Middle and high lows.

It should come as no surprise that while elementary achievement is the big focus under No Child Left Behind, student achievement in math and reading lags in the middle and high-school grades, according to a recent report by The Education Trust.

Some educators say the law focuses on increased testing in grades 3 through 8. And more elementary schools receive Title I funds and are more directly affected by the law's resources and accountability provisions. So elementary schools are making modest gains, the report, Stalled in Secondary: A Look at Student Achievement Since the No Child Left Behind Act, notes.

"But for far too long, we've been operating on this notion that education is like inoculation--that if we get it right for kids in those early years, we can prevent later school failure," says Kati Haycock, director of Education Trust. "Experience tells us this assumption is wrong."

Some predict there will be more policy makers and legislators pushing for better high school performance. But Kathy Christie, vice president for Education Commission of the States Clearinghouse research and information arm, says educators can't address high schools until they start tackling middle schools.

"They are the feeder schools," she says. "If kids are unprepared for high school then that needs to be addressed."

While parents claim middle school programs are not tough enough, middle school staff disagree. "But when you look at where performance levels off or even declines, it's quite often at that [middle] level," Christie says.

If schools can figure out the sticky issue of having all its secondary teachers highly qualified in all subjects they teach, which is required under NCLB, it will help with student performance, Christie says.

She also points to Virginia as an example for improvement. Gov. Mark Warner, past chairman of ECS and current chairman of the National Governors Association, created a Project Graduation initiative last year that helps students meet requirements for a high school diploma through statewide access to an online tutorial for seniors who have yet to pass the Standards of Learning English reading test. www2.edtrust.org