Overview

• Bill creates voluntary American education content standards in math and science for grades K-12, developed by the National Assessment Governing Board within 3 years of enactment.
• Standards must be internationally competitive, anchored to NAEP frameworks for grades 4, 8, and 12, and reflect what students need to know for college or workforce entry.
• Bill type: Introduced in House (January 2007), referred to Education and Labor Committee, then to subcommittee. No further action taken.

Who does this affect?

• Main groups: K-12 students in states that voluntarily adopt the standards; teachers in math and science; state education agencies applying for grants; Department of Defense and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools (eligible for separate grants).
• Who benefits: States receive funding to upgrade standards, assessments, and teacher training. Students in participating states get consistent benchmarks for college/career readiness. Teachers receive professional development aligned to new standards.
• Who loses: States with already-rigorous standards may see little benefit. Non-participating states get no funding. Implementation costs could strain state budgets after 4-year grants end.
• Teen impact score: 8/10 (direct impact on teen education experience in participating states)
• Teen-specific impact: High school students in states adopting these standards would experience aligned curriculum, tests, and teacher instruction in math and science classes. College-bound teens would face clearer expectations for academic readiness.

What This Bill Does

• Assessment Board creates or adopts voluntary K-12 math and science standards within 3 years, reviewing existing state and professional organization standards, consulting educators, and ensuring standards meet international benchmarks and college/workforce readiness requirements.
• American Standards Incentive Fund awards competitive grants to state education agencies starting 12 months after standards are adopted. Grants last up to 4 years, capped at $4M per state.
• Mandatory activities for grant recipients (with deadlines): Adopt voluntary standards as core state standards (within 2 years), align teacher certification and professional development to standards (within 3 years), align or develop new state assessments to standards (within 4 years), align state achievement levels to NAEP achievement levels (within 4 years), and develop professional development for local districts on implementing standards.
• Permissive activities: States may develop aligned curricula and instructional materials (priority given to states doing this) or conduct other implementation activities.
• Grant amounts determined by: Extent of revision needed to align existing state standards/assessments/teacher requirements with voluntary standards, and planned activities in state application.
• Data grants available to states that successfully align standards, assessments, and teacher requirements. Grants equal 5% of state's Title I allocation, used to enhance longitudinal student data systems and ensure data quality/audit systems.
• Science added to NAEP: Bill amends National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act to require science assessments alongside reading and math, beginning 2008-2009 school year.
• Timeline extension: Secretary may extend No Child Left Behind's 12-year proficiency timeline by 2-4 years for states receiving both implementation and data grants.
• Study required: Commissioner for Education Statistics must compare gap between state test proficiency and NAEP proficiency for participating states, before and after standards adoption, within 2 years of first 4-year grant cycle completion.

Legislative Status

• Introduced January 9, 2007 by Rep. Ehlers and Rep. Hinojosa.
• Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor, then to Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education (May 9, 2007).
• No further action. Bill died in subcommittee.

In short

• Bill offers states up to $4M over 4 years to voluntarily adopt national math and science standards benchmarked to international best practices and NAEP achievement levels.
• States must align their tests, teacher training, and proficiency definitions to the new standards within 2-4 years of receiving grants.
• Standards remain voluntary—states choose whether to apply for grants and adopt standards.
• Science gets added to NAEP testing requirements starting 2008-2009 school year.
• Bill includes safeguards: explicitly states it does not create a national curriculum or preferred teaching methods.

Why should I care?

This bill tackles a real problem: 50 states with 50 different definitions of what students should learn in math and science, making it hard to compare school performance or ensure students are ready for college or jobs. If your state adopted these standards, your math and science classes would align with what top-performing countries teach, and your state tests would measure skills colleges and employers actually want. The catch? Standards are voluntary, so impact depends entirely on whether your state applies for grants and follows through. For students moving between states, common standards could mean less disruption when switching schools. For college-bound teens, clearer benchmarks could reduce the need for remedial courses in college. But critics worry federal involvement in state education decisions could limit local control, even with voluntary participation.