20 YEARS AGO...APRIL 27, 1983
- A “rising tide of mediocrity” is endangering the nation’s education system, warns the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The commission’s report, A Nation at Risk, says expectations must be raised in schools if the United States is to keep pace with economic competitors from abroad.
- The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Mueller v. Allen, a constitutional challenge to a Minnesota law that permits parents to take a state income-tax deduction for some expenses incurred in sending their children to public or qualifying private, nonprofit schools.
- In an attempt to narrow the gap between the achievement-test scores of black and white students, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People launches a pilot program aimed at preparing disadvantaged black students for the types of standardized tests required for college admissions.
10 YEARS AGO...APRIL 28, 1993
- The Clinton administration unveils a retooled version of its proposed Goals 2000: Educate America Act. The legislation would codify national education goals, establish a federal role in devising a national system of standards and assessments, and create a grant program to support state and local plans for improving education.
- At the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, scholars outline ways to measure “opportunity to learn.” Efforts to examine what’s actually taught in classrooms are essential to ensure that all students have access to high- quality instruction, says Floraline I. Stevens, a research associate at the National Science Foundation.
- One of the nation’s most prominent high school reform initiatives, the Coalition of Essential Schools, decides to branch out into the elementary grades. Nearly 300 teachers, parents, and administrators from 18 states gather in New York City to launch a national network of elementary schools based on the coalition’s idea that “less is more.”
