So are Connecticut and Delaware, and New Hampshire is implementing a new assessment program with high standards. Generally, high performance standards for student achievement are part of an overall effort to improve instruction, increase the content of what is taught, and develop rigorous tests that measure progress toward high standards. There is now much talk of high standards and high stakes, but for most states this would be a dramatic change. High school graduation tests are probably the best example of high stakes and low standards. When states have required that a test must be passed to earn a high school diploma, nearly every state has pegged the high school graduation test at a ninth grade level, or less, resulting in typical passing rates of well over 90 percent.
Stakes can also be high for schools.
But these high stakes are also generally linked to low standards. This is a low standard. International Results on Student Achievement Can Tell the Nation and Individual States Something Important About How High Their Standards Are . . . And Soon World Class Standards. Many American educators, parents and elected officials say they want them, although few can tell you what they are.