Few education advocates have disputed the general intent of the No Child Left Behind Act. Who could quarrel with the idea that the American school system should see that all children achieve?

It's the way that the law has been executed that powers the current drive for reform, led by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education Committee.

Hawai'i Rep. Mazie Hirono, also on the committee, has signed on with Miller's plan for reauthorizing NCLB into a somewhat kinder and more realistic mandate for change.

In sum, the ideas make sense. The revised law would be less punitive for schools, in part because the consequences for falling short of the benchmark would be more measured. A school that performs just shy of the adequate yearly progress (AYP) goal line in just a few areas, for example, would not be treated the same as one that is failing on multiple fronts.

The House favors establishing more yardsticks for measuring success than just the tests. For example, a school's graduation rate would, under Miller's proposal, become another measure.

It's especially gratifying that the plan enables any state to adopt the "growth" model of accountability, crediting schools for progress individual students make over time. This would be a more accurate reflection of a school's status than the current approach of comparing one cohort of a grade of students with the one before.

Hawai'i's Department of Education already had applied to be one of 10 states testing this model. Many of our schools and their students are contending with far too many hurdles to be rated by an absolute standard. All states should have this option.

Finally, Hirono has introduced a bill to bolster early-education excellence with a funding mechanism to support pre-kindergarten programs. This is a reasonable step toward expanding quality early-education opportunities that are essential to success.

As they seek bipartisan compromise on this bill, committee members must keep the overarching objective — making academic achievement possible for all kids — in the forefront.