Academic standards are public, written statements of expectations.
Good teachers have always had standards for their students but only they knew what they were. Parents and administrators did not have any way of knowing what was required of students or whether standards were applied differently to different groups of children or even to different individuals within a class. In standards-based learning, academic standards are written in published documents. Standards supporters believe that given the right opportunities, every child has the ability to learn. It is not the case that some kids will succeed while others are doomed despite the efforts of educators.