Published: September 4, 1996

Standard Bearers

Only 15 states have academic standards worthy of a passing grade, according to a report card on state standard-setting prepared by the American Federation of Teachers.

In its evaluation, however, the union mainly examines how specific a state has been in spelling out its standards for what students should know and be able to do. It skirts the issue of rigor, specifically the question: Are the standards intellectually challenging? As a result, some states whose high student academic achievement has landed them at the top of other national rankings get grades from the AFT comparable to states that fared poorly on previous rankings.

Though experts on standards-based reform said they found the AFT's approach lacking in some respects, they praised the union for taking on the task, noting that it is the only group that has taken a stab at judging each state's precollegiate standards and making the results public. Given the dearth of other widely circulated evaluations, they said, the AFT document, Making Standards Matter, has the potential to influence state policymakers...