CROSS CUTTING ISSUES

Standards

"Standards-based reform" has to do with setting benchmarks for academic achievement. The Education Commission of the States suggests (third entry below) that "the standards-based approach constitutes the primary reform strategy of most states and districts" but that its potential for improving student achievement and school quality depends on an accompanying redesign and alignment of the components of the education system such as curriculum, assessment, accountability, teacher education, and resource allocation, to fit the standards. Education Week on the Web notes there is debate "over how to implement such standards - how prescriptive they should be, and whether they should be national or local, voluntary or mandated" (glossary).

The Draft Master Plan proposes that districts should have input standards in the form of guidelines and minimum requirements, as well as outcome standards. The aim is to provide districts with flexibility in devising spending priorities, while protecting students by establishing minimum requirements.

• Standards and Curriculum Overview with links to much other California material (EdSource Online)
• Standards-Based Reform in California: Brief overview of components (California Department of Education)
• Standards (overview with links; Education Commission of the States)
• Aligning California's Education Reforms: Summary of Progress on Standards-Based Reform. Timeline shows pre-1995 to 2001 and beyond (Report to order from EdSource)
• K-12 Content Standards: California links to standards for content areas (State Board of Education)
• Standards (overview; Education Week On the Web)
• Standards Survey: Findings of a survey of school principals' views on standards-based reforms (2 page PDF file; EdSource Online)
• Making Standards Matter 2001 Executive Summary (4 page PDF file) or Entire report (American Federation of Teachers)
• Reality Check 2002: Progress report on standards movement; what students, parents, employers and professors say (Public Agenda)
• Aligning Standards: Bridging the Great Divide Between Secondary Schools and Postsecondary Education (Chapter in National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education publication)
• A Guide to Standards-Based Assessment Interrelationship between standards and assessments; examines the impact of ESEA on state policy and policymaking (4 page PDF file; Education Commission of the States)

Related Issues

Standards are related to many of the topics in the Master Plan; the links below lead to pages on this site that give more information in selected areas.

• Accountability
• Alignment
• Assessment
• ESEA
• Quality Education

If your organization has material that would be useful for the online dialogue but is not included in the preceding list, please e-mail a URL to <camp-info@network-democracy.org>.