With school districts in Maryland and across the nation facing sharp-edged mandates to bring academic performance of all students up to state and federal standards, educators are wrestling with how to meet that daunting goal.

Hundreds of teachers, administrators and researchers huddled last week at the University of Maryland and pledged to work together to eliminate growing achievement gaps between those standards and the many groups of students who are not meeting them -- particularly poor and minority children.

"It has become an extremely important societal issue," said Martin L. Johnson, director of the Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education, a year-old think tank of the University of Maryland's College of Education.

Educators have their work cut out for them, many speakers at the conference said.

"What matters most is [that] we take the youngsters who need the most help in the first place, and we give them the least challenging curriculum, we give them the least qualified teachers," said Paul Ruiz, principal partner of the District of Columbia's Education Trust, "and we don't give them what matters most: the belief that they can actually achieve."

Baltimore officials detailed how they plan to improve on recent progress on standardized test scores, by reducing class sizes and adding more preschool and early intervention programs.

Last week's discussion about ways to close the gaps was timely, most educators agreed.

President George W. Bush's recent No Child Left Behind legislation pushes a national educational system that is color- and class-blind.

Jacqueline Jackson, assistant director of the U.S. Department of Education's Compensatory Education Program, detailed for school leaders how serious the law is, particularly with regard to raised standards and heightened accountability.

Starting this school year, No Child Left Behind dictates that school systems have 12 years to bring all their children up to a proficient level in reading and math. While doing so, not only are districts required to demonstrate that their curricula are founded on scientifically valid principles, they also must rid their schools of noncertified or provisional teachers by 2006. Sanctions for noncompliance include voluntary transfer of students to higher-performing schools, state takeover and staff firings.

"Johnson's minority achievement institute, the state's Higher Education Commission and the Department of Education were the hosts of the two-day summit packed with figures such as Harvard University's Ronald F. Ferguson and Clifford B. Janey, chairman-elect of the Council of Great City Schools, a national group for urban educators.