Goals 2000

Goals 2000: Educate America Act, a bipartisan bill, was signed into law on March 31, 1994. The U.S. federal government pledged to form a new and supportive partnership with states and communities in an effort to improve student academic achievement across the nation. Goals 2000 was a direct outgrowth of the state-led education reform movement of the 1980s. The 1989 Charlottesville Education Summit, convened by then President George H. W. Bush and the nation's governors and led by then-Governor Bill Clinton, further underscored the need for a national response to address educational needs by establishing the following national education goals to be achieved by the year 2000:

• All children in America will start school ready to learn.
• The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90%.
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• All students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter in the core academic subjects.
• U.S. students will be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.
• Every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
• Every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.
• The nation's teaching force will have access to programs for the continued improvement of their professional skills and the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to instruct and prepare all U.S. students for the next century.
• Every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children.

Goals 2000 is widely recognized as the initial impetus for standards-based reform in U.S. education and schools.