A Nation at Risk

Since prior to the 1980’s, the American education system has rapidly declined in all areas. The article, “A Nation at Risk,” written by President Ronald Reagan, depicts the many issues in the U.S. school systems regarding the content, standard and expectations, time, teaching, and leadership and fiscal support. This piece, apparently, has led the country into an extreme educational reform to improve all aspects of our school system. Based on my experiences in high school, student test scores, and current school conditions, I believe that while all issues raised by the commission in the report are not necessarily a problem anymore, issues with student growth.

Summary: The 1983 report, A Nation at Risk, issued by the National Commission on Excellence in Education and the Goals 2000 report of 1991 by the National Governors Association created calls for education reform in the United States. They resulted in stricter standards for teaching certification, changes in standardized testing, and a raise in teachers salaries especially in the South. President Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 to also try to boost education performance especially for racial minorities and urban centers. NCLB required schools to give mandatory tests to determine student aptitude in core subject courses. Schools are rated according to the Adequate Yearly Progress scale which determines how much a school's testing

Diane Ravitch, an “educational historian”, answers four questions in her book, Reign of Error. Is American education in crisis? Is American education failing or declining? What is the evidence for reform being promoted by the government and adopted by many states? What should we do to improve our schools and the lives of our children? According to Ravitch, the “crisis” concerning American education is actually a myth. In this book, she addresses myth after myth providing adequate clarity and information. She looks deep into the facts and brings to light what is actually happening in education in America in the following areas: test scores, achievement gaps, graduation rates, teachers and test scores, merit pay, charter schools, virtual school, government involvement of failing schools. In the latter chapters she offers specific solutions with detailed plans and recommendations to preserve and improve American education. Ravitch’s thesis is that American public education must be protected against government privatization and that we must work together to improve our schools. I couldn’t agree more with Ravitch. Government involvement in education has negatively impacted education since the passing of NCLB. Our focus has changed from being innovative teachers to cookie cutter teachers. Government officials should not make decisions without advice from educational professionals. We must all work together to make education work.

Education is an important political topic on the national scene, and statements made at national education forums are taken seriously. Therefore, when a speaker at the US News STEM Solutions Conference in San Diego says that "Ninety-nine percent of school kids are failed by the K-12 system," experts on both sides of the aisle take notes. Certainly, most teachers and those in the education industry are going to object to those numbers, and others will seek to define what "failed" means.

Accountability standards have massively improved over the years.Accountability is being held responsible to something. Standards are a certain level of success to reach in an area. Therefore, accountability standards are a level of quality that an individual is held responsible for. We have changed how we view these standards as well. In the past our accountability standards has been underdeveloped. That didn’t change until President Ronald Reagan put out a report titled “A Nation At Risk” in 1983.

Back in 1983 “President Ronald Reagan's secretary of education entitled A Nation at Risk: The imperative for Educational Reform.” (1). Although A Nation at Risk was found to be very

“Unintended Educational and Social Consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act” Journal of Gender, Race and Justice, no. 2, Winter 2009, pp. 311. EBSCOhost. In this peer-reviewed academic journal article, Liz Hollingworth, an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Iowa, explores the history of school reform in the United States, and the unintended consequences of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Hollingworth states that the great promise of NCLB is that schools will focus on the education of low-achieving students, reducing the gap in student academic achievement between White students and African-American, Hispanic, and Native American student populations. Hollingworth states that an unintended consequence of NCLB was that teachers and school administrators had to shift curriculum focus in an effort to raise test scores, but in some cases, they had to also abandoned thoughtful, research-based classroom practices in exchange for test preparation. NCLB also affected teachers, highly qualified teachers left high-poverty schools, with low performance rates especially those schools where teacher salaries are tied to student academic performance. Hollingworth concludes her article by stating “we need to be wary of policy innovations that amount to simply rearranging the deck chairs on the

This article in the Times newspaper, points out problems and flaws with the 2002 U.S. No Child Left Behind educational legislation, which was designed to improve education in the U.S. Topics that are discussed include, teachers complaints that No Child Left Behind policy sets impossible standards and forces teachers to teach based on the test material, and how the bill originally came to life by the proposal of former U.S. president George W. Bush. The other topic

Nation at Risk gave rise to two major education reform movements; accountability and school choice. Federal government started thinking about testing, and standardization, which resulted in No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and Race to the Top. McGuinn’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB), describes the politics of accountability as setting a standard for teachers, testing students to see if the schools meet the set standards, and then holding the schools and teachers accountable for not achieving those standards by creating consequences. George W. Bush, a Republican made NCBL a nationwide issue. Unions and districts opposed accountability because testing could be grounds for firing teachers and using data to rank schools made schools look bad and

Following the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, it has not only sparked fear in students but teachers as well. High stakes testing has taken a toll on student creativity and achievement as well as the closing of schools and termination of teachers and administrators. In 2011 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated that “82 percent of schools could be failing by the end of 2012” (US News, 2013). Proponents of testing such as taxpayers and parents approve of this process as it increases accountability of the schools and teachers.

In 1983, Ronald Reagan stood in front of the press and read from a report called A Nation at Risk: Imperative for Education Reform. The report had been written by the board of the National Commission on Excellence and Education and gave Americans reason to believe that our system was anything but acceptable. While the report did touch on some positives in American public schools, there were many instances that needed to be fixed. A Nation at Risk opened the eyes of many Americans and thus started a rolling stone for more “rigorous and measurable standards.” Although the notice has hung around school districts across the nation for over thirty

The American public educational system is filled with an assortment of problems. Most students are graduating with less knowledge and capability than similar students in other industrialized countries. Classroom disruptions are surprisingly common, and in some classrooms, nearly continuous. The public education system is having difficulty adjusting to the no child left behind act. The No Child Left Behind(NCLB) is a landmark in education reform designed to improve student achievement and change the culture of American’s schools.

The American Education System is not meeting the needs of current students. If anything, the system is not building a sturdy foundation for the future working class. Schools have existed for many years and through the years they have worked differently. However, every school’s main purpose was to educate students to be efficacious later in life. Modern day schools are corrupting students with added pressure, making fewer accommodations for special education students, and take away individualism. Along with those are problems comes numerous others. The students of modern times are the people of our future and the future does not look too bright with the current American Education System.

With the NCLB’s focused emphasis on English and math standards, other educational areas such as the arts and sciences have been overlooked. The No Child Left Behind Act also focuses on bringing the lower scores up and not helping in raising the scores of those students who are already at higher levels leaving these higher achieving students behind in a push for equality. Although test scores have risen and the achievement gap between minority and white students has decreased, the No Child Left Behind Act has damaged the United States educational system by not addressing the needs of all students, forcing curricula to exclude arts, civics, foreign language and sciences, and emphasizing testing and not learning. It is time for a change.

The paper included information regarding the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In the paper, I discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the policy as well as recommended changes to the policy. This paper provided me with the opportunity to question what my beliefs and values are on a policy that directly impacts children. In addition, the paper addresses what I think is important regarding education based on my values. As I wrote the paper, I recognized that I do value the importance of education. I also realized the importance of questioning statements of values and the underlying ethics of policies. I will continue to be competent and strive to increase my professional knowledge and skills in policies as it relates to my values and beliefs.