In the New York Times last week, Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institute and Michael Petrilli of the Fordham Institute, responded to a study that found that the test scores of high achieving kids improved as a result of No Child Left Behind. They make short work of the study's methodology and maintain that high achieving kids have only made tepid progress.

They write,

So what does all of this mean? It is clear that No Child Left Behind is
helping low-achieving students. But it is also obvious that
high-achieving students — who suffer from benign neglect under the law
— have been making smaller gains, much as they did before it was
enacted. Alas, this drug is producing no miracles.

No doubt, some will claim victory: We are closing the
achievement gap between our top and bottom students! But is that our
only national goal in education? What might happen if federal law
encouraged educators to improve the performance of all students? Our
analysis of the federal data identified tens of thousands of high
achievers who are black, Hispanic or poor. They are excelling at their
studies, often against great odds. Shouldn’t we be addressing their
educational needs?

As we look for ways to improve No Child Left Behind, we must recognize that our top students still have much to learn.

If the research does show that this program has helped low-achieving kids, then shouldn't we cheer? I'm confused by the authors' conclusions. If NCLB helps the kids from Newark, then that's a great thing. Let's keep funding it and improve it. Yes, we need something to help my kids, but that's another policy and another day. 

My oldest kid needs a rigorous curriculum. Please stop the trend towards group work in the classroom. Please stop assigning him novels for third graders, when he's going into fifth grade. My youngest needs classroom aides that are trained in ABA therapy and aren't just some moms from down the block. My kids  definitely need attention, but addressing their needs should fall into a different program. Let's not muddy up NCLB with too many goals.