A defining feature of standards-based reform has been the development of curriculum standards that served to reinvigorate and elevate what it means to know and demonstrate proficiency in each of the disciplines. For example, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics(NCTM) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics(1989) set out expectations, emphasizing problem solving, communication, mathematical reasoning, and drawing connections that went well beyond the mastery of basic skills and concepts. Not surprisingly, assessment reform was an equally important part of the standards movement because of the need to address these more ambitious goals.