No Child Left Behind was written so vaguely and poorly that the government (with the support of both parties) is trying to have it rewritten. It is not for the benefit of the teacher, it is for the benefit of the student. Students with disabilities are the ones that will suffer, if these changes are not made. The way that the law is written right now, the students with disabilities must perform at the same level as those students without them. The pressure to achieve this goal trickles down from administration, to the teachers, to the students. Many school districts have adopted books, called "prep" books, to have the students practice their skills taking this kind of test. The administration is having the students that did not obtain the required minimum on the previous state test pulled from class for intensive work that will improve their scores. Is this what we should be doing in our classrooms? No. I would love to have more time to teach but as it stands right now, I give two week long tests a year. I am required to take a minimum of an hour a day to do intensive preparation for the state test, and have to help the student that is being pulled out for other prep catch up on what they missed in the classroom. It is discouraging for all teachers to have to give up our time with the students for this kind of work. Where in your life do you use the "bubble test skill"? Now, on the other hand, where do you use problem solving, or technology? Where do you think the time would be better spent? The child that you describe as having a disability, who now has a different program, will still be required to take the state test, without a different program. The most that they will be given is having the test read to them or writing their answers in a book, rather than on a bubble sheet. So, the state can mandate that the student receive specialized education for their disability but they are required to receive the same scores on their state test. This just doesn't make sense. AND a note to Tom, the thing you have to wonder about, regarding teachers that are not able to speak and write fluently, is how did they ever pass through a university? Through my years of mentoring teachers, I have seen several that were unable to check spelling tests, that would write newsletters home that had spelling and grammatical errors. Where are they now? Teaching in the south, where they are giving bonuses to teachers that go there, including moving costs and financial gains.