The rise and stall of standards-based reform

The promotion and measurement of standards has been a prominent feature of Western education systems for centuries. As far back as the French Revolution, the expanding influence of the Prussian model, which included compulsory testing for students in reading, writing, and arithmetic was observed across much of Western Europe. More recent examples include the No Child Left Behind Act, followed by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) — both of which featured mandatory testing of students in reading and mathematics.

Although there have been many iterations of standards-based reform over the last two centuries, the central elements remain the same: Education systems hold schools accountable for meeting certain levels of student performance as measured by national and/or state tests in select subject areas — often in relation to the three R’s: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Because these content domains are deemed essential for future success in life, policy makers use them as the starting point for determining the effectiveness of their education systems (Schnepf et al., 2024).