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No longer content with the patchwork quilt of assessments used to measure states鈥� K-12 performance, top policy groups are pushing states toward international benchmarking as a way to better prepare students for a competitive global economy.

The , the , and the standards-advocacy group are working both independently and together to examine how well states are doing compared with other countries and to weigh which yardsticks would prove most useful.

It remains to be decided whether states would participate in well-established international tests such as the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, or would measure their academic standards against those of other countries.

So far, however:

鈥� The staff members in charge of education policy for the NGA want to put the issue before the governors this summer in a policy paper that would make the case for international benchmarking. Governors attending the NGA鈥檚 winter meeting last month talked briefly about the issue during a private meeting.

鈥� The state schools chiefs鈥� association, along with the governors鈥� group, is exploring whether states want to take part in the next round of PISA tests in 2009. Participation in PISA would allow states to compare their students鈥� performance against their peers鈥� in other countries every three years.

鈥� Achieve, which works with 32 states on improving high schools, is studying standards in other countries to see how they stack up with American academic standards.

All three organizations, which are based in Washington, are also spearheading the work of a new advisory group, made up of policymakers, researchers, and education advocates, that will study international benchmarking and what it might look like in a practical sense. The group, which will meet this spring, will advise the NGA staff members as they hammer out the policy paper to be given to the governors.

鈥淪tate economies are highly dependent on having an educated workforce,鈥� said Dane Linn, the director of the NGA鈥檚 education division. 鈥淪tates, education systems, and the people who work in schools must ensure that students are going to be able to take advantage of high-wage and high-skill jobs that are essential to state economies.鈥�

But any push toward international benchmarks faces political pitfalls. Many educators and parents object to what they already see as an overemphasis on assessment and rankings. And even agreeing on a test could prove difficult.

Iris C. Rotberg, a professor of education policy at George Washington University, said any comparisons based on international tests, such as PISA, would be more reflective of the poverty in a state鈥攐r country鈥攖han of the quality of its schools or teachers.

鈥淢aking more comparisons and having more tests won鈥檛 solve the basic problem: We have a lot of kids living in poverty,鈥� she said. 鈥淕overnors can probably predict what their test scores will look like.鈥�

Early Support

The issue of states鈥� roles in international benchmarking has been simmering for months. Last year, the NGA and the CCSSO recommended that the federal government, as part of the still-pending reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, offer grants to states interested in international benchmarking.

Also last year, Achieve鈥攁 group formed in 1996 by governors and business leaders to promote standards-based efforts to improve schools鈥攚orked with the global consulting firm McKinsey and Co. to , such as Singapore and Finland. (鈥淪tudy Urges Top-to-Bottom Overhaul in Ohio,鈥� Feb. 15, 2007.)

鈥淭his is something we鈥檙e definitely exploring,鈥� said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who made global competitiveness part of her last year when she was the chairwoman of the NGA.

Ms. Napolitano, a Democrat, said governors would talk more about global competition and benchmarking this summer at the annual education symposium for governors co-hosted by the NGA and the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy, based in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The issue of workforce competitiveness is becoming more urgent for some, such as Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a Democrat, who said at last month鈥檚 NGA meeting that he was alarmed by implications for the United States of the growing percentage of citizens in other countries with postsecondary degrees.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been lazily telling ourselves that we鈥檙e about educating all kids and that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e not competing as well, but this is a real wake-up call,鈥� he said.

Mr. Linn of the NGA said states need to look at four areas ripe for comparison in the international arena: standards, assessment, accountability, and 鈥渉uman capital,鈥� such as teacher quality.

But that list includes a giant red flag for some governors: the prospect of more testing. That could prove a formidable obstacle for the national policy groups to overcome at a time when states, school districts, teachers, and students are often weary from the state-assessment demands under the No Child Left Behind law, plus any additional state and local exams.

鈥淚鈥檓 open to it, but it needs to be without additional testing time,鈥� Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, said in an interview. 鈥淭here is so much teaching to the test already, and we don鈥檛 need any more of it.鈥�

The policy groups say they recognize such concerns, and say that鈥檚 part of the reason they must make a strong case to governors and other policymakers if they hope to persuade them to adopt international benchmarking.

Other countries, such as China, already benchmark their systems against the best international systems in the world, according to researchers. In this case, the policy groups want states to act as if they were countries and measure their best practices, standards, and student performance against those of other countries.

The idea of international benchmarking is showcased not just in the PISA but in two other tests given around the world, both directed by Boston College. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, or PIRLS, gauges literacy among 4th graders on a five-year cycle; 50 countries participated in 2006. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, tests 4th and 8th graders in those subjects every four years; 60 countries took part in 2007.

Enlisting States

Gene Wilhoit, the executive director of the CCSSO, said the state chiefs鈥� group is still trying to hammer out details of how much states鈥� participation in international tests would cost and which states might be interested. Mr. Wilhoit said he would like to get a few states signed up by the Aug. 1 deadline for PISA so they could participate in that program鈥檚 2009 assessment, along with the 67 countries that have already committed to it.

The PISA assessment, which is given to 15-year-olds in reading, math, and science and is administered by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is an attractive option, supporters say, because so many countries are participating and because it emphasizes the ability to apply and analyze information, rather than specific content knowledge.

Mr. Linn pointed out that countries that take part in PISA represent 90 percent of the world鈥檚 economy.

Although the United States already takes part, a state-level initiative would allow states to judge their own students鈥� performance at an international level.

If states aren鈥檛 interested in that particular test, the chiefs鈥� organization is also examining how existing U.S. tests, such as the ACT college-entrance exam, could be bolstered with questions that would allow for comparisons among countries and individual states.

Mr. Wilhoit said he has been working through his organization with state schools chiefs over the past year on a model that would more closely align curriculum standards across state lines to narrow the differences that resulted from states鈥� crafting them in isolation from one another. But with all the emphasis on global competition, he argued, it is clear the work can鈥檛 end there.

鈥淲hat if those standards are not aligned with the best-performing systems in the world?鈥� he said.

While governors are coming at that question from an economic standpoint, Mr. Wilhoit said, state chiefs want to ensure their standards can stand up against those of other countries.

鈥淯p until now, it鈥檚 just been a lot of conjecture,鈥� he said.

Judith A. Rizzo, the executive director and chief executive officer of the Hunt Institute, said the chiefs鈥� involvement is essential.

鈥淚mplementing standards falls on the chiefs, and if they want standards that are work- and college-ready and internationally benchmarked, then that鈥檚 crucial,鈥� said Ms. Rizzo, whose institute started looking at the issues of common standards and international benchmarking in fall 2006. 鈥淔or the last few years, we鈥檝e been biding our time on this issue. But the planets are aligning. We鈥檙e seeing pockets of action now,鈥� she said.

Officials at Achieve, meanwhile, see international benchmarking as a natural direction for their group, which created and runs the American Diploma Project, the 32-state network that seeks to align high school standards and assessments with expectations for college and the workforce.

Achieve is digging into international standards benchmarking by studying academic expectations in other countries. Its president, Michael Cohen, has already been to China and is heading to Peru next.

鈥淭he real world that students will enter after high school is now global,鈥� he said.