This serial offers a collection of articles on academic standards, while focusing on whether it is possible to ensure both equity and high standards in education. It looks at ways to close the achievement gap between students in high-poverty schools and their middle-class peers, and offers a chart that outlines what various stakeholders can do to provide lower class students the help that they need to succeed. Some of the strategies that are discussed here include blue-ribbon schools, charter schools, accountability, local control, and assimilation. The text outlines the need for stringent professional standards, the value of one-stop assessment-reform resources, the use of alternative transcripts for college admissions, and the growing emphasis on competency rather than "seat time." It describes the risks of high-stakes tests and argues that the classroom teacher should have a voice in student assessment. Some other equity and high standards issues are included in short pieces that examine students who rejected a standardized test, the challenges and opportunities afforded by bilingual students, the fallibility of test-driven education, and some alternatives to standardized testing. (Contains 13 references and 11 resources.) (RJM)