The movement to develop national standards in education stems from the nation's continuing effort to identify the outcomes sought in schooling. The sources of the impetus for standards are disappointment with U.S. performance in international assessments, the participation of public leaders and educators in school reform, and the example created…

This report explores some of the complexities involved in setting, maintaining, and judging standards in higher education, and examines the interactive effects that the standards of schools and colleges have on each other, with special emphasis on the implications of selective college admission practices. Focus is on whether current standards are…

This document contains materials describing outcomes and proficiencies for grades 4, 8, and 12. The materials are to be used by Colorado school districts in developing a standards- and outcomes-based approach to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The outcomes and proficiencies considered bridge traditional departmentalized curriculum and the…

Following a description of how the political climate in the 1960s through the 1980s influenced education, this document discusses the effects of districtwide curriculum standardization on Burr Oaks Elementary School in the midwestern village of Burr Oaks. The school's community setting, use of curriculum guides, and initial use of curriculum…

Proceedings of the 1983 annual meeting of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) are presented. Contents include a roundtable discussion, nine papers, a progress report by the SREB's Task Force on Higher Education and the Schools, a presentation on a SREB report on higher education and high technology economic development, a summary of the…

University admission requirements and achievement levels at the time of secondary school graduation are compared for five countries: the United States, the Soviet Union, France, Japan, and West Germany. Emphasis is placed upon the structural and cultural differences in the educational systems of these countries. In addition to college admission…

The curriculum recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Articulation Between Secondary Schools and Ohio Colleges are presented, along with the recommendations of the Advisory Council for College Preparatory Education. The recommendations for college preparatory science programs include the laboratory experiences and scientific vocabulary, as…

This paper is a combination of two separate essays, both of which examine changes in standards for student and teacher performance in various states over the past two years. Part 1 examines changes in standards for graduation from high school and the introduction or expansion of statewide programs of testing. Changes in the overall units for…

A decade ago, California's community colleges were the nation's undisputed leaders of community college education--unparalleled in access, quality, diversity, and size. Today, these institutions are deeply concerned with inadequate and unstable funding, declining enrollments, skepticism about the quality of programs, and students' lack of…

The concept of barrier-free transfer from two-year to four-year colleges is an important element in planning for student access to the baccalaureate. While it seems clear that transfer works reasonably well for most students most of the time, evidence suggests that transfer may be a qualitatively and quantitatively different experience at the…

This document examines approaches to educational reform currently under consideration in the Pacific Northwest and discusses policy issues involved with these reform efforts. The introduction discusses broad-scale policy issues, including the setting of priorities amid the diversity of reforms, the clarifying of beliefs and selection of changes…

The relationship between declining scores on national standardized tests and grade inflation is explored. Grade inflation refers to the indicated measure of evaluation of student performance having higher placement than is usual based on the performances. Data for this study were taken from the American College Testing (ACT) Program Class Profile…

This report represents the efforts of a commission of 20 citizens who were directed by the Illinois General Assembly to identify the principal problems in Illinois' elementary and secondary schools and to recommend specific actions for improving the State's educational program. The commission concluded that student learning should be the foremost…

Since the 1983 publication of "A Nation at Risk," most states have responded to public demand for educational improvement by enacting legislation increasing the number of units in academic subjects required for high school graduation. Required courses now consume three-quarters of the high school years, countering the former trend to large…

Evidence of decline in academic performance and academic standards in schools and colleges, and examples of reform are considered, based on work of a Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) task force. Declining scores on college entrance examinations and other standardized tests imply that students have been learning less in high school.…