percent of the children achieve proficiency has many educators swallowing hard. Indeed, our biggest challenge could be convinci school leaders that we can do this. That' s why we keep bringing people back to take a look at what Texas has accomplished in setting a firm standard and enabling the overwhe lming majority of students to meet that standard. Texas deserves praise for what it has done, but now it's time to raise the bar even higher. I am confident that Texas will succeed again and that it will inspire other states to do the same The states should not expect instant success. They understand that hey will have to meet high standards, but until they see how their students do on the benchmark tests, they will not know how much improvement is needed. They should expect some rough sailing ahead. A large percentage of high-school juniors are likely to find that they are not at the level they should be What do school officials say to parents who want to know why their children who have pas sed all their courses are not where they should be when it is too late to catch up? This should be a wake-up call to educators that they need to identify problems earlier and take action immediately to help these students catch up, so that when they finish high school they have the skills they need for work or higher education It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to admit that very often we have let empathy get in the way of doing what was best for the children. We have said that this child is poor, that this chi ld has a dysfunctional family, and that this child has to work, so we cant hold these children to the same standards. We let them move through school with C s and d's until at the end of high school they are woefully lacking in basic academic skills. Good assessments should enable us to identify these students so that we can intervene early and often to help them. a good assessment should let us know not only which students are falling behind but also what the major stumb l ing blocks to each students progress are. We should begin educating these children as individuals. When each individual receives an adequate education, the benefit to the nation will be immeasurablepercent of the children achieve proficiency has many educators swallowing hard. Indeed, our biggest challenge could be convincing school leaders that we can do this. That's why we keep bringing people back to take a look at what Texas has accomplished in setting a firm standard and enabling the overwhelming majority of students to meet that standard. Texas deserves praise for what it has done, but now it's time to raise the bar even higher. I am confident that Texas will succeed again and that it will inspire other states to do the same. The states should not expect instant success. They understand that they will have to meet high standards, but until they see how their students do on the benchmark tests, they will not know how much improvement is needed. They should expect some rough sailing ahead. A large percentage of high-school juniors are likely to find that they are not at the level they should be. What do school officials say to parents who want to know why their children who have passed all their courses are not where they should be when it is too late to catch up? This should be a wake-up call to educators that they need to identify problems earlier and take action immediately to help these students catch up, so that when they finish high school they have the skills they need for work or higher education. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to admit that very often we have let empathy get in the way of doing what was best for the children. We have said that this child is poor, that this child has a dysfunctional family, and that this child has to work, so we can't hold these children to the same standards. We let them move through school with C's and D's until at the end of high school they are woefully lacking in basic academic skills. Good assessments should enable us to identify these students so that we can intervene early and often to help them. A good assessment should let us know not only which students are falling behind but also what the major stumbling blocks to each student's progress are. We should begin educating these children as individuals. When each individual receives an adequate education, the benefit to the nation will be immeasurable