'New Standards' Leaves Legacy Of Unmet Goals

By David J. Hoff

Ten years ago this month, a group of some of the nation's best-known education thinkers assembled 450 educators to lay the groundwork for changing the nature of American schools.

Organizers of the New Standards Project envisioned a curriculum built around standards defined by what students ought to know, not by time spent in class. They promised to create tests to measure students' skills, not just their knowledge of facts. And they expected that teachers would center everything they did on the new curriculum and preparation of students to take the tests.

The founders said they'd have the pieces in place by 2001. Twenty-two states and six urban school districts eventually bought in to the concept and joined them. Today, though, the initiative's leaders acknowledge they fell short...