Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

National Standards
Despite favorable public opinion polls concerning national goals in education, the
public has remained divided on the need for formally defined national standards.
Proponents of national standards have raised several arguments supporting the
need for developing such an explicit national standard (National Council on Edu-
cation Standards and Testing [NCEST] 1992). These persons argue that formulating
national standards will encourage the states to raise their own standards and that
by giving students a common set of goals, the quality of our schools may improve,
leading to greater equality between advantaged and disadvantaged school districts.
Moreover, standards for the nation would allow our diverse population to share
expectations and learning opportunities by coordinating efforts and pooling re-
sources and ideas.
On the other hand, many objections have been advanced to national standards
(NCEST 1992). Some argue that establishing national standards will detract from
many positive local reforms and inhibit the development of initiatives at the state
and local levels. Others worry about the effects of such standards, fearing that
they will result in minimum standards that will drag down the entire system and
ignore our most capable students. Some educators also worry that national stand-
ards would lead to a national curriculum, with the federal government imposing
standards in a top-down fashion. Still others view them as unnecessary, since they
believe that standards without resources and strategies will be of no help to
school systems.
Despite the debate, the general consensus has been moving toward establishing
some form of national standards for education. For example, data from a national

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sample of citizens in 1991 revealed that 68 percent of Americans favor developing
a voluntary national test that would measure and compare abilities of students by
school districts across the country (Gallup 1991).
Voluntary national standards. 
Thus far, efforts to construct national standards for
what should be taught in each of the major subject areas have resulted in vol-
untary national standards for mathematics, science, and history. Those for other
subjects are also under development. Funding for the development of voluntary
national standards has come from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Depart-
ment of Education and an assortment of nongovernmental organizations.
In 1989, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published cur-
riculum standards outlining the mathematics that should be incorporated into
school programs in order that they be considered of the best quality, as well as
the instructional conditions needed for students to learn mathematics. These
guidelines did not originate with the U.S. Department of Education but rather
stemmed from the recommendations of many different experts and experienced
teachers of mathematics. Consequently, the guidelines are not promulgated by a
governmental agency, and there is no means to ensure uniform acceptance or en-
force their implementation across the United States. Instead, adoption and imple-
mentation in individual states, districts, and schools is voluntary.
Nevertheless, the adoption of the NCTM standards has been widespread; over 80
percent of the states have modified their mathematics framework so that they are
in line with the NCTM standards. Moreover, numerous professional and adminis-
trative agencies are using them as a model for their own standards (Shriner, Kim,
& Ysseldyke 1993).
The National Science Education Standards were published in 1995. This document
sets standards for science teaching, professional development for teachers of
science, assessment in science education, content of science, science education
programs, and science education systems (National Academy of Sciences 1995).
These standards will be used to guide the development of science education in
elementary and secondary schools. However, like the mathematics standards, they
serve as general guidelines rather than enforced requirements, and their imple-
mentation will be dependent on acceptance at the state, district, or school level.
Voluntary history standards were released in the spring of 1996. These standards,
released by UCLA’s National Center for History in the Schools, encompass vol-
untary standards for teaching history from kindergarten through 12th grade. A
press release announcing the appearance of the national history standards states
that they ‘‘were created in cooperation with 33 national education organizations

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and more than 1,000 educators from all regions of the country’’ (World Wide Web
April 3, 1996). As with standards projects in math and science, the goal of the
history standards is to serve as a benchmark to guide teachers and school districts
in the development of curriculum.
As already mentioned, voluntary national standards in the arts, geography, civics
and government, English language arts, and foreign languages are currently in var-
ious stages of development.