State-set goals for students in subgroups like special education, English language learners and the economically disadvantaged contributed to many local schools’ failure to meet No Child Left Behind standards.

During the 13 years I taught in one of the Valley's inner-city high schools, we teachers knew that if our learning standards were ''too high,'' we were in big trouble.

From the beginning, Robert G. Smith said his plan was to serve as Arlington County's superintendent for four years and then take a position in higher education.

The Kansas State Department of Education reports that 90 percent of the state's public schools and districts made adequate yearly progress in the 2007-2008 testing cycle.

For the first time, Sparta Area Schools didn't meet federal standards for their Adequate Yearly Progress report, and administrators are frustrated with the reason why.