This paper argues that education in the United States will be increasingly intertwined with and impacted by federal expectations, requirements, and standards. The paper describes the impacts and effects of national goals and national assessment on K-12 and higher education. A review of state and federal responses to "A Nation at Risk" concludes that the Clinton Administration's Goals 2000: Educate America Act has led to a partnership among federal, state, and local educational entities and a commitment to educational improvement. The basic questions that must be answered in light of the national goals are: (1) Where are we now? (2) What are we doing? (3) Why are we doing it? (4) How can we measure what we are doing? (5) How can we use the consequent data for improvement? (6) What is the direction that improvement will take? (7) What institutions/levels of government will be the arbiters and assessors of improvement efforts? and (8) How will we know when we succeed in reaching these goals? Other concerns are how to measure against standards if they are transient in nature, and whether testing is conducted to maintain or raise standards. A conclusion is that higher education in partnership with K-12 education will and must play a vital role in determining answers to the many questions regarding the national goals, the national curriculum standards, the probability of national assessment, and the possibilities of what that assessment may be. (Contains 36 references.) (LMI)