A Nation At Risk

Our nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. This report is concerned with only one of the many causes and dimensions of the problem, but it is the one that undergirds American prosperity, security, and civility. We report to the American people that while we can take justifiable pride in what our schools and colleges have historically accomplished and contributed to the United States and the well-being of its people, 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. - p. 5.

Presents the report "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform," provided by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Includes findings and recommendations about the U.S. educational system. Lists members of the Commission and includes the Commission's charter and a schedule of its events. Contains commissioned papers, hearing testimony, and other presentations to the Commission. Offers information on notable programs and lists acknowledgments. Provides information on ordering the printed version and offers access to an ASCII version of the document for downloading. Links to the U.S. Department of Education home page and related publications.

"When A nation at risk was published 20 years ago, it was seen as something of the Peyton Place of education reports: it stunned the establishment, readers threw up their hands and proclaimed themselves shocked by it, but no one could tear themselves away from reading it. Now, on the 20th anniversary of the original report, the Koret Task Force tells a no less compelling story."--Quatrième de couverture.

In this dynamic look at the current state of character education, Alan Lockwood assesses its strengths and weaknesses and finds fault with leading advocates for failing to respond to sound critiques of their work. Lockwood argues that contemporary character education can be significantly improved by using key principles from established theories and research on developmental psychology. He offers numerous examples to support his recommendations while inviting character education theorists and practitioners to generate their own implications from his presentation. This book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in improving the quality of values-based education for children and adolescents.

A Nation Reformed? takes stock of twenty years of school reform. Was the nation really ever ""at risk"" and, if so, is it still? Which reforms have made a difference and which haven't? And where do we go from here? On April 26, 1983, the blue-ribbon National Commission on Excellence in Education issued "an open letter to the American people" on the state of our nation's schools. "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform" was one of many such reports that year, but its title and incendiary language set it apart almost immediately. We were warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in our schools that imperiled the nation's future. The symbolic opening salvo in a two-decade-long struggle to improve schools, A Nation at Risk helped put education reform at the top of the national agenda.

In Intent for a Nation, Michael Byers argues that it is time for a clear-eyed appreciation of our strengths and weaknesses, of all we have and all we could be. A whole series of world events-the waning of US credibility; the increasing value of natural resources; the brain-gain; the ever-increasing interdependence of peoples, countries and continents-have combined to put Canada center stage in a new world order. Instead of emulating our increasingly isolated neighbor, we should be advancing the Canadian model, an idealistic, fiscally prudent, socially progressive vision that has never looked so good. Intent for a Nation is a fundamentally optimistic, informed and opinionated overview of where Canada stands in the world and what aggressive public policies are needed to carry the country forward in an ever more competitive and volatile world. Here is a book urging Canadians to rediscover their national self-confidence, to find the courage to dream great dreams-and make them happen.

In the race to save a failing public high school, one principal finds that making the numbers is only the beginning Being principal of Reagan High in Austin, Texas, was no dream assignment. Test scores were low, dropout rates were high, and poverty was endemic. But when Anabel Garza took the job, she started something no one expected. Racing against a deadline just to make the numbers, she set out to rebuild the kind of school that once unified neighborhoods across America. By her side, a basketball coach showed kids they could be winners, a young science teacher showed them they could learn, and a community rallied around a treasured institution. In this powerful rejoinder to the prevailing winds of education policy, Michael Brick takes readers inside the high-pressure world of a school on the brink. Paying overdue tribute to a vital American tradition—the great American high school—Saving the School exposes the flaws of a broken system but also tells an inspiring story of faith, hope, and perseverance.