This collection of essays addresses the issues that have arisen in the development and implementation of national and state standards in science, mathematics, history, economics, and the English language arts. The chapters are: (1) "The 1997 Mathematics Standards War in California" (Hung-Hsi Wu); (2) "Judging State Standards for K-12 Mathematics Education" (Ralph A. Raimi); (3) "Standards-Based Mathematics Assessments: Appearances May Be Deceiving" (Paul Clopton, Wayne Bishop, and David Klein); (4) "National Science Standards: Where Is the Evidence Supporting Them?" (Stan Metzenberg); (5) "The Science Standards Wars: What Is the Basis for Scientific Inquiry?" (Alan Cromer); (6) "How Children Learn Science: Do We Now Know? (Paul R. Gross and Sandra Stotsky); (7) "Why the Battle over History Standards?" (Sheldon M. Stern); (8) "Discipline-Based Economics Standards: Opportunity and Obstacles" (Robert M. Costrell); (9) "The English Language Arts in American Schools: Problems and Proposals" (Thomas Carnicelli); (10) "The State of Literary Study in National and State English Language Arts Standards: Why It Matters and What Can Be Done about It" (Sandra Stotsky); (11) "Toward Improved English Language Arts Standards for K-12: What a College Professor Wishes Her Students Had Read" (Jeanne J. Smoot); (12) "Lessons from the Sputnik-Era Curriculum Reform Movement: The Institutions We Need for Educational Reform" (Mary Campbell-Gallagher); and (13) "The National Science Foundation Systemic Initiatives: How a Small Amount of Federal Money Promotes Ill-Designed Mathematics and Science Programs in K-12 and Undermines Local Control of Education" (Michael McKeown, David Klein, and Chris Patterson). (Each chapter contains endnotes.) (SLD)