No Child Left Behind is back in the news again. And this time it may mean big changes are in store.

The U.S. Senate has begun its most concentrated effort yet on revamping the 13-year-old law. The sweeping overhaul began Jan. 21 with a hearing focusing on one of the law's most notorious requirements: standardized testing.

In the works are proposals to revamp testing by removing the tests' high stakes or even toss out the requirement that students be tested annually.

Currently, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Education Committee, is working with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on a bipartisan deal to rewrite the law.

Alexander's plan involves scaling back the federal government's role in education while giving states more control over standardized testing, essentially allowing them to develop their own assessments, or else leave the current standardized testing requirements alone entirely.

Alternatively, Murray is advocating to keep the federal government's involvement in education, stressing the importance of annual assessments to ensure the educational welfare of disadvantaged students.

Although standardized testing is not going away entirely, something is likely to change, said Kelly Pollitt, associate executive director of policy, public affairs and special projects for the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

"I think the direction we're headed in is more formative assessments," she said. Formative assessments measure student progress over the year as opposed to summative assessments — the high-stakes kind encouraged under the current law which evaluate student learning at the end of a unit.

No Child Left Behind, President George W. Bush's 2001 authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, requires annual state assessments primarily to ensure a good education for disadvantaged and minority children. Essentially, it requires students to hit a proficiency bar.

"We know that the better measure is to show growth in student learning from year to year," Pollitt said. "So there are a lot who feel there are two sides of this coin. We have to have some sort of annual assessment if we're going to be tracking the growth of students."

Pollitt said changes are needed and could be in store for the overall accountability system that shows how schools are improving. In turn, that may help alleviate some of the culture of "overtesting" and teachers who feel they spend too much time "teaching to tests" instead of general instruction.

Pollitt noted that teaching to the test isn't necessarily a bad thing, "if you have the right kinds of assessments and they're properly aligned to the curriculum."

While there's no bill laid out yet it's currently a discussion draft we could see one in the next couple months if legislators can come together to write bipartisan legislation, Pollitt said.

Noelle Ellerson, associate executive director of policy and advocacy for AASA, The School Superintendents Association, called the efforts a "strong first step."

"That sounds really obvious, but it's important to note because it's past due for reauthorization," Ellerson said. "All K-12 students have spent a lot of time with a broken federal law."

The next hearing, scheduled for Jan. 27, will focus on teachers and principals, followed by another hearing on Feb. 2. After that, the Senate could negotiate a bill.

"I think in the end you will see a better system in place," Pollitt said. "For the first time in many years, we have political leaders who are willing to look at these issues in a serious manner, and we hope they'll make good decisions for kids."