Of the many ironies of the No Child Left Behind Act, perhaps the most significant and long-lasting will be the one sur¬rounding the issue of national standards. Much has already been made of the strange bedfellows aspect of a conservative southern governor turned President championing a reform law resulting in the greatest expansion of federal authority over American education policy in the nation’s history. While supporters, critics, and the public have fixated on the more front and center—and more visceral—issues of testing and accountability related to the implementation of the NCLB and in the debate over its reauthorization, the more profound and potent legacy of NCLB in creating an acceptable climate for future national standards to take root and thrive has gone largely unmentioned. Indeed, the stalled reauthorization of NCLB has taken national standards completely off the table this year as policymakers struggle to reach consensus on much less controversial issues.

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Policy Update - National Standards