By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo. – The national educators' group Phi Delta Kappa started a four-day conference this morning in St. Louis aimed at helping school officials figure out what's expected of them.
The meeting will specifically address the federal No Child Left Behind law which establishes new standards that schools must meet or risk losing federal money.
Phi Delta Kappa's George Kersey says the law's intent is good but teachers can't lose sight of what's important.
"We want to see student achievement to improvement but we don't want the process to be void of creativity. To free teachers to teach creatively and not to be so preoccupied with standards and test scores," Kersey said.
Phi Delta Kappa organized the conference after polling people a majority of whom knew little or nothing about No Child Left Behind which is nearly two-years old.
The government recently said half of Missouri's schools are currently failing to meet the law's standards.