Our house was dark, and it should not have been. I wondered what the
problem was. For the last week in spring, 1985, I’m been meeting with
state governors and their staffs about key education problems and
solutions. It was heady stuff. Now, I was home, eager to see my wife and
our three young children.
My wife, who had been and still is a teacher, was glad to see me. “The
power is off, the kids have been throwing up and I’m exhausted.” So the
heady policy talk of school reform faded for a few days, as I helped our
children regain their health, and my wife slept a lot, regaining her
strength.
But there was a huge contrast between provocative, stimulating
conversations with state governors, and life in Minnesota.
This came to mind as I re-read “A Nation At Risk”. This was a federal
report on education issued 25 years ago this month. It produced a huge
amount of discussion, and many new laws. But how much impact in schools
did it have?
The report skillfully described huge problems:
“Our nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce,
industry, science and technological innovation is being overtaken by
competitors throughout the world…while we can take justifiable pride in
what our schools and colleges have historically accomplished and
contributed to the United States…the educational foundations of our
society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that
threatens our very future as a nation and a people…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. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to
ourselves.”
The National Commission included former Minnesota Governor Al Quie,
along with a local school board member, two principals, superintendent,
public school teacher (National Teacher of the Year 1981-82), three
college presidents (Yale, University of California and Xavier in New
Orleans) two university professors and one businessperson. Several
University of Minnesota professors were asked to write papers or provide
testimony to help guide the Commission.
The Presidential Commission’s final suggestions included a longer day
and longer year, more core academic requirements, higher standards, and
higher, market-sensitive performance-based salaries for teachers. (The
report is at www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html)
Governors, state legislators, members of Congress, educators, unions,
parents, foundations, etc. responded quickly. New legislation was
adopted, new school board policies approved.
But as I look at titles of essays and testimony that helped inform the
report, it’s clear that we remain challenged by the same issues today.
Here are examples of hearings and commissioned papers: Science, Math and
Technology Education, Language and Literacy, Teaching and Teacher
Education, College Admissions and the Postsecondary Education, Adoption
of Effective Schools Programs, Education for the Gifted, Achievement and
Quality of Student Effort, Value Added, In-service education, Time on
Task,” These are among the hottest topics in schools today.
The gap between our house and my conversation with governors reminded me
of the gap between a report, and classrooms. I’ll say more in coming
weeks. But despite “A Nation at Risk” and hundreds of subsequent
reports, we are not yet where we want – or need to be.
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