Groups Seek to Keep a Spotlight on Issues of Testing, Standards

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tells an Aspen Institute meeting that she is worried about the number of U.S. children not finishing high school.

—Photograph by Haraz N. Ghanbari

By Alyson Klein

Washington

The No Child Left Behind Act is not likely to be reauthorized this year and isn’t getting much play on the presidential campaign trail.

But this week, some of the most ardent supporters of testing and standards discussed how the law has bolstered education and what next steps policymakers should consider in renewing it in the next Congress.

The Aspen Institute , a Washington think tank, sponsored the Sept. 15 event at a Washington hotel, which it called “An Urgent Call.” In 2006, the institute established a bipartisan panel, led by former governors Tommy G. Thompson, a Republican from Wisconsin, and Roy E. Barnes, a Democrat from Georgia, to propose significant changes...