Businesses have developed increasingly sophisticated ways of com- paring their processes and products to others around the world. Benchmarking academic achievement and set- ting high standards for students have come to be viewed as prime elements in the reform of U.S. schools. The movement to define and impose such internationally competitive standards has been welcomed by many constituencies concerned about the failings of American schools. Vast numbers of scholars, educators, and interested citizens have participated in the process of developing national and state standards for most of the subjects taught in kindergarten through high school. The national standards are voluntary states are invited to adopt or modify them as they choose, and many have done so.
Coun- tries can get better.
Andrew Porter these circumstances might be interpreted as evidence that the education community in the United States has a fairly robust notion of what internationally competitive standards for stu- dents and schools might be, but such is not the case. Many of the national standards documents have provoked continuing vigorous discussion and disagreement. In some subjects competing standards have been developed by different groups. Numerous constituencies have criticized the standards that have been developed for a dizzying variety of reasons. Indeed, the first version of the stan- dards for U.S. history was formally repudiated by the U.S. Senate.