USNEI
International Affairs Office, U.S. Department of Education [Link] Feb 2008
Structure of the U.S. Education System: Curriculum and Content Standards
PRI AR! A"D SECO"DAR! S#A"DARDS While there is no national curriculum in the United tates! states! school districts and national associations do re"uire or recommend that certain standards be used to guide school instruction. #n addition! $ederal law mandates that state standards be developed and improved in order $or states to receive $ederal assistance. Federall% &pproved tate &ccountabilit% 'lans is a director% o$ approved state accountabilit% proposals under the (lementar% and econdar% (ducation &ct. Federal )esources $or (ducation (xcellence *F)((+ is an extensive lin,ed director% o$ curricular resources! organi-ed b% [Link]. /0)(1 2irector% o$ 3ational [Link] 4enchmar, tandards is a director% o$ benchmar, standards $or a variet% o$ [Link] developed b% national pro$essional associations and compiled b% the $ederall% $unded /id-0ontinent )egional (ducation 1aborator%. /0)(1 4enchmar, tandards 2atabase is a searchable database o$ benchmar, curricular standards organi-ed b% [Link] and level o$ school. (0 2irector% o$ tate 0urriculum tandards is a lin,ed compendium o$ reports on state standards in speci$ic [Link] provided b% the (ducation commission o$ the tates. 0urriculum tandards 'laceholder is a director% lin,ed to both state curriculum standards available online and national standards proposed b% various [Link] organi-ations. 30(5 2irector% o$ tate econdar% 6raduation )e"uirements is lin,ed to o$$icial state in$ormation on secondar% graduation! including state examinations in man% cases. (0 7able o$ tate 6raduation and &dmission )e"uirements provides 2008 data $or how state secondar% graduation re"uirements 9 expressed in 0arnegie Units 9 align with state minimum postsecondar% admissions re"uirements $or public institutions where these exist. #ER#IAR! S#A"DARDS 'ostsecondar% standards are the primar% responsibilit% o$ individual institutions o$ higher education. :owever! institutions develop and en$orce their standards with re$erence to the policies administered b% state agencies! the re"uirements o$ accrediting agencies! the expectations o$ pro$essional associations and emplo%ers! and the practices o$ peer institutions. ()52 tate :igher (ducation &genc% 2irector% provides lin,s to the various state higher education commissions! whose websites have polic% in$ormation and other resources pertaining to standards and other topics.
3ational 6overnors &ssociation 0enter $or 4est 'ractices provides in$ormation and lin,s to various polic% studies on access and degree completion that relate to standard-setting and accountabilit%. 30'':( 0ollege 1evel 1earning 'age provides in$ormation and lin,s to polic% reports and studies o$ undergraduate programs and outcomes. "ational $orum on Colle%e&'e(el 'earnin% is a national research [Link] to measure comparable standards o$ learning across states at the bachelor;s degree level. Colle%e 'earnin% Assessment )C'A* Consortium is a cooperative [Link] to stud% the value added b% undergraduate education. 5ver <=0 institutions participate in the 01&. SPECI$IC DISCIP'I"AR! S#A"DARDS 4asic standards $or degrees! as well as re"uirements $or creating new programs and higher-level programs! are governed b% accrediting agencies. peciali-ed accrediting agencies are especiall% important in setting and maintaining standards in the pro$essional $ields o$ stud%. * ee Accreditation and +uality Assurance.+ ome academic associations have also endeavored to develop degree standards $or speci$ic [Link] and levels! such as: Anthropolo%y ,iolo%ical Sciences )Under%raduate* ,iolo%ical Sciences )Under%raduate Reform* Chemistry )Under%raduate* Communications Economics )Under%raduate* Economics )-raduate* En%lish 'an%ua%e and 'iterature $ine Arts, Art .istory and useum Studies $orei%n 'an%ua%es, -eneral -eo%raphy -erman .istory Philosophy Physics )Under%raduate* Physics )-raduate* Political Science )-raduate* Pu/lic Administration )Under%raduate* Sociolo%y )Under%raduate* Sociolo%y )-raduate*
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