They sound a bit like our national standards though we have a national curriculum too (easy in a country with 4 million odd people). The problem is if you have a minimum standard you have to set it at a level that the vast majority can reasonably be achieved. A standard that can be achieved by 90% plus of students is unlikely to challenge those above the 99th percentile (or even the 80th to be fair). And for some reason the fact that it is the MINIMUM seems to be overlooked and instead it becomes the target.