"So much of what we do as educators, especially in the elementary grades, involves helping our students learn to become real human beings. Math, reading, science, social studies, the arts, and health issues are critical to a student's success in life. So why are those things not considered in ESEA?

"I see my job as helping my kids grow as much as they are capable of growing in all academic areas, but that's not enough. I want my kids to leave my classroom as better citizens of our community, as more respected and respectful than when they arrived.

"My students are expected to learn the academics and to apply positive social skills to all of their interactions. From pushing in their chairs, to holding doors for others, from saying please and thank you, to asking permission to use someone's materials -- these and many other social habits are learned in a positive classroom environment.

"And it is just these environments that are being eroded by the increasing pressure to improve test scores every year.

"Less time is being devoted to having students learn social skills, as we focus more core time on test prep. Where once there was time for daily gatherings to discuss the social issues that affect our day, we now have time devoted each day to another practice math problem or to another writing prompt. I see the slow, inexorable process of turning once-rich classroom experiences into cookie-cutter test prep centers devoted to turning out test-taker widgets.

"Tomorrow's leaders are in our classrooms today. Will they be prepared to read, write, and cypher? Probably. Will they have the skills to be a positive, supportive member of tomorrow's communities? Not if we keep going down the road of No Child Left Untested.

"Let's step back and ask what we really want -- and, yes ,we really do want it all. I think we can have it all as well, if we begin to see the process of education as a continuum that begins at birth and in which all the stakeholders -- parents, community and business leaders,  politicians, educators, every one of us -- take our rightful place and accept our responsibility for success and follow through with the support and the resources to help see that all children reach their greatest potential.

"Only then can we hope to really leave no child behind."

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