Movers and Shakers in Education
Felicia Rumsey
EDU 210
01/19/13
Bryce Budoff
Movers and Shakers in Education Sacrifices have been made throughout history by many to advance the field of education so all children have the opportunity for a proper education and a successful future. With these advances come all types of adjustments to keep the idea of a proper education moving. Just in the last fifty years, there have been several significant attempts to improve the educational system. The first being the A Nation at Risk report introduced in 1983. President Regan’s Secretary of Education T. H. Bell created the National Commission on Excellence in Education to analyze the quality of education in America. The Commission’s report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform is considered a landmark event in educational history. The report brought to light the ever-growing sense that American schools are failing students. Bell asked the commission to look into several areas of concern in the education system. A few of the requests included: accessing the quality of teaching and learning in primary, secondary, and postsecondary schools in private and public areas; compare American schools and those of other advanced nations; studying the relationship between college admission requirements and student achievement in high school; and defining problems in the educational system that we must address and correct if we are to achieve excellence in education ("A nation at," 1983). The report expressed genuine concern with how our nation has settled for mediocrity. Due to our nation’s standstill, other nations have surpassed our once superior status. The commission felt the dismantling of support systems have benefited to a disarming of our education and the surpassing of other nations to our own. The commission documented a drop in achievements in several areas such as mathematics, science, and a drop in SAT scores. Referencing tests conducted in the seventies, the
EDU 210
01/19/13
Bryce Budoff
Movers and Shakers in Education Sacrifices have been made throughout history by many to advance the field of education so all children have the opportunity for a proper education and a successful future. With these advances come all types of adjustments to keep the idea of a proper education moving. Just in the last fifty years, there have been several significant attempts to improve the educational system. The first being the A Nation at Risk report introduced in 1983. President Regan’s Secretary of Education T. H. Bell created the National Commission on Excellence in Education to analyze the quality of education in America. The Commission’s report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform is considered a landmark event in educational history. The report brought to light the ever-growing sense that American schools are failing students. Bell asked the commission to look into several areas of concern in the education system. A few of the requests included: accessing the quality of teaching and learning in primary, secondary, and postsecondary schools in private and public areas; compare American schools and those of other advanced nations; studying the relationship between college admission requirements and student achievement in high school; and defining problems in the educational system that we must address and correct if we are to achieve excellence in education ("A nation at," 1983). The report expressed genuine concern with how our nation has settled for mediocrity. Due to our nation’s standstill, other nations have surpassed our once superior status. The commission felt the dismantling of support systems have benefited to a disarming of our education and the surpassing of other nations to our own. The commission documented a drop in achievements in several areas such as mathematics, science, and a drop in SAT scores. Referencing tests conducted in the seventies, the
References: Department of Education, (1983). A nation at risk: the imperative of education reform. Retrieved from The National Commission on Excellence in Education website: http://datacenter.spps.org/uploads/SOTW_A_Nation_at_Risk_1983.pdf A nation at risk: The imperative for educational reform. (2005). Informally published manuscript, , Available from Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum. Retrieved from http://mathcurriculumcenter.org/PDFS/CCM/summaries/NationAtRisk.pdf The clinton-gore administration a record of progress. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-05.html U.S. Department of Education, (2009). U.s. department of education american recovery and reinvestment act report. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Education website: http://www.recovery.gov/news/featured/documents/education dept. arra programs and jobs.pdf