[Excerpt] Two presidents, the National Governors Association and
numerous blue ribbon panels have called for the development of
state or national content standards for core subjects and
examinations that assess the achievement of these standards. The
Competitiveness Policy Council, for example, advocates that
"external assessments be given to individual students at the
secondary level and that the results should be a major but not
exclusive factor qualifying for college and better jobs at
better wages (1993, p. 30)." It is claimed that 'curriculum-
based external exit exam systems', CBEEES, based on world class
content standards will improve teaching and learning of core
subjects. What evidence is there for this claim? Outside the
United States such systems are the rule, not the exception. What
impacts have such systems had on school policies, teaching and
student learning?