Susan Ohanian: The Enemy of My Enemy Isn't Necessarily My Friend

That is certainly true coming from a renowned expert in the field of education. According to this expert, Obama has retreated from his lofty stance on this topic:

Mr. Obama would judge schools not by whether they were meeting reading and math standards, but primarily by a more amorphous standard: whether they are producing "college-ready and career-ready" students. Abandoning current goals for students to reach grade level performance and promising that instead kids will be made "college-ready" is like promising someone they'll be able to run the marathon without first determining if they can run a mile.

Communities already know local graduation rates and, in most instances, how many students go on to college. But these aren't effective metrics for fixing failing schools because by the time a student drops out of high school it is nearly too late to provide him with a quality education. The value of the current accountability regime is that it pinpoints students at risk early in the process.

Teachers unions, which are deeply opposed to measurements and accountability, condemn NCLB for forcing schools to "teach to the test." But what's wrong with measuring a child's ability to learn and gauge whether they have reading and math skills appropriate to their age? "Teaching to the test" means providing students with the underlying skills they need to pass any test. The same is true, by the way, when it comes to the SAT or ACT.