A Nation at Risk Essay ⋆ Education Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Historians specializing in the field of American education agree that the report A Nation at Risk, prepared by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, has had a significant influence on schools since 1983. This entry describes how the report was prepared, what it said, and how its impact has been felt for more than two decades.

Background

The Commission on Excellence in Education was created by Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Education, Terrel Bell, in 1981. Bell believed that because of the low test scores of American students in international examinations and because of an apparent public uneasiness with schools, the time was right for a study that would provide recommendations for improving our schools and colleges. Despite a lack of enthusiasm for the project by the Republican administration, he was allowed to proceed with the study.

The commission contained representatives of business, colleges, and universities; teachers; school administrators; and school board members. In his charge to the group, Secretary Bell instructed them to “review and synthesize the data and scholarly literature on the quality of learning and teaching in the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities, both public and private, with special concern for the educational experience of teenage youth.” They were also instructed to identify problems facing schools and seek successful programs to remedy the current educational deficiencies.

After their report was unanimously agreed upon by all the members of the commission, it was introduced to the public by President Reagan. The document began with an introduction that was widely quoted in the media, which stated that

Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged prominence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. . . . If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. . . . We have even squandered the gains in student achievement made in the wake of the Sputnik challenge. . . . We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral, educational, disarmament.

Following this introduction, the report identified the following failures of the American education system:

Our student test scores compare unfavorably with other nations
Twenty-three million Americans are functionally illiterate
The college entrance SAT scores have been declining since the 1960s
Test scores of college graduates are dropping
Businesses and the military are spending millions of dollars retraining employees and recruits
American students are deficient in their knowledge in the field of science

The recommendation section of the report suggested the need to return to an emphasis on what the authors called the “new basics.” Specifically, the commission called for a high school curriculum that includes four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of science, three years of social studies, and a half year of computer science.

This section of the report also referred to the need for “rigorous” curriculum standards. It recommended that these standards be written in such a way that they are measurable and clearly articulate what students should know and be able to do. To ensure that the standards are being effectively taught, meaningful or high-stakes examinations should be administered to measure student learning.

The report also argued that schools and colleges should raise their expectations of students by having students increase time spent in the classroom and on homework. Another way of improving student achievement that the report emphasized is to improve the teaching profession. Better training and higher salaries for teachers were suggested. The authors also included sections addressing the importance of the role played by parents, school administrators, and school boards.

Ongoing Impact

For the most part, the media coverage after the issuance of the report was positive. After seeing the positive reaction to the report, President Reagan used school improvement as one of the major issues in the campaign for his reelection in 1984. Because of the impetus provided by the report, state governments were encouraged to seek ways to strengthen their education programs.

Not all of the reactions to the report were positive. Some critics suggested that blaming our nation’s economic problems on schools was unfair. Others charged that the commission was selective in its use of the data in order to justify a negative assessment of our schools. Despite the critics, states developed curriculum standards, high-stakes testing programs, and increased accountability for schools during the next twenty years.

Even with these and other reforms, as the nation entered the twenty-first century, test scores, especially in our cities, were not showing great improvement. During his campaign in the year 2000, George W. Bush called for more vigorous federal leadership in the field of education. During the debate over reauthorization of Title I of the Elementary/Secondary Act of 1965, a new law was born. Called No Child Left Behind, the bill can be seen as a continuation of the reform begun by the A Nation at Risk report. Although it did not occur until twenty years after the report, it incorporated many of the recommendations offered by the commission. The law mandates state curriculum standards, high-stakes testing, school accountability, and improvement in the preparation of teachers. School districts that fail to make adequate progress in carrying out the objectives of the law will be faced with serious consequences.

It is impossible at this point in time to judge the effectiveness of the various reforms called for in the A Nation at Risk report. The testing required by the No Child Left Behind Act has just begun. Whether or not U.S. schools will be more successful in the twenty-first century remains to be seen, but it is clear that current reform efforts were in large part a result of the A Nation at Risk report.

Bibliography:

Bell, T. (1988). The thirteenth man. New York: Free Press. Gordon, D. T. (Ed.). (2003). A nation reformed? Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Ravitch, D. (2000). Left back: A century of battles over school reform. New York: Touchstone.
S. Department of Education, National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). A Nation at Risk: The imperative for educational reform. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

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