Historically and legislatively, education had been the province of the states The federal government had no authority to dictate policy or program in the nation's schools That role expanded, however, with various guidelines and funding initiatives The Goals 2000 Program, initiated originally by a forum of the nation's governors late in the 1980s, supported by President Bush and eventually approved by his successor Bill Clinton, provided for clear educational objectives for the country for the remainder of the 1990s Yet, testing results continued to show that improved student achievement was elusive Educational experts and politicians forecasted that the lofty goals were unlikely to be met

Crisis.

National standards became a hot topic during the decade Many felt that certain requirements should be highlighted for all of the nation's schools Several states enacted their own standards, and controversy erupted over an attempt by a national group to establish...