges and universities in many states are fostering further fragmentation of high school curricula and forcing some schools to add class periods or short-change vocational, music, and art students. Michigan, Oregon, Colorado, and New York…

Ten years ago, founders of the Key School, in Indianapolis, Indiana, studied Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and applied it to curricula for gifted and talented students. Present school benefits wide range of students and boasts seven classroom generalists and numerous full-time specialists. The model stresses all seven…

Studies of Texas' testing program, initiated in 1992, identify several factors contributing to improved achievement: alignment with state standards; results that inform instruction; understandable, attainable rating systems that encourage improvements for all populations; balance between school/student accountability; stable, yet improvable…

Mandated state testing, college entrance exams and their perceived need for higher and higher grade point averages have raised the anxiety levels felt by many of the average students. Too much focus is placed on state test scores and college entrance standards with not enough focus on the true level of the students. The author contends that…

Rather than establish a national test, we should examine what other industrialized nations require of their children. Persistence and creativity are not easily tested, and results are bound to be oversimplified. Developing basic American education standards is appropriate only if every public school is equipped with adequate resources. (MLH)

Describes some steps school districts can take to meet student achievement standards of the No Child Left Behind Act. Includes using the "Bully Pulpit," employing standards to reshape instruction, providing a rigorous curriculum aligned with standards, providing extra instruction for students who need it, and assigning the better…