Abstract
In the German-speaking countries, the results of international comparative studies on pupils' competences have led to educational standards being developed and anchored for central subjects with the aim of quality assurance. In Germany, for example, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs agreed on nationwide educational standards in 2003 and 2004, which found their way into the newly developed core curricula and framework curricula of the individual Länder in the following years. In Austria, the decision on educational standards was recently anchored in the School Instruction Act and an ordinance on the subject was passed (cf. for an overview bifie 2009). In the USA, on the other hand, the development of standards has a much longer tradition, which is accompanied by a controversial discussion - especially with regard to the associated achievement tests (cf. for an overview Oelkers/Reusser 2008, p. 66 ff.).
