On the one hand, I and many others consider the current drive to improve the performance of low-scoring students essential and long overdue. This requires that higher standards be imposed for these students. At the same time, even if we were to succeed in this respect, we will still confront a very wide distribution of performance. The dilemma is to find a way to meet the goal of confronting unwanted variations in performance while still being realistic about the variations that will persist.
