No longer content with the patchwork quilt of assessments used to measure states' K-12 performance, top policy groups are pushing states toward international benchmarking as a way to better prepare students for a competitive global economy. The National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the standards-advocacy group Achieve are working both independently and together to examine how well states are doing compared with other countries and to weigh which yardsticks would prove most useful. It remains to be decided whether states would participate in well-established international tests such as the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, or would measure their academic standards against those of other countries. All three organizations, which are based in Washington, are also spearheading the work of a new advisory group, made up of policymakers, researchers, and education advocates, that will study international benchmarking and what it might look like in a practical sense. The group, which will meet this spring, will advise the NGA staff members as they hammer out the policy paper to be given to the governors. But any push toward international benchmarks faces political pitfalls. Many educators and parents object to what they already see as an overemphasis on assessment and rankings. And even agreeing on a test could prove difficult.