With so much emphasis being placed on transforming education for America’s youth, all of us need to make sure we are properly managing our expectations and values against those that are most critical for student success in the classroom. We must use wisdom and discretion as we delineate and measure academic achievement in the context of higher standards for students, so as not to transform education into some grand academic race to the top. The last thing any real advocate for world class public education wants is to reduce elementary and secondary education to futile exercises that pit students, classrooms, and schools against one another. If students view academics as merely competition or sport, then the essential basis for education and learning could be lost or minimized. One clear challenge during this period of increased standards and accountability for schools and students is how to effectively design curriculums and other teaching protocols that complement the broader goals of public schooling, and not get forced into modes of teaching that compromise the capacity for young people to discover and engage their gifts, talents, and abilities in ways that yield intellectual curiosity and academic pursuit.

Adults are often the ones who distort certain elements of academic success or exaggerate the academic culture in ways that potentially damage students’ perspectives and values about education and learning. Parents can especially jeopardize their children’s overall learning as they push them toward achieving benchmarks and types of success that may not be as relevant as the benefits that can be gained from curriculum choices that enhance their exposure and discourse. Classroom teachers have been guilty of compromising their professional integrity by focusing on how well students perform on tests, instead of ensuring that their students attain levels of competence that will endow them with the tools necessary to succeed as they move forward in their studies. Adults (i.e. parents, policymakers, administrators, and teachers) need to remind themselves that academic achievement is not always quantifiable or measurable through test scores and grade point averages. We must teach young people that their academic success is also defined by their growing capacity and commitment to employ their creative, artistic, and intellectual interests toward postsecondary, civic, vocational, and career choices that are not always evident by how well they perform on a test.