Standards are seen as a way to raise student achievement by specifying what students should be learning and what teachers should be teaching in schools. The goal of standards-based education is to make sure that all students, including students with disabilities, learn more. Standards place the focus on educational results, so that schools are judged based on the actual achievement of students.
Standards provide another tool parents can use to hold schools accountable.
Both high standards and high quality schools are required to successfully reform schools. Education reform strategies were developed to respond to concerns that our nation s regular and special education system was failing to prepare students to adequately meet the demands of modern society. In IDEA-97, Congress emphasized the importance of raising expectations and academic standards for children with disabilities. The 1997 amendments stress the importance of coordinating special education with education reform activities and ensuring that students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum. Some states also have written standards for other important areas such as citizenship, health, and the arts.