For the English language standards, Wilhoit said, the plan isn't to hand out a list of recommended reading, but to let the states make their own choices of literary works, with an eye toward certain criteria.
"I think some people who are in mathematics, teaching mathematics in college or are in mathematics professions have a much higher expectation of what those standards would be than someone who is going to go into college in another field ... law, social sciences and so forth, " Wilhoit said in an interview Monday.