History-Social Science Content Standards

Seventeen years ago the report A Nation at Risk, by the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983), brought squarely to our attention a "rising tide of mediocrity" in our schools. An era of education reform began. The results were somewhat uneven. The reform movement did stimulate important infrastructure improvements: instructional time was increased, high school diplomas came to signify the completion of minimum course requirements, and emphasis was placed on local planning efforts to improve the schools' efficiency and effectiveness. A shortcoming of the movement up to this point has been the lack of focus on rigorous academic standards. The desire to improve student achievement guided the effort, but it lacked a comprehensive, specific vision of what students actually needed to know and be able to do.

Standards are a bold initiative.

With the adoption of content standards, California is going beyond reform. We are redefining the state's role in public education. For the first time, we are stating - explicitly - the content that students need to acquire at each grade level from kindergarten to grade twelve. These standards are rigorous. With student mastery of this content, California schools will be on a par with those in the best educational systems in other states and nations. The content is attainable by all students, given sufficient time, except for those few who have severe disabilities. We regard the standards as firm but not unyielding; they will be modified in future years to reflect new research and scholarship.

Standards describe what to teach, not how to teach it.

Standards-based education maintains California's tradition of respect for local control of schools. To help students achieve at high levels, local school officials and teachers - with the full support and cooperation of families, businesses, and community partners - are encouraged to take these standards and design the specific curricular and instructional strategies that best deliver the content to their students.

Standards are an enduring commitment, not a passing fancy.

Every initiative in public education, especially one so bold as establishing high standards, has its skeptics. "Just wait a while," they say, "and standards, too, will pass." We intend to prove the skeptics wrong, and we intend to do that by completely aligning state efforts to these standards, including the statewide testing program, curriculum frameworks, instructional materials, professional development, preservice education, and compliance review. We will see a generation of educators who think of standards not as a new layer but as the foundation itself.

Standards are our commitment to excellence.

Fifteen years from now, we are convinced, the adoption of standards will be viewed as the signal event that began a "rising tide of excellence" in our schools. No more will the critical question What should my child be learning? be met with uncertainty of knowledge, purpose, or resolve. These standards answer the question. They are comprehensive and specific. They represent our commitment to excellence.

YVONNE W. LARSEN, Former President
California State Board of Education

DELAINE EASTIN
Former State Superintendent of Public Instruction