1983年《國家在危機之中》報告書發表之後，全美各界形成了以教改振興國運的共識，進而帶動了研訂國家課程標準的教改運動。然而，此一涉及權力、知識與課程相互糾葛的複雜狀況，招致了許多的爭議。本文即試以1987至1996年之間，先後參與研定中小學《歷史課程標準》的若干要角之著作為主，配合相關的文獻，將其來龍去脈，作一番簡要的敘述。全文分為八節，前言說明本文寫作主旨。隨後，先由傳統與進步課程論的競逐、新舊史學研究派典的遞邅，以及在危機之中展開歷史課改等三節，分析此一歷史課程標準的緣起與背景。其後，則由歷史回歸聲浪下成立中心、折衝中研擬歷史課程標準，以及右派攻擊中修定課程標準三節，縷述此一歷史課程標準的過程與結果。最後，除摘述本文的要點外，並自課程史的觀點詮釋此次項爭議的意義，指出課程、尤其歷史課程的研發，欲速則不達，真乃急不得也。
This paper describes the history of the National Historical Standards Project (NHSP), 1987-1996. It tells the story of the argument over the nature of history education in the United States. In the first four sections the background of this argument is presented: the problem of deciding on a history curriculum, the transition from old to new historiography, and the formulation of the rhetoric of a nation-at-risk. In the next three sections, the writing and rewriting of the NHSP is analyzed in terms of the establishment of the National Center for History in the Schools (NCHS) and the NHSP, and the major quarrels between the Left and the Right are described. The paper concludes by pointing out that the history curriculum remains a contested terrain. Therefore, the writing of a history curriculum must be a very sensitive process.
