Standards-based instruction has been developing and building for some time. The standards movement is thought to have begun in 1981, with the formation of the National Commission on Excellence in Education tasked to present a report on the quality of education in the United States. The committee’s 1983 report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, called for reform of the U.S. educational system. This report noted a steady decline in science achievement among 17-year olds, with declining achievement most prevalent in physics.