They expect stringent standards to protect their drinking water, the food they eat, and the air they breathe. . . . Standards are created because they improve the activity of life. Thinking in those terms, it only makes sense for Former Assistant Secretary of Education Ravitch to advocate standards to improve the effectiveness of American education.
Many people agree.
With that kind of agreement, it is not surprising that creation of educational standards has become a very active enterprise indeed. You can be sure that number 62, the 2000 publication of Principles and Standards for School Mathematics by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, will not remain the endpoint of the list for long. It is also important to note that the list does not include the ongoing efforts to create standards documents on state and district levels. As articles in this issue of ENC Focus illustrate, teachers are commited to making that happen, but it is not always easy. Ventilating these feelings is therapeutic, we believe, but that is not the purpose of this issue.