In 2002, the Michigan State Board of Education asked the Department of Education to develop grade-by-grade "content expectations" in reading/English language arts and mathematics to provide guidance to local educators and parents and serve as the basis for annual assessments required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. In July 2003, Governor Jennifer Granholm and Superintendent Tom Watkins asked Achieve to conduct an external review of the draft English language arts and mathematics content expectations, comparing them with standards from other states and nations and providing recommendations for improvement. Overall, Achieve found the level of demand of the Michigan content expectations in English language arts is on par with Achieve's benchmark standards. The Michigan grade-level expectations reflect sound and appropriate choices about what is most important for students to learn, while keeping the amount of content found in the expectations reasonable and manageable. The expectations are clearly organized into four discreet sections: (1) reading; (2) writing; (3) speaking; and (4) listening/viewing. The only major recommendation for improving the English/language arts document has to do with formatting: some numbering system or method of identifying the various expectations will facilitate discussions of the materials and make references to specific standards much easier. In final form, the document will serve Michigan educators and children well, and should also serve as a model for other states. Michigan's Mathematics draft grade-level content expectations represent a major advance over the previous framework and content expectations. The expectations are more thorough, better organized and richer in mathematical detail. The matrix structure of strands, standards, estimated times, subpoints and remarks help to clarify intentions. The new content expectations seek to be very explicit, are clearer in most respects than the documents they are intended to replace, and aspire to a rigorous mathematical level that is consistent with the best that Achieve has identified among other state and national standards. Although these content expectations may not yet realize their full potential, lacking supporting examples and are uneven in both detail and clarity, they do provide an innovative framework that, when refined and completed, will offer Michigan a solid foundation for mathematics in grades K-8.