National Education Standards: Getting beneath the Surface. Policy Information Perspective.

Preface Acknowledgments E stablishing national standards for what should be taught in schools along with a test to measure if the standards have been met have been debated and tried to varying extents over the last quarter century. Each time, the investment in high-level commissions and commissioned development work has ended in inaction. Controversy over the effectiveness of the No Child Left Behind Act (the federal government's major influencer of state education behavior), the persistence of achievement gaps, and concern about our international competitiveness have resulted in new efforts to establish national or common standards. Some advocate for national standards to be developed and implemented outside of the federal government, while others are pushing for federal legislation. While the public discussions have been ongoing for quite a while, they gained new momentum since the presidential election of 2008 and the anticipation of a reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. is written with the objective of increasing our understanding of the history, the facts, the choices, the risks, and the possibilities that are relevant in coming to a decision about establishing national standards in a nation that has built its education system from the bottom up and has prized local control of the schools. Barton makes clear that the report's purpose is to inform, rather than oppose or advocate a particular course of action. It also is clear that he thinks the considerations are many, and that complexities abound. Nevertheless, he offers a number of approaches that might be considered for increasing commonality in what is taught, and presents examples and experiences that are being tried across the nation, and might be built upon in moving in this direction. While the report is not a " yes " or a " no " about uniform national standards, the clear message is that anyone who wants to make a sound and reasoned judgment on the question needs to do much homework first. This report will help with that. A number of people provided helpful reviews of this report. They include and Charles Smith. Not all reviewers would necessarily agree with all of the conclusions drawn. Janet Levy and Eileen Kerrigan were the editors. Marita Gray designed the cover and Sally Acquaviva provided desktop publishing services. Introduction T he education reform movement did not begin with a call for national or federal action, but for action among schools, districts, and states. …