Standards Primer

A Clear, Comprehensive Introduction to Standards in the Engineering Professions Standards supplement the design process by guiding the designer toward consistency, safety, and reliability. As daily life involves increasingly complex and sophisticated instruments, standards become indispensable engineering tools to ensure user safety and product quality. Primer on Engineering Standards: Expanded Textbook Edition delves into standards creation and compliance to provide students and engineers with a comprehensive reference. The different types of standards are dissected and discussed in terms of development, value, impact, interpretation, and compliance, and options are provided for situations where conformance is not possible. The process of standards creation is emphasized in terms of essential characteristics and common pitfalls to avoid, with detailed guidance on how, where, and with whom one may get involved in official development. Organized for both quick reference and textbook study, this new Expanded Textbook Edition provides a quick, clear understanding of critical concepts, ramifications, and implications as it: Introduces the concepts, history, and classification of standards, rules, and regulations Discusses the federal, state, and local government’s role in standards development and enforcement Distinguishes voluntary consensus standards, limited consensus standards, and jurisdictional versus non-jurisdictional government standards Covers the need for and process of exemptions to existing standards Examines the characteristics of a good standard, and discusses opportunities for involvement in development Includes case studies to demonstrate standards applications, and extensive appendices to direct further inquiry The successful design, fabrication, and operation of any product relies on foundational understanding of pertinent standards; indeed, standards and guidelines form a central pillar of the engineering profession. This helpful resource goes beyond a list of rules to help students and practitioners gain a better understanding of the creation, import, and use of standards.

The «standards wars» are another manifestation of the «culture wars.» Few educational policy makers understand the many disciplinary, pedagogical, and curricular issues occuring at the heart of the conflicts as states develop or revise their K-12 standards and standards-based assessments in the major subjects. The issues differ from subject to subject. 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 from the perspective of scholars in those disciplines. These scholars are writing not for other scholars in their field but for those who help shape K-12 educational policy legislators, members of boards of education, and those who teach courses in government or education policy making. The purpose of this collection is to clarify what is at stake in the standards wars and in standards-based systemic reform.

Textbook

Special edition of the Federal Register, containing a codification of documents of general applicability and future effect ... with ancillaries.

The lives of America's students, educators, and parents are being significantly touched by the current standards and accountability reform. The Standards Primer explores the historical development of this reform, and compares two different views of educational standards and accountability - technical standards and standards of complexity. How each view impacts curriculum, instruction, and assessment is discussed, and implications of these views for teachers, administrators, school boards, parents, community, and students are presented, along with a discussion of related issues involving equity and ethics on this topic. The Standards Primer provides critical information - including an extensive reference section containing print and nonprint resources - that will lead to informed decision making concerning this national educational reform.