Book excerpt: In this third annual issue of the series, prominent economists, educators, and other social scientists analyze the importance of standards in education and review some of the major controversies that have arisen in the past decade on the problems of shaping and implementing standards. Edited by Diane Ravitch, one of the nation's foremost education authorities, Brookings Papers on Education Policy is an indispensable guide to understanding education trends and emerging issues. The year 2000 issue is scheduled to include essays by Gary Chapman of the University of Texas, George Farkas and L. Shane Hall of the University of Texas at Dallas, Paul Hill of the University of Washington, Christine Rossell of Boston University, Robert Schwartz and Marian Robinson of ACHIEVE and Harvard Graduate School of Education, Larry Sherman of the University of Maryland, and Maris Vinovskis of the University of Michigan.