nts and parents are being forced to accept external standards about acceptable content and performance, which demands that these standards be taught, practiced, and governed. The new focus is on the individual school rather than the school district as a whole; individual schools must meet academic standards. In the past districts were held accountable for school compliance with regulations and aid was withheld if schools did not meet standards. Today the increased focus on individual schools includes more significant consequences, such as bonuses or threat of school closure. All leaders, to include administrators, principals, and teachers, must develop new roles that focus on continuous instructional improvement in the classroom and school and they must make judgments about whether these standards are being enforced.
Standards provide criteria for quality related to professional development, curriculum development, and curriculum frameworks; these help districts, schools, and teachers develop daily curricula (Elmore, 2001). According to Elmore (1997), states and localities are developing and implementing content and student performance standards to meet national educational goals. However, standards are easier to make than they are to meet and teachers are facing increased needs to meet accountability pressures. Standards do not consider the amount of time that teachers and students need to learn the content of the standards. While leaders create manageable goals and instructional materials for teachers and extract time and money from the resources available to reach these goals, they must deal with incentive issues, rewarding teachers and students for their efforts during the process (Elmore, 1997; 2001). According to Elmore, for every school pressure related to accountability for student performance, there needs to be an equal investment in increased knowledge and skills of teachers, administrators, students, and parent...