Progress Report

A decade ago, the standards movement was in its infancy. We've come a long way—but still have far to go.

In March 1996, the nation’s governors met in Palisades, New York, and called for an “external, independent, nongovernmental effort” to measure and report on each state’s annual progress in raising student achievement and improving public schools. At the time, the notion of standards-based education was in its infancy, though states had already begun setting clear and challenging guidelines for what students should know and developing tests and accountability systems closely aligned with those standards to prod...