Luis Valentino

A recent study by Institute of for Education Policy at Johns Hopkins University finds that at each grade-level, there are students who are outperforming the average on grade-level standards. While these findings are not surprising, they do confirm what we have always known about standardized testing -  by design, there are clusters of students above and below the mean. 

Traditionally, our reaction to this information has been to provide intervention programs to students who are not meeting the grade-level expectations, while the students who are performing at higher levels participate in enrichment or advanced studies.  Unfortunately, the study also finds these efforts offer limited results for students who are already at the top of their game.  So what can be done?
 
Anya Kametez tracks this story for NPR, Getting Restless At The Head Of The Class, and delves more deeply into the study, describing efforts by school districts to find better options of support.