Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning Laboratory (McREL)

McREL is one of ten regional education laboratories that cover the United States and Puerto Rico. McREL has received federal funding under the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program from the Department of Education for its work on standards-based education. It collects and analyzes various standards sets developed and used around the country.

McREL synthesized what it found to be the best of these into several publications. CONTENT KNOWLEDGE: A COMPENDIUM OF STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS FOR K-12 EDUCATION, by John S. Kendall and Robert J. Marzano, can be downloaded at www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks. ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE: WHAT AMERICAN STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW, by Robert J. Marzano and John S. Kendall with Barbara B. Gaddy, can also be ordered from the Web site. The book includes content standards for science, history, language arts, the arts, civics, economics, foreign languages, geography, health, physical education, technology, behavioral studies, and life skills.