A Nation at Risk
Education
Letter to the Editor
The Flawed Diagnosis of 'A Nation at Risk'
To the Editor:
Thomas Toch's call in his April 23 Commentary for turning attention back to "A Nation At Risk" diagnosis 35 years ago fails to reflect the fact that the data in that report have long since been proved to be wrong ("When It Comes to Public Education, the Nation Is Still at Risk"). And, that the approach—more requirements and much more testing and sanctions—was pursued for more than three decades with little success and a great deal of damage, especially to schools serving the students most in need of help.
Thomas Toch's call in his April 23 Commentary for turning attention back to "A Nation At Risk" diagnosis 35 years ago fails to reflect the fact that the data in that report have long since been proved to be wrong ("When It Comes to Public Education, the Nation Is Still at Risk"). And, that the approach—more requirements and much more testing and sanctions—was pursued for more than three decades with little success and a great deal of damage, especially to schools serving the students most in need of help.
School & District Management
Opinion
A Nation at Risk Was Fake News
Marc Tucker explores how A Nation at Risk ushered in a damaging era of profound distrust in professional educators based on a false narrative of the decline of American education.
Federal
Event to Explore American Education 35 Years After 'A Nation at Risk'
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute has an event on April 12 in Washington, D.C., that will explore where American education stands 35 years after the landmark report.
Education
Opinion
Our Nation May STILL Be 'At Risk'
More than 30 years later we may still be A Nation At Risk but for many different reasons.
Standards
Historic Summit Fueled Push for K-12 Standards
Aftershocks continue from the 1989 meeting in Charlottesville, Va., where the White House and the nation's governors took an aggressive turn toward standards-based accountability in public education.
School & District Management
A Look Back at 'A Nation at Risk' Report
Thirty years after "A Nation at Risk" was published, Education Week revisits the groundbreaking report.
Federal
Opinion
A Nation at Risk: Where Are We Now?
Education Week Commentary editors look at academic, demographic, and other trends since the landmark report was released 30 years ago.
Federal
Opinion
Gaps Persist 30 Years After a Wake-Up Call
A Nation at Risk demanded that we all rethink our assumptions about what shapes human potential, who gains access to the best in American education, and how we measure success.
Federal
Opinion
Putting Emphasis on Teacher Quality
Teacher observations have also become more thorough and meaningful in most states than they used to be.
Federal
Opinion
Doubling Down on Testing Is a Failed Wager
Teachers need to proactively defend their profession and resist efforts by alternative certification organizations to minimize their practice.
Federal
Opinion
Three Decades of Lies
A Nation at Risk had us losing the political and economic races to the Soviet Union and Japan. Did we? No!
Federal
Opinion
We've Made Progress, But There's More to Do
We now judge states, districts, and schools, and, increasingly, those who work in them, not by their resources, qualifications, and intentions but by their effectiveness.
Federal
Opinion
A Nation at Risk: 30 Years Later
This special collection, and a new blog that accompanies it, examines the legacy of the landmark report.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Criticism, and Some Praise, of A Nation at Risk Coverage
To the Editor:
Clearly the public schools have failed. Your April 22, 2009, issue contains the second installment of articles this year recounting the 25th anniversary of A Nation at Risk, which told us so. A Nation at Risk appeared in 1983. This is 2009. Unless I was mistaught, or Education Week is using something different than the usual base-10 system, that’s 26 years, not 25.
Clearly the public schools have failed. Your April 22, 2009, issue contains the second installment of articles this year recounting the 25th anniversary of A Nation at Risk, which told us so. A Nation at Risk appeared in 1983. This is 2009. Unless I was mistaught, or Education Week is using something different than the usual base-10 system, that’s 26 years, not 25.