Educational reform efforts in the United States have produced little sustainable results. Reformers are quick to impose standards and to label schools and the students they serve. Yet, they rarely acknowledge the serious inequities and inequalities found throughout the educational process. This article seeks to present a more comprehensive view of the collective disparities found in the American educational system, with the idea that “leaving no child behind” requires a serious attempt at leveling the playing field. Inherent in this presentation is the notion that reform efforts that produce real change must begin with public policy that acknowledges and removes the faults and errors of the system.

This policy study examined the differences in student achievement scores in reading and mathematics in selected public middle schools of choice and in traditional public middle schools with similar demographics and socioeconomic characteristics in a southeastern school district in North Carolina during the 1997-1998, 1998-1999, and 1999-2000 school years. The purpose was to determine whether there were significant differences in academic achievement between students in selected public middle schools of choice and students in traditional public middle schools as measured by the end-of-grade test scores in reading and mathematics. The result from the one-way ANOVA showed that there were significant differences in academic achievement between students in selected public middle schools of choice and students in traditional public middle schools as measured by the end-of-grade tests in reading and mathematics.