The 'No Child' Law's Flexible Enforcer

Spellings also said she hopes Virginia and other states will put more pre-algebra into the elementary math curriculum. "We're not seeding enough higher-order, problem-solving thinking," she said. "We then plunk kids . . . into algebra in eighth grade . . . and they can't do it."

Turning to the other side of the Potomac River, Spellings praised Maryland Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick, a Democrat who has held that post since 1991. "She's very experienced and builds consensus around tough things," Spellings said. Example: "When you've got conservative Republicans and the PTA working together in the same direction about how to best involve parents, that's a win."

Spellings lauded some publicly funded charter schools in the District, which operate with less red tape and more freedom to innovate, and said she was eager for data on a new federal program to help low-income children attend private school. On the city's perennially low-ranking school system, she said: "They have a ton of work to do on curriculum reform, especially in reading. I mean, there is a lot of work to do here."

In the coming year, Spellings said she wants to examine what states are doing to improve schools that repeatedly fail to meet standards. Some schools in Virginia and the District face what the law calls "corrective action," and some in Prince George's County and Baltimore face a further stage of mandatory changes known as "restructuring."

Spellings said: "As this law matures, we're likely to have more people in this scenario. We have a responsibility and an opportunity to help share what works. . . . Having schools called out, spotlighted, attended to when they're not working, is what this law is about."

One initiative that stalled last year was a proposal from Bush's reelection campaign to expand No Child Left Behind in high schools. Asked if the proposal was dead, Spellings said: "Heck, no. Are you kidding me? The need is more acute than ever." Debate on renewal of the law is expected to begin in Congress next year.

Spellings said she also hopes to promote Advanced Placement programs to make high school more rigorous for more students. Those programs receive about $32 million a year in federal funding -- a sum that she hinted could grow.

"One of the hunches I have . . . is that a lot of kids -- even kids that we think are below the bar -- are frustrated in high school because they're just bored out of their minds," Spellings said. She said she wants schools to "really challenge them and say this is what real grownups do; real college students do this, and this is what matters."