In developing a national curriculum, ways must be found to challenge students and teachers, preserve initiative, and maintain democratic control. President Bush's New American Achievement Tests will consist of a system of examinations to be administered by individual states or clusters of states. Conversion should embody a grand,…

Speculates about how opportunity-to-learn (OTL) standards might be defined and used at federal and state levels and, in the process, to better understand why OTL standards have become so controversial. The author discusses OTL within the context of The Goals 2000: Educate America Act and how the standards might be used and what they should…

Lessons learned from school reform are the foundation for Goals 2000: Educate America Act. It offers the framework and support for states and communities to reach goals designed to help schools create and achieve their own vision of what they want for their children. The U. S. Department of Education wants to be a partner in the efforts to bring…

The passage of Goals 2000 represents a victory for advocates of a stronger federal role in improving schools. The article explores the principal elements of Goals 2000, the origins of the "new federalism," the education legislative record of the Clinton administration, and what further efforts are necessary to meet the needs of American…

This Congressional report discusses recent accomplishments and continuing issues in the federal role in helping states and localities improve K-12 education. The panel that prepared the report consisted of state and local educators, researchers, and other citizens committed to education. The document focuses on the implementation of major federal…

Asserts that the new "National Standards for Arts Education" position the arts and music as equal partners with other curriculum areas. Maintains that it is inevitable that criticism of the standards will arise. Discusses likely areas of criticism and provides suggested responses that music teachers can use to support the standards. (CFR)

This document provides an overview of primary, cross-cutting issues that are likely to arise as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; Goals 2000; the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act; and the National Education Statistics Act are considered by the United States Congress for reauthorization in the future.…

Goals 2000 defines the federal role as one of support and facilitation to improve all schools for all children while maintaining state and local control. The article discusses Goals 2000, looking at the beginning, the legislation, the national agenda, the state and local agenda, its passage into law, budgetary constraints, and the future. (SM)

Goals 2000 differs from previous educational legislation because it requires systemic reform and partnerships. The article discusses Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, explains how legislation is developed, and examines Goals 2000's main provisions, content and performance standards, role in professional development, and ties…

This document contains proceedings of the hearing held on September 12, 1995, before the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, which is a subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations. The purpose of the hearing was to hear testimony on the funding for Goals 2000, the Educate…

This policy paper, by a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Policy and Planning, argues that President Clinton and the previous "education Congress" designed a top-down strategy reminiscent of the Great Society programs in the 1960s to reform America's school systems. The resultant educational legislation has occurred at a…

Presents an allegory based on the development and dissemination of the National Geography Standards. Uses the allegory to introduce a series of articles dealing with the Standards. Suggests that geography teachers acquire and use the Standards, entitled "Geography for Life: National Geography Standards." (CFR)

Maintains that the choice of geography as one of the core subjects in the America 2000 and Goals 2000 reform plans provides an opportunity to increase its role in the school curriculum. Argues that those who chose geography have a different view of the discipline than professional geographers. (CFR)

Includes "On the Common Core of Learning" (Kennedy); "Constitutional Implications of National Curriculum Standards" (Arons); "Arguments against National Performance Standards" (Fulk, Mantzicopoulos, Hirth); and "The Painful Lessons of Introducing the National Curriculum in England" (Foster). (SK)

Maintains that local school districts will soon be confronted with the task of implementing national standards in geography, history, civics, and government. Asserts that the geography community needs strong partners among teachers' unions and other educational organizations. (CFR)