In English, for example, barely any states demanded that students study and know American literature and specific literary movements. Others refused to delineate any essential works at all. States were palpably keener on skill development. For example, most jurisdictions earned high marks on the skill-based criterion that addressed library research. One might infer that states consider it more important for students to be able to look things up than to read great books.
Skills are important, to be sure.
But knowledge matters, too. Surely there are some things that all kids should know, and these should be embodied in the standards. The standards movement has given states the chance to identify essential knowledge that all citizens have a right to possess. Tragically, many states are squandering this opportunity. Copernicus may have discovered that man is not the center of the universe, but you wouldn't know it by looking at most state standards.