Perspectives on ‘A Nation At Risk’
01 Nov 2013
Categories: K-12 Education
When A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform was published in April of 1983 it set off a political and policy firestorm that continues to smolder today. The report was submitted by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, which consisted of some the nation’s top educational leaders and chaired by David P. Gardner, president of the University of Utah.
The report did not pull punches. The commission authors famously wrote, “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.”
In the 30 years since the report, educational reform has dominated much of public life and aroused political passions at the national level. In some ways, the war imagery invoked by the report was apt but more applicable to an educational civil war that continues to rage than to an invasion from a foreign power.
Recently, six well-known AIR thought leaders including George Bohrnstedt, Beatrice Birman, David Osher, Jennifer O’Day, Terry Salinger, and Jane Hannaway posted blogs on the AIR website about A Nation at Risk. Gary Phillips, AIR Vice President and AIR Institute
Why Local Educators Haven’t Heeded the Warnings in ‘A Nation at Risk’
Editor’s Note: Recently, six well-known AIR thought leaders including George Bohrnstedt, Beatrice Birman, David Osher, Jennifer O’Day, Terry Salinger, and Jane Hannaway posted blogs on the AIR website about A Nation at Risk. Gary Phillips, AIR Vice President and AIR Institute Fellow, joins these thinkers with his blog, “Why Local Educators Haven’t Heeded the Warnings in A Nation at Risk,” which we
Random act of kindness. One student at a high school cross-country meet in Manchester, Connecticut showed true sportsmanship by helping her competition cross the finish line. When Kayla Samuel saw her competitor trip and fall, she linked arms with her and helped her cross the finish line first. (NBC Connecticut) Giving back to his community. Kevin Hart loves his city and is showing it by giving ba