Rayolas first month of school was fairly uneventful. The class moved at a brisk pace, but Rayola, now back in the third grade, seemed to be catching on. Three mornings a week, Banchero sat in the back of the classroom and watched as the class covered reading and math, the two subjects tested under NCLB. She tried not to single out Rayola since the girl, already somewhat guarded and suspicious with Banchero, was still an outsider at Stockton. The reporter made sure to talk to Rayola daily and assessed her progress by checking in with the teacher and noting how well Rayola completed her assignments.

Listen to Banchero recount how she observed Rayola in the classroom.

At around 11 a.m., Banchero would return to the Tribune offices downtown. Though her co-workers knew that she was spending time at Stockton, they did not know precisely what she was working on. Because Banchero was able to produce daily stories in addition to monitoring Rayola, her editors did not object to her late arrivals.

At this stage, Banchero would have welcomed formal assistance as she tried to make sense of what she was learning at Stockton Elementary. But she also realized why she was on the story alone. The reality is its not that interesting [that Rayola missed a day of school]. It doesnt get interesting until you really get into the lives of these people, and it wasnt interesting in the beginning. So I think they were like, when youve got something, let us know, Banchero says. It took a while to develop.

Progress. Meanwhile, things seemed to be going well for Rayola. Her teacher, Judy Fromm, was excellentone of the best teachers Ive ever seen, and Ive covered education for a long time, Banchero says. Fromm allotted time during class to explain concepts to Rayola that she hadnt learned in her previous school. She also assigned the girl a tutor who worked with her when Fromm was too busy. Though she had a long way to go in reading and writing, Rayola was excelling in math. She always did her homework, was well-behaved, and was so focused that Fromm sat the most talkative boy in the class next to her, knowing he would be unable to distract Rayola.

Observing Rayolas progress, Banchero felt she could discern the rough outline of her story. She was seeing a real and positive impact from NCLB: A smart child was being given the opportunity to learn in a safer, more challenging environment, and she was thriving. The story, Banchero thought, could make a real contribution to the national debate over the effectiveness of NCLB.