More than a month ago I asked for stories about how the new federal No Child Left Behind law is affecting children in our public school classrooms. I was unhappy about the lack of specifics in most of the published attacks on the law, and I begged for some concrete examples of harm.

I am going to share what I received in just a moment, but first I must say I was surprised that I did not get the blizzard of e-mails that have come after appeals for input on other lively issues, such as treatment of special education students or college admissions angst. This is probably because the law is still new, and its most radical provisions -- more tutoring at schools not making the grade and voluntary student transfers from those schools -- have not had a chance to take effect in many places. Also, we won't know how painful the "needs improvement" label will be for schools until it is affixed, as it almost certainly will be, to many schools that up to now have enjoyed good reputations in their communities.

The stories I got are interesting, and they point to very specific strengths and weaknesses of the law, as it becomes reality for our children. The negative messages far outnumbered the positive ones and left the impression that when Congress and the White House revisit the law after the next election, the first thing they should look at is a way to reward schools that are improving without forcing them to reach very specific marks and without dumping a load of new students on them from the less successful school down the road.

I will start with the positive messages. Two came from readers that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was expressly written to serve -- Hispanic parents living in big cities where the public schools have been mediocre at best. Carlos Pozo, a truck driver who has a child in the Dallas public schools, said, "I can give you a list of schools that are low performing" in his area. He likes the idea that under the federal law he might be able to transfer his first grader if the neighborhood school is not doing the job. Jose Pacheco said his children "are in one of the really bad schools" in Dallas. When he tried to transfer her to a magnet school he was told "she did not meet the requirements in reading and writing." So he hopes the new law will either improve the school she is in or give him another chance to move her.

Ricki Sabia, whose son Stephen attends fifth grade at Cloverly Elementary School in Silver Spring, said she is finding it much easier to get him into mainstream classes despite his learning disabilities. "Much to our surprise, attitudes really had changed considerably since NCLB," she said. "There are high expectations and we did not have to twist any arms."

But those who do not like what they see happening sent much longer and much more emotional e-mails than those who like the law so far. Most of their stories are about disabilities or limited-English students being given tests too difficult for them, transfers from low-performing schools overloading successful programs and opportunities for combining fun and learning being squeezed out by test preparation.

Christina Clayton, an English as a Second Language teacher in Dallas, described a Vietnamese boy bounced around by a system that insisted he be tested, but had trouble getting him an official designation that would bring extra instruction. A fifth grade teacher in Fairfax County described a child who had both learning disabilities and limited English, but worked hard all year and improved greatly. It broke his heart when he discovered she had received a letter saying she had failed one state test, and further investigation showed she missed by one point.

Paul Smith, a high school teacher in Wisconsin, said he had to cut back on life skills lessons -- opening a bank account, getting a doctor's appointment -- for students with severe cognitive disabilities because the state was insisting on better reading scores. "They may have not marketable skills," he said, "but at least they will be able to identify a topic sentence."

Tim O'Mara, who teaches at a middle school in New York City, said the size of his school's sixth grade increased 20 percent because of students transferring in from a struggling school. This means a bigger work load for him and less chance of his school meeting the new achievement targets. "Don't get me wrong," he said. "My colleagues and I treat these kids with the respect they deserve and do our best to honor their individual needs. We just wish the powers that be would do the same for us."

Jacqui Cebrian had the same experience in her third grade in south Chicago. Her kids were doing well and the school was improving until transfers from a nearby school poured in. "You now have two schools failing instead of only one," she said. Bonnie Sue Stein, a parent in New York City, said transfers raised the average class size at her daughter's school from 23 to 29. Her daughter, she said, "was taken aback by the increase of kids, and the lack of space."

Loss of time, however, was more painful than loss of space for some teachers and parents. The need to prepare for tests in reading, writing and math forced cancellation of other pursuits that some teachers and parents considered valuable. A new survey by the Council for Basic Education of 956 principals in Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico and New York found the squeeze particularly hard on social studies, civics, geography, languages and the arts, and many educators who wrote me bemoaned the limits on recess and other chances to blow off steam.

Jim Sando, a fifth grade teacher in Ambler, Penn., said he misses his weekly "free math" period when students had useful fun with computers, logic puzzles and other games. Terry Bosworth, a first grade teacher at Deale Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, said that "recess periods have been shortened and there is less time available for cultural arts activities such as assemblies, chorus, band, orchestra" and an annual student performance.

Tanya Sharon, who teaches fifth grade at Bennett Elementary School in Detroit, said, "Teachers can't find time to prepare their students with skits, plays or recitations because we are constantly trying to cover the curriculum and teach what is needed to pass the tests." Colleen O'Malley praised the work done by the principal and teachers at Alexandria's Lyles Crouch Traditional Academy, but worried that there was no time for fun for her kindergartner. "They are discouraged from talking during lunch because that takes time and these little guys have a heavy schedule," she said.

Dan Bennett, principal of Bradley Hills Elementary School in Bethesda, said he used to have five or six field trips a year, but now there is only time for two. There are fewer science experiments and social studies projects. "We used to hold more book clubs for discussion of literature," he said. "Staff now spends time remediating . . . not a bad thing, just less enjoyable and challenging for able students."

And yet, students are learning and achievement seems to be going up, particularly in Bennett's school district, Montgomery County, where test scores indicate significantly more progress by low-income students in the lower grades. Whether this effort continues will depend on how well the many well-educated, middle class parents who wrote me can tolerate what they see as a sacrifice of a happy learning environment for their children so more attention can be paid to kids who do not have the same enrichment at home.

Brian Bachman, a State Department diplomat, and his wife, a professional violinist with a small business, have a daughter who attends Fairhill Elementary School in Fairfax County. "It has dedicated, well-meaning staff, good facilities and has consistently performed well in standardized tests," he said.

Yet they have noticed the diminished time for art, music, physical education, recess and other less structured activities. "Most parents I've talked to are happy with the new emphasis on the 'basics' and improving test scores," he said. "Maybe that just makes my wife and I different. I don't know. But I do know that school for my daughter is nowhere near as much fun as it was for me when I was growing up, and that makes me sad."