ABSTRACT

Standards are a level of quality, expectations, and attainments in a domain area. They are the “ought to haves” in knowledge and performance that are valued in society. The standards in education contain benchmarks in knowledge and performance in the pedagogical domain areas of instruction, curriculum, and assessment for degrees, certifications, licensures, and accreditations. The sources that influence the development of standards in pedagogy are public policy, research studies, pedagogical practices, and language communities. There are different standards for different constituencies of pedagogy, which are teachers, learners, and practitioners. Different social institutions have different standards and areas of jurisdiction in the development, oversight, and monitoring of standards for the different constituencies. In addition, different countries have different standards and configurations in the web of interconnections among the sources for first, second, and additional languages. For purposes of explication, US and UK models of standards are discussed. Remaining areas in need for future research and pedagogical practice are suggested.