自 20 世纪 80 年代，美国开展了一场教育标准化改革运动，其中所包含课程标准化运动是其核心环节。为公立学校中各学科课程制定国家以及州标准 是课程标准化运动的主旨。在此期间，第一个受到联邦资助并得以出台的便是《国家历史课程标准》。这份标准的颁布引起全社会围绕着课程标准运动以及历史教学进行了一场激烈辩论，其中缘由需要对该标准的制定与出台过程进行细致梳理和分析。而目前国内学界对于这份标准文件以及课程标准化运动的关注还较为匮乏，已有研究多为介绍性质，对于标准背后所牵涉的政策设定意图等问题鲜有关注。基于此，本研究将在课标文本、历史课标委员会的工作记录等一手史料的基础上，结合国内外已有研究，对《国家历史课程标准》的酝酿、制定、出台及其在州层面的落实这一历史过程进行完整呈现，进而探寻这份课程标准的发起逻辑及其引发人们普遍关注的本质原因。

本文按照时间线推进。20 世纪 80 年代，新保守主义势力在政治文化领域掌控了话语权，他们在《国家处于危机之中》发表的基础上，提出通过“国家课程”来构建统一的历史课程，促进历史教学实现高质量改革。这项改革计划首先在加州得到试验，经过“课程曼哈顿计划”与“历史－社会科”课程框架的修订，加州成功地在全州范围内明确了历史学科的知识范围、历史教学的资源与素材以及如何看待历史的思维观念，为国家课程的建立提供了雏形。在此基础上，老布什总统与全国州长协会共同推进了夏洛茨维尔教育峰会的召开，首次提出了全国性的教育目标，正式对国家课程标准的制定提出要求。90 年代，克林顿总统进而将发展国家课程标准写入立法，使其在国家政策与资金支持下得以推进。1994 年，《国家历史课程标准》正式出台，但因招致猛烈批判而被修改，并于 1996 年得以重新发布。

研究发现，新保守主义是美国国家历史课程标准项目的发起者和核心推动力量，其目的在于通过历史课程来传递统一、标准化的美国历史，塑造符合主流文化认同的历史价值观，从而让历史教学发挥出塑造“共识”、提升社会凝聚力的作用。这份标准之所以能吸引全社会的关注，其本质原因在于它关乎学校的历史课程应当培育和传递怎样的历史观、应为美国社会提供何种文化导向。人们围绕着标准所进行的争论正是美国教育改革中文化冲突的一个缩影。

Since the 1980s, the United States launched the standardization education reform movement, which included the curriculum standardization movement as its core. The main goal of the curriculum standardization movement was to establish national standards and state standards for subjects in public schools. During this period, the first one received federal funding and be issued was the National History Standards. The promulgation of the National History Standards caused a strong debate in the whole society, which about the curriculum standardization movement and history teaching. And the reasons for the debate need to be carefully analyzed for the process of the formulation and publishing of the National History Standards. At present, domestic researches have paid relatively little attention to the American National History Standards Project and the curriculum standardization movement. Most of the existing researches are introductory merely, and little attention has been paid to the intention of the policy setting. Based on this, this research combined the first-hand historical materials, including the text of the curriculum standard, the revised draft, and the work records of the History Curriculum Standards Committee, and combined the existing research at home and abroad, to present the whole historical process of the preparation, formulation, promulgation, and implementation of the National History Standards at the state level. Then reveal the launching logic of the National History Standards and underlying reasons for its widespread attention.

This study follows the timeline. In the 1980s, the neo-conservatism dominated the discourse power in the field of politics and culture. After the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, they proposed to construct a unified history curriculum through the “National Curriculum” to promote high-quality reform in history teaching. This reform plan was first tested in California. After the “Curriculum Manhattan Plan” and the revision of the “History-Social Studies Framework”, California successfully clarified the scope of knowledge in the history discipline, the resources and materials for history teaching, and the view of history throughout the state, providing an embryonic form for the establishment of the National History Curriculum. On this basis, President Bush and the National Governors Association jointly promoted the convening of the Charlottesville Education Summit, putting forward National Education Goals for the first time, and formally set requirements for the development of National Curriculum Standards. In the 1990s, President Clinton urged the National Curriculum Standards into the education act, enabling them to be promoted with the support of national law and funding. In 1994, the National History Standard officially got published, and made a strong debate. Finally, it was revised and published again in 1996.

The study found that neo-conservatism was the initiator and core driving force of the National History Standards Project. Their purpose was to convey a unified and standardized American history through history teaching, to shape students’ historical values consistent with mainstream cultural, so that the history teaching could play a role in shaping “consensus” and enhancing social cohesion. The essential reason why the National History Standards could attract the attention of the whole society was that it related to what kind of view of history should be cultivated and conveyed in the history curriculum, and what kind of cultural orientation should be provided for American society. The debate over National History Standards was a microcosm of the cultural conflict in American education.