Again today, as 40 years ago, the idea of setting standards for career and technical education (CTE) has come to the fore. CTE practitioners have learned some lessons about implementing standards, among them that there is no "standard" standard; instead, there can be a confusing variety of standards. An analysis of standards reveals that there are content standards that state what learners should know and be able to do, whereas performance standards describe how well learners should know or be able to do something. Standards can cover these three general types of knowledge and skills: (1) technical standards that cover the knowledge and skills workers need in different jobs; (2) academic standards that cover traditional school subjects; and (3) employability standards that cover thinking, problem-solving, communication, interpersonal, and technology skills and personal qualities, such as responsibility and integrity. Technical standards can be divided in these three ways: industry core standards, occupational family standards, and occupationally specific standards. Practitioners must validate the set of standards to ensure that they are relevant to the local situation. The validation process should include all key stakeholders, use appropriate methods of review, and pilot test and refine standards. Once validated, standards can be incorporated in the CTE curriculum. In addition, academic and CTE standards should be "crosswalked" in order to show how academic skills are used in occupations. Financial and policy support are needed to implement standards. (Contains 14 references.) (KC)