“It may or it may not get reauthorized this year,” Spellings said. “One of the things we can do in the meantime is to make this law better … and bring the dream that every child will be educated closer to reality.”

The law has brought sweeping change to education systems throughout the country, requiring states to test annually all students in grades three through eight and one high school year in English and math, report the results and break out the performance of all groups of students -- minority, low income, special education and English language learners. The law classifies schools based on test scores as highly or moderately performing or in need of improvement and requires districts to intervene in struggling schools. The law also established 2014 as the year all students must reach proficiency in English and math.

Supporters of the law, who include Carcieri and state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, agree with Spellings that the law has “changed the national conversation about education.”

“Before six years ago, the discussion was whether or not we should, or is it reasonable to fuss on every kid,” Spellings said in her characteristic Texas drawl. “Now it’s about how are we going to do it, what are the necessary steps, what are the barriers and impediments to helping every student.”

Critics of the law, which include the country’s largest teachers’ union, the National Education Association, and groups that oppose standardized testing, say the law unfairly punishes struggling schools and strips creativity and autonomy from teachers, who are under pressure to boost student performance on the tests.

Spellings said the federal Education Department is already considering several changes to the law. They include allowing states to track the progress of a cohort of students year to year, in order to assess long-term progress; expanding school classifications to allow more “nuance” in the system; focusing on making high schools more rigorous; finding ways to reward teachers, particularly those who work in challenging urban schools; and providing adequate resources to states.

Spellings called the recent 60 percent cut to the federal Reading First budget “regrettable,” noting it means a loss of about $2 million to Rhode Island.

The issue of federal financing is a sore one, as many educators and lawmakers throughout the country argue Mr. Bush’s law passed without the money needed to help states develop high quality tests, provide training for teachers and offer students in struggling schools tutoring and other interventions.

Critics also lament the focus on math and English at the expense of other subjects, including art, music and social studies.

“The high-stakes standardized testing that is the cornerstone of NCLB has undermined the quality of teaching in those subject areas by directing teachers to focus on test material,” said Larry Purtill, president of Rhode Island’s NEA chapter, in a statement. Purtill also participated in the roundtable discussion. “There is much more to education than test taking.”

But Spellings disagreed, saying it is up to states to push for more art and music in their schools. She also said that before the federal government demanded states to test students and report the results, too many students were lost along the way.

“There is broad affirmation that every kid matters, that we need to measure their progress … that we need to get kids extra help,” Spellings said. “Things happen based on data.”