According to "A Report on the State of U.S. History Education, State Policies and National Programs as of September 2008," "Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have established academic standards to address academic achievement in history, the social sciences, or social studies. The sole exceptions are Iowa and Rhode Island which allow local jurisdictions to set the history/social studies curriculum." The report also reveals tremendous divergence in the breadth, depth, purpose, and use of state standards across the nation. This disparity is one of the many reasons the Common Core State Standards Initiative was established. The release by the National Council for the Social Studies of "National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment" comes at a pivotal moment in the current era of educational reform. As other subject areas create national standards to guide the work of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, these NCSS Standards provide a vision for the future of social studies education in the nation. Just as the Common Core State Standards are designed to create a citizenry that has the knowledge and critical thinking and problem solving skills to "succeed in the global economy and society," the NCSS Standards provide a framework for selecting and organizing knowledge and modes of inquiry for purposes of teaching and learning to meet these same goals. (Contains 2 figures and 5 notes.)