The Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council convened a workshop in 1994 to help policymakers and others better understand the complex issues emerging from the standards-based educational reform movement. This bulletin synthesizes the workshop discussions. It is organized around four major themes that emerged from the…

The National Education Goals were adopted by the nation's governors in 1990. The March 1994 enactment of the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act" made the National Education Goals federal policy and the guiding principles for a fundamental restructuring of the public education system. These goals have created a climate of education reform…