Implications of the OECD Comparative Study of Performance Standards for Educational Reform in the United States 

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications for educational reform in the United States of the OECD comparative study of performance standards. To provide some context for the reader, the paper briefly reprises major shifts in the intellectual underpinnings of U.S. educational reform and reports on its present prospects. The major analytical section, however, posits a functional model of reform that includes key elements thought to be necessary for successful operation of a dynamic educational system. As a special case, performance standards will be characterized as they support different elements and functions of reform as described in the country case studies provided by OECD scholars, with particular emphasis on the U.S. setting. Finally, a discussion will consider the ways the U.S. and other governments could profit from the OECD case studies of performance standards.