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ARTICLES 20 years later, our schools are still at risk The political world was stunned by Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s public embrace of vouchers for students in the District of Columbia. “I have never before supported a voucher program,” the California Democrat explained in The Washington Post. “For 30 years, I have advocated strongly for our public schools. But as a former mayor, I also believe that local leaders should have the opportunity to experiment with programs that they believe are right for their area.” Assessing 'A Nation at Risk' 20 years later WASHINGTON -- Twenty years ago this month, a national commission published the most incendiary federal report in the history of American school reform. Twenty years after 'A Nation at Risk' If it seems no US politician ever makes a speech today without insisting that education is his or her top priority, a quick glance back exactly 20 years may explain why that is. Few gains in education in 20 years since `A Nation at Risk' The last twenty years have been as revolutionary as any this country has ever witnessed. Homes are bigger, appliances niftier, communications faster. Average incomes are up, welfare dependency and crime rates are down. But if life has changed for the better in many ways, our schools have hardly budged in any direction whatsoever. Paul E. Peterson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. How we judge our schools Twenty years ago, the National Commission on Excellence in Education produced a devastating critique of schools in the United States called a "A Nation at Risk". A follow-up study by the Koret Task Force has reviewed the state of American schools today. The findings have much relevance to the challenges facing schools in Britain. An 'enormous opportunity' Arkansas is following some two dozen other states that have had to respond to a court finding that its current financing system is unconstitutional. These events are always traumatic, but from a slightly different perspective—they offer enormous opportunity. I am here today because I have gone through the proposed accountability legislation in the Arkansas Student Accountability and Educational Accountability Act of 2003 and I am terribly impressed by it. Eric A. Hanushek is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Our Schools and Our Future It wasn't a "code orange" alert from the Department of Homeland Security, but twenty years ago the National Commission on Excellence in Education's landmark report, A Nation at Risk, was a warning as dire as many had heard from in Washington, D.C., in years. Read the complete commentary by Hoover fellow Chester E. Finn Jr. A nation still at risk EDUCATIONAL REFORM IS a tough business to be in. Twenty years ago, the National Commission on Excellence in Education shocked the country with its "A Nation at Risk" report. This distinguished panel nailed its reform theses on the schoolhouse door, telling us that a "rising tide of mediocrity" in our nation's schools threatened the "intellectual, moral and spiritual strengths of our people" and "our very future as a nation." Read the complete commentary by Hoover fellow David Davenport about the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education symposium. Credibility, Resolve, Leadership "In reviewing again the history of the eight years from 1930 to 1938 we can see how much time we had. Up till 1934 at least German rearmament could have been prevented without the loss of a single life. It was not time that was lacking," wrote Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm, the first book of his six-volume history of World War II. Read the complete article mentioning the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education symposium. Education Next The issue begins with a condensed version of the Koret Task Force report. This issue’s forum spotlights four commentaries on the Koret report. Following the forum are feature articles by individual members of the Koret Task Force. Their essays provide detailed assessments that support the argument stated in the main report. Given the importance, timeliness, and urgency of the topic, we have devoted nearly all of this issue to these essays. Read all of these articles in this issue of Education Next. Report finds nation still 'at risk' in education School reforms called for two decades ago in the Reagan administration's "A Nation at Risk" assessment were largely ignored because of massive resistance by the education establishment, a task force of educators and scholars says. Read the complete article about the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education symposium. US education secretary braced for criticism When Rod Paige, the education secretary, addresses a Hoover Institution conference in Washington today, he and the White House could be in for some heavy criticism from his hosts. A report published jointly by the Hoover Institution, Stanford University's market-oriented think-tank, and San Francisco's Koret Foundation charges that the quality of primary and secondary education in the US has shown "little improvement" after three decades of promises and plans. Read the complete article about the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education symposium. Paige lauds Stanford school-reform plan Education Secretary Rod Paige yesterday applauded a report by a Stanford University think thank that calls on federal and state governments to "explore additional forms of school choice, pushing far beyond the boundaries of within-district public school choice." Read the complete article about Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education Symposium. Task Force Finds Goals of 'Nation At Risk' Elusive U.S. schools have improved little in the last two decades, says a new study on the impact of "A Nation at Risk," the 1983 federal report credited with helping spark the standards-based reform movement that now dominates K–12 education. This article about Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education Symposium is available to subscribers only. Still failing to educate our children (SH) - It was called "A Nation at Risk," and it was a devastating report, one that spoke to Americans in unforgettably vivid language, telling us that if "an unfriendly foreign power" had imposed our mediocre educational system on us, we might have "viewed it as an act of war." Just about everyone was energized to do better, it seemed. Heaping piles of money were shoved education's way. And what is the consequence 20 years later? Read the complete article about Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education Symposium. Unions Stymie School Reform A new report on the state of education in America is out, and it doesn't paint a pretty picture. The report, conducted by the Koret Task Force on K–12 Education of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, did the study and primarily blames the two main education unions for its bleak findings. Read the complete article mentioning the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education. Twenty years, no progress: Teachers unions have blocked real reform JUST AS THE National Commission on Excellence in Education told us in 1983 that we were doing a miserable job of teaching our youngsters, a new report tells us that meaningful reform has not occurred, thanks largely to the most powerful force in education, teachers unions. We are about where we were two decades ago. Read the complete commentary mentioning the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K–12 Education. |
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