This case study of the development of the "Illinois Learning Standards" of 1997 parallels a study of the development of the Norwegian compulsory school curriculum of 1997, "Laereplanverket 1997." The pair of case studies is designed to explore the administration of state-based curriculum-making and, in particular, the use of the administrative tools of "compartmentalization," "segmentation" and "licencing." Often the use of these tools serves to make the curriculum as a guiding instrument largely symbolic and/or ideological.