A Nation at Risk

A blue-ribbon commission was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to study the status of K–12 and higher education in the United States. The commission, formally known as the National Commission on Excellence in Education, issued its results on April 26, 1983, in a document titled A Nation at Risk. This report became an impetus for a national school reform movement.

The purpose of the commission was to advise and make recommendations to the president, secretary of education, educational policymakers, and state boards of education. The work of the commission focused on teenage youth in K–12 education and youth who entered postsecondary education immediately after graduation from high school. The duties of the commission included reviewing and synthesizing data and education literature on teaching and learning in K–12 and higher education; examining, comparing, and contrasting curricula and the expectations of educational institutions of several advanced countries with those of the United States; studying university and college admissions standards and their impact on high school curricula and student achievement; reviewing educational programs that were recognized for preparing students with higher-than-average college entrance examination scores and who had met success in postsecondary education; reviewing major changes in American education and society that had significantly affected educational achievement; and making recommendations for future practice. Hearings about the findings were held, and testimony was given by educational scholars and policymakers.

A Nation at Risk began with a recognition and a warning that the “once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world.” The report further stated, “Our nation is at risk. 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. What was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur—others are matching and surpassing our educational attainments.”

The commission noted that student test scores were falling, schools were requiring less rigor (fewer required courses in math, science, and advanced placement classes), and the United States fared poorly with other countries in producing a literate and educated society. Underlying the premise of the commission's report was an implication that the education of U.S. children could no longer be left solely to state and local governments. Rather, based on the commission's findings, it was clear that the federal government would need to take a more prominent role in educating America's youth and retaining America's prominence as a world leader in education. President Reagan called for a more vigorous approach to education that would include school vouchers, school prayer, and the elimination of the Department of Education. Reagan's philosophy would lead to a number of school reform initiatives, increased spending for education, an increased emphasis on excellence in math and science, and an increased emphasis on standardized testing in K–12 education.

The risk, as noted by the Commission, was that not only were the Japanese, South Koreans, and Germans receiving government subsidies for development and [Page 684]export and that these developments signified a redistribution of trained capability; more important, the commission's findings noted that the risk included the intellectual, moral, and spiritual strengths of the American people and American society. The commission went on to state “Part of what is at risk is the promise first made on this continent: All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for developing their individual powers of mind and spirit to the utmost.”

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