The fact that they learn differently doesn t mean that they cant learn. Some schools are doing an exemplary job, and the Department of Education has published a report on those schools. Know ing that it can be done makes it incumbent on us to have an as sessment system that makes it possible to see that all schools succeed. The goal is to have a test that measures how well the students are learning. A common concern is that if there is a test, teachers will teach to the test. But this is a circular argument. If the assessment is a good measure of what it is we want children to know and be able to do, then I certainly want the teachers teaching to the test. If it's not, no matter what they do, they re not going to be able to help children. Thus, the quality of the assessment is absolutely critical We should not be sati sfied that children who are trailing the ir peers achievement simply improve somewhat year to year without ever catching up. But more than that, the quality of the leadership in the schools and school districts is critical, because what we don t want to see happen is that the asse ssments to be passed by all children become the ceilin rather than the floor. There are schools where they say if you're going to measure me on mathematics and reading, were going to spend all of our time doing mathematics and reading. Art, science, and social studies can be covered by someone else in the future. But it is the school leader who has to support, monitor, and assist teachers in teaching a rich curriculum to every child. The complexity of the world in which these children are going to live requires that they be educated to high levels We don t want to cut back on or eliminate subjects that will enable them to lead rich and satisfying lives. Superintendents and principals must remind teachers that well-educated children pass tests. These are not the kind of tests that require that a child spend every moment focused on test practice Some children may need additional instruction to meet the standard and thats why we have before-school and after-school programs. That why were talking about giving a lot more flexibility to states in spending federal funds. They can spend their money on Title I activities aimed at low-income students. increased salaries for hard-to-find science and math teachers, or the 2lst Century Schools program. TheThe fact that they learn differently doesn't mean that they can't learn. Some schools are doing an exemplary job, and the Department of Education has published a report on those schools. Knowing that it can be done makes it incumbent on us to have an assessment system that makes it possible to see that all schools succeed. The goal is to have a test that measures how well the students are learning. A common concern is that if there is a test, teachers will teach to the test. But this is a circular argument. If the assessment is a good measure of what it is we want children to know and be able to do, then I certainly want the teachers teaching to the test. If it's not, no matter what they do, they're not going to be able to help children. Thus, the quality of the assessment is absolutely critical. We should not be satisfied that children who are trailing their peers by several years in achievement simply improve somewhat year to year without ever catching up. But more than that, the quality of the leadership in the schools and school districts is critical, because what we don't want to see happen is that the assessments to be passed by all children become the ceiling rather than the floor. There are schools where they say if you're going to measure me on mathematics and reading, we're going to spend all of our time doing mathematics and reading. Art, science, and social studies can be covered by someone else in the future. But it is the school leader who has to support, monitor, and assist teachers in teaching a rich curriculum to every child. The complexity of the world in which these children are going to live requires that they be educated to high levels. We don't want to cut back on or eliminate subjects that will enable them to lead rich and satisfying lives. Superintendents and principals must remind teachers that well-educated children pass tests. These are not the kind of tests that require that a child spend every moment focused on test practice. Some children may need additional instruction to meet the standard, and that's why we have before-school and after-school programs. That's why we're talking about giving a lot more flexibility to states in spending federal funds. They can spend their money on Title I activities aimed at low-income students, increased salaries for hard-to-find science and math teachers, or the 21st Century Schools program. The