National Standards and School Improvement in the 1990s: Issues and Promise

National education standards are obviously a big step politically, but are they a big step educationally as well? Will schools really become better? Opinions among education's influentials are sharply divided. Empirical evidence is assembled to address the promise of standard setting for school improvement. From the evidence, it is predicted that standards will not lead to a standardization of practice, stifle creativity, or endanger minority students. The benefits from standard setting are less easily predicted; they depend heavily on the quality of implementation. It is probable that some teachers, some schools, and perhaps even some whole school districts would make substantial progress.