EDITORIAL
Let's redefine success under No Child law

As "failing" schools around the state today wait to learn their fate under the No Child Left Behind law, it's worth reflecting on how to make this underfunded 3-year-old federal mandate work for Hawai'i.

Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto, who is clearly trying to make the best of a difficult task, says she is pleased to see No Child shift the focus back to the students' needs and increased accountability.

And that does appear to be a positive result of the scramble to raise math and reading standards. If too many children lag in these skills, the whole school suffers, which can work as a strong incentive.

Under the law, schools that fail to meet "adequate yearly progress" two years running face tough and costly sanctions.

But what if — and this is happening everywhere — students make significant progress but still fall short of the benchmarks? Does branding the school as "failing" really help those institutions with disproportionate numbers of special education and English as a Second Language needs, not to mention poverty and absentee rates based on students who move from home to home?

Of course, everyone wants to see all children meet the highest standards. But the reality is, some students will take longer to reach that mark. These students cannot be measured against the best and brightest but must be assessed within a separate track until they can catch up. One-size-fits-all only serves to lower individual self-esteem.

And in fact, one-size-fits-all sometimes has the perverse effect of forcing schools to lower standards.

On the other end of the spectrum, No Child's test-centric curriculum also has the potential to put off the brightest students who need more stimuli than simply memorizing what they'll be tested on.

On balance, however, the effort to raise standards and accountability in the public schools is long overdue. It's embarrassing how many students enter college and have to take remedial math and English.

But there must be some flexibility, particularly in the case of those who don't fit the norm. No Child Left Behind must be expanded to recognize all forms of progress because children — and their teachers — are motivated not by their failures but by their successes.