At the fall 1996 Education Summit, 40 governors and 45 business leaders called for higher student achievement standards. This article provides some historical background for the standards-based education movement and introduces essays exploring the movement from various perspectives. Although some educators remain skeptical, standards-based…

The standards movement is in a state of crisis. Although states have made progress in developing and implementing standards, some standards-driven reforms and takeover sanctions represent significant threats to students and educators. Principals should focus on new opportunities to become instructional leaders, help teachers use standards to…

Distinguishes among three kinds of standards: content, performance, and opportunity-to-learn. The standards concept has not been analyzed carefully enough to warrant establishing national standards, which could have undesirable consequences and require a different governmental role. Many adults willingly prescribe high learning standards but are…

Presents four versions of American educational history highlighting centralization/decentralization issues, American faith in schooling, and cascading national and international changes requiring extraordinary reforms. These diverse stories all arrive at the same conclusion--a need for national goals and performance standards to guide…

A critical problem in Japanese high school education is lack of fit between uniform curriculum and students' heterogeneous interests and abilities. This article explores policy initiatives to restructure and diversify high school education. Innovative high schools with "comprehensive" programs are emerging at a time when U.S. schools are…

Developing national academic standards may improve students' preparation for work or college. However, any proposed new national assessment system will be doomed to failure if seen as the cure-all for the country's educational ills. The contributors to this "NASSP Bulletin" issue examine numerous challenges associated with using tests as a tool to…

National standards and assessments (President Clinton's Goals 2000 Act) are being proposed to improve schools. This article reviews the bill and examines equity issues, including disparities in instructional conditions among racial/ethnic groups. Using tests to change teaching and learning reflects overreliance on top-down policy, distrust of…

Employs a graphical analysis evaluating the evolution of the transportation network in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain sections of Georgia and the Carolinas. Concludes that transport expansion appears to support the general parameters of the ideal-typical sequence model and provides useful material for instruction related to the national standards…

Investigates techniques of highly effective teachers of Year 12 English in New South Wales, Australia. Concludes that successful teachers saw themselves as operating in positive school environments and overwhelmingly saw themselves as functioning as part of a team. Notes they used a range of teaching strategies, but emphasized having students…

This paper reviews the process a university foreign language department went through in developing a procedure to assess its curriculum using the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and, to a lesser extent, the National Standards, as guiding principles (National Standards, 1996). This procedure included a noncredit workshop that met only once to inform…

The racial and ethnic diversification of the U.S. population presents a clear call for health educators to surmount the barriers they have encountered in reaching U.S. racial and ethnic groups with culturally appropriate health promotion and prevention messages. As the population becomes more culturally and ethnically diverse, the preparation of…

Standards-based reform calls for the setting of challenging standards in academic subject areas as an important means of improving student achievement. In 1994, Congress passed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, which enacted the education goals into law and provided resources for the development of standards and assessments. This report offers…

The goals and measures identified in this report provide insight to policymakers, higher education analysts, and parents and students throughout the nation. They are tools to understand the trend of nationwide standards so that California can make informed decisions about holding its postsecondary institutions accountable for the quality of…

This is the fourth of a series of papers exploring the potential influence of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards propositions, standards, and processes on the development of advanced master's programs for teachers. It makes the case that collaboration is at the heart of accomplished teaching, and hence, of critical interest to both…

This paper aims to provide a critical review and comparison of the following sets of standards of practice for teachers: (1) The Victorian Interim Teacher Class Standards (ITCS), especially Interim Teacher Class Standards for Beginning Teachers; (2) Professional Standards for Teachers; (3) The National Competencies for Beginning Teaching; (4) The…