The first track is standards - based: Set
clear,
high expectations in core
academic subjects; test students regularly to see which schools and students are
clearing the
bar; and hold schools (and perhaps also educators and pupils) to account for the results.
Never in a million years were we going to see forty - five states truly embrace these rigorous
academic expectations for their students, teachers, and schools, meet all the implementation challenges (curriculum, textbooks, technology, teacher prep, etc.), deploy new assessments, install the results of those assessments in their accountability systems, and live with the consequences of zillions of kids who, at least in the near term, fail to
clear the
higher bar.