Nation+at+Risk+S2

toc

Team 3- Synthesis
"Nation at Risk" was released in the 1980s during the Regan administration. The article sites many startling and disturbing statistics about the state of American public education, including frighteningly low literacy rates. Standardized tests scores were found to be profoundly sub-par compared to other nations. Mediocrity of the public system is blamed for the USA's lag behind other leading global powers. The report cites America's troubled standing in education as a risk to national security as other super-powers overtake the US in mathematics and reading. "Nation at Risk: 25 Years Later" looks at the impact of the original report. It acknowledges the state of American education has improved, however it questions the methods employed by the scare-tactic nature of "Nation at Risk." The report was successful in instilling fear in the American public about education but also caused a hysteria that resulted in blame being placed on teachers, offering no constructive support for the education system already in place. It is still under debate whether the report ultimately proved helpful or detrimental to the [|American educational system.]

Team 3: Reflection
Many members of the class talked about the tone of the article. We all agreed that education has been on a [|downhill slope] for a very long time now but we disagree on whether or not the tone of the article was an appropriate response to this problem. Some felt that the tone was too harsh while others believed that it was needed to make people look at the problem. Some of the class talked about the idea that although the article's intention was to spur action it did not succeed. It stopped President Reagan from slowing federal spending on public education but it also led to a harsh view of teachers and the educational system in general, and the No Child Left Behind Act. Neither of these things are succeeding at making our school system better. The class all agrees that education is [|important] but we focused on different reasons for why it is important. These reasons varied from contributing to the society we live in to making our lives more enjoyable. A couple of us suggest that the researchers and the report writers would have had more success if they had made more suggestions how education might be[| improved].

Sara Cole
Abstract “Nation at Risk,” paints a harsh and frightening picture of American public education circa 1983. The reports are staggering, 23 million Americans are illiterate, SAT scores are dropping, and only 1/5 of 17 year old students can write a persuasive essay. “Nation at Risk” is a call to arms against “an unfriendly foreign power [that has] attempted to impose on America the mediocre education performances that exists today.” According to the 1983 article, this generation college graduate is less educated than average college graduate of 25-30 years ago. Nation at Risk (25 years later)” discusses the impact of the Regan era report. American public schools are constantly changing and trying to improve. Regan’s Cold War lingo-d report sparked great fear and even hysteria in the face of the nation’s educational system. Some say the tough talk was necessary, while others say it created unnecessary panic and was drastically overblown. No one can deny, however, that things were improved in the education field due to “Nation at Risk.”

Reflection Upon first reading of “Nation at Risk” I was shocked, “an unfriendly foreign power,” excuse me, can you elaborate please. I do see that much was wrong with education in America, the statistics were shocking, and something needed to be done. I find that some of the statistics may have been bent a little, such as the fact that the “average graduate of our schools and colleges today is not as well-educated as the average graduate of 25 or 35 years ago, when a much smaller proportion of our population completed high school and college.” One must take into account college attendance in the 1950s was much rarer than in the 1980s. A greater number of students of //all// backgrounds began to attend college, including more women. With a larger demographic you are going to get more variance in the level of education, with a larger variance in programs. What is the definition of “not-as-well educated?” Could that not be an arbitrary factor? I feel students were differently educated in the 1980s than in the 1950s, with more emphasis on civil awareness and even technology. I do not argue that the education system needed fixing, and still does, there is //always// need for improvement, however I do disagree with the harsh terminology and scare-tactics used in “Nation at Risk.”

Danielle Terrill
Abstract: Nation at Risk was a report giving during President Reagan’s time. The report was one how public schools were doing in educating America’s Youth. Basically, the report said that the educational system here in America was mediocre at best and that if we hoped to ever be at the foreground of technology, business, military or protecting our people than we needed to fix it, and fast. The talks a lot about what the public believes students should be able to do and what they are actually able to do. It list statistics about test scores and students ability to solve math problems and write essays. The second article was how teachers felt Nation at Risk affected education. Many felt it was very helpful. It brought education to the front of everyone’s minds and it also stalled Reagan’s administration from cutting spending on public schools. Others though felt that the report was more harmful. Much of the public blamed the teachers for the downfall of education and hearing complaints was not productive to teachers, nor did the report make teachers look good in the eyes of the American people.

Reflection: Both articles talk a lot about how our schools are failing but neither offers any advice on how to fix them. If you are going to write an article on America’s public school system, why would you report that it was failing without making any suggestions on how to improve it? Criticism is only constructive if there is some feedback on how it might be improved. In this case it seems that although the report helped to bring to light our failing educational system, it most certainly did not help to improve it. Things have not yet gotten better in the school systems. America is still behind in achievement tests, as well as business, economy, and technology. That report could have been used to get a real move on improving our education going. The resources used to research our schools could have helped us research how to improve.

Ryan Martin
Abstract

A Nation At Risk is an article dealing with the state of education in the United States during the 1980’s. The report used some very harsh rhetoric and basically said that schools were failing all over the country. The report looks at different indicators of how there was a steady decline of achievement throughout the whole country. The report calls for quick action or the country will continue the downtrend and states that “Of all the tools at hand, the public's support for education is the most powerful.” Without the public support for strong education, then educational reform could not happen. “A Nation at Risk: 25 Years Later” revisits the report and the effects it had on education. The article interviews Jay Sommer, the only teacher on the commission that wrote the report. Sommers says that the report was just what the US needed and that “as a consequence of the report, things were improved in education without any doubt.” The article also interviews Paul Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. He stated that the report hurt education more than it helped, citing the negative backlash that it caused.

Reflection

My first impression of the report was that it was way over the top. The report sounded like most other documents written during the Cold War era; tough, aggressive, no – nonsense language.” The report made it sound like the US would collapse and cease to exist if the educational system was not reformed. It also portrayed and grouped all schools together. After reading the newspaper article, some things were cleared up for me, and I agreed that yes, perhaps this report did yield some positives. For instance, at the time of the report, President Reagan was trying cut federal spending on education. As a result of the report, he had to back off this agenda because of public outcry. Overall, though, I think the report had negative impacts. The fallout against schools was harsh and the report has yielded such things as No Child Left Behind, which I think most people agree, is not a very productive measure.

Josh Daigle
The //Nation at Risk// was a document produced by a blue-ribbon commission in 1983 that was designed to point out the problems with the American education system. The document outlines the state of American education. A shocking stat is brought up that states only about one-fifth of American students could write a persuasive essay, or could solve a math problem that consisted of more than one step. The report also states how 13 percent of students were illiterate, and goes on to state that there are 23 million American adults who were illiterate and had difficulty with reading and writing. The report discusses why America needs to place more emphasis on the education system. American students need to be able to compete with students from around the world. The report even states that the education problems are a threat to national security. It would lead to more funding for education and prevented Ronald Reagan from abolishing the Department of Education and cutting federal funds.

I would say that the //Nation at Risk// was a harshly written document, but one that made sense and was speaking with urgency. I would say that it does seem to put all schools in the same category of failing, but the general notion that the schools are in bad shape and opinions of education have been changing would be pretty accurate. Many students try to do the least amount of work to get by. We live in a world were more students are picked on for being smart and doing their work than the students who don't care about school. We need to place more importance on education, on doing your work to the best of your abilities, and we need to pay teachers more in order to keep the best and brightest minds well educated.

Corinne Vierkant
Abstract:

This article discusses the diminishing level of education in American society, and were it stood at the time the article was written in 1983. The argument is made that the current generation is the first one to not have outstripped its parents in education and income. The article provides evidence shown by the College Board and the steady decline in test scores from previous generations to the current one in school in 1983. It claims that the mediocrity of our school systems is the reason why we are becoming inferior on the global level. Other Industrialized countries have far outstripped the United States in the education of its youth, and is the reason why they are starting to make better products than the United States. This article provides compelling evidence and examples of what is wrong with our education system and why we should care.

Synthesis This article was extremely interesting, and I was surprised to see that while the test scores were down, the public voted Education the top issue to give more federal funding. Also, one argument that was made that I thought to be interesting, was that our schools promote mediocrity because their is such an emphasis on the bare minimum that is needed to move one. In my experience as a teacher in a classroom and as a student I have fond this to be true. Often teachers give assignments and state what the bare minimum is that the students need to do to get a passing grade, not leaving it open and allowing students to explore ad succeed without realizing that their is a bare minimum. If I was given an assignment or project, it was always given to me saying that I needed to do at least this much to complete it. If schools did not focus on the bare minimum for students to pass a class, grade, or standardized test their would be more room for growth, exploration, and success beyond what it just needed to get by.

Becca LaRose
Abstract: This article looked at what was happening in American education throughout the 1980s. It was bluntly stated that American schools were crumbling around the nation. Statistics showed that students were achieving at a lower and lower rate every year. This was unacceptable and the report stated that the nation should be looking to correct the trend. 25 years later a second report was written that looks at what has occurred in education since the findings were published. Despite the fact that things have clearly improved across the board there is some belief that the original article was out of line. It will most likely always be unclear as to whether the publishing of this article was a help or hindrance to the education system.

Reflection: I would have to argue that the one thing these articles lack is some sort of advice, or even a call for advice. For all the criticizing they do, they don’t offer the educational system and thoughts or musings upon what could help to improve the failing system in America. I’m not sure what impact this article had on the system. Sure, schools are doing better, but there is always room for improvement. Would schools have figured this out on their own, or did they need this abrasive wakeup? This was definitely an interesting group of articles and I am curious to see how we continue on in this Nation at Risk.

Ted Gill
The initial article was a sort of call to educational action from 1983. The overall tone of the article is one that instills fear of failure. The driving force behind this writing seems to be one of competition. There is a major emphasis on America’s performance on various standardized tests, finding that America is behind these countries. There are a good number of statistics that are meant to startle or frighten the reader. In the particular culture that this writing was issued, this competitive, fear-based invective may have seemed effective, and the retrospective article notes the increase in educational funding that occurred, rather than Reagan’s planned elimination of federal education.

I was uncomfortable with the tone of the reading. I know that I wasn’t alive during the Cold War, and have no idea what it felt like to be in fear of falling behind the rest of the world, but I feel like this particular approach has some issues. High-stakes testing is one thing, but this article seems to artificially increase the stakes. There is another mindset that I can’t help questioning: the universal application of the human mind as a “tool.” The “tool” terminology is used extensively in the article. While I understand that to some people, solving problems using tools is a path to happiness. But I believe that the chief goal of education should be to improve enjoyment of life, and to some people, that means using the mind as less of a tool and more of a toy, at least in some circumstances. However, the culture of fear that this article seems bent on creating is cold, unforgiving, and startling in terms of what has changed in the past 25 years.

Drew Gauthier
Abstract

"A Nation at Risk" puts forth much research and reason for concern as to the direction education was going in 1983. It forwards the motion that while the world is beginning to ever change by the day, education has not. Education, being the key to a prosperous nation was being compromised at the time as test scores were dropping. Meanwhile, as our world continued to demand technological and scientific changes, the United States was in a standstill, even amidst the rest of the world which was making leaps forward. The article is indirectly concerned with the aspect of happiness and prevalence in our society which at a loss of movements in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation would dim into darkness.

This article also discusses "excellence" as being a multi-faceted concept. Excellence for the individual, the school or college, and the society are much the same as the individual is in essence a snapshot and society is a photo album, with the person inserting the pictures being the school or college. It also picks up on the fact that we, as a society, always reference "minimum requirements", which establishes a low goal. We must also foster life-long learning, as our ever-changing world now demands it.

On the other hand, the article written on the subject 25 years later points to its controversy. Some teachers feel that it scapegoat the teacher as the reason for the problem instead of the education system. Some also feel that it's negativity towards education made people take steps backwards instead of forwards because as a result of this article one my have less belief in the education being administered in the country. "A Nation at Risk", from this standpoint, had generally lowered the morale of teachers, leading to many educators giving up.

Reflection

Although I do not fully support the direction that education has gone in over the past 25 years, "A Nation at Risk" does contain some pretty revolutionary ideas that I find are both practical and for the well being of the country and the individual. Striving for the betterment of every individuals talent is a great concept, for instance. Any talent can contribute to society, which does need its balance of humanities and technological gain. As I stand today, I see the use in life-long learning. Perhaps someday my education in the teaching field will become obsolete due to technological advances. If I were not prepared to change my way of thought and learn something new all the time, I would drown in the waters of our ever changing world.

The factual evidence laid out in the text is frightening to me, as it is the first time I have seen it brought to light. I'm not sure of todays statistics, but to discover that in '83 there were 23 million functionally illiterate people in the US makes me glad that things have changed since then. I'm not sure if I would even have the knowledge requisite in that sort of situation to realize just how closed in my mind I would be to every day aspects of life. If I didn't have legitimate higher order thinking skills, I wonder what I would be doing today. I probably would have never read this text and more than likely, I would never figured out how to post this blog.

Stephanie Lennon
Abstract This article points out how far behind we were with schooling in the 1980s. Other countries were way ahead of us in business and commerce, as well as education. Without a good education, however, our citizens wouldn’t be able to make informed decisions, which would negatively impact our economy. With a number of heart wrenching statistics, this article shows that the US certainly has some room for improvement. The article, of course, lead to a lot of disagreement in the world of education. This is discussed in the article published twenty-five years later. A lot of educators believed the article was too harsh. Others however, believed it was completely necessary in order to progress education to the next level.

Reflection Although a lot of people believed the original article to be too harsh, I think it was necessary to get the ball rolling. Some issues tend to get pushed aside when people get too busy with other things. Education isn’t something that should ever be pushed aside. Without education, our nation couldn’t possibly progress. Regardless, the tone probably could have been slightly more positive. The second article talks a lot about how harsh the original article was, but I think it’s important to remember that the school system probably wouldn’t be where it is now if it wasn’t for the article 

Ben Kent
I read the article Nation at risk, and a follow up article titled Nation at Risk, 25 years later. The first article talked about how teachers in public education were pushing children to a life of mediocrity back in the eighties. They were just going through the motions. This article pointed out the failures of teachers in the 1980s, also it called for the government to give more funding to the public schools. Thus make it more appealing to families, knowing they don't have to pay extra to get there children a good education. The second piece talks about the effects the first article had 25 years ago, or now more like 30 years ago. The article was a game changer for public education. It was a catalyst into changing the way public education was viewed. At first it wasn't welcomed by the current teachers of that error. I liked the reference how teachers who read it felt like they were standing on the beach next to the ocean, and kept hit with wave after wave crashing onto the beach. As the second article points out, most of the teachers back then shouldn't of been teaching anyway. This article reminds me of the show Freaks n' Geeks. This show is based on a group of teenagers back in the 1980s, and the problems they went through in there high school career. One thing that I noticed but never really stuck out to me until now were the teachers. Some of the teachers were good at what they do, however for the most part they just sucked. I remember one math teacher in one of the shows said math builds off what you did the week before, the student ask why, and the teacher replied so you can learn the material for next week. I'm going to be a math teacher, and that is not the reason I will give to my students. It's a piss poor answer. He should of said so when faced with the situations in the real world, you will have the skill to meet that problem and solve it, whatever it maybe. Something along those lines would have been better then to learn next weeks material. I'm glad these articles were published, and helped changed the way public education is conducted.

Tracey Hollingsworth
//A Nation at Risk// was published in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education to raise awareness of America's failing schools. It assessed the "quality of teaching and learning" at every level of education, including both the public and private systems. The report also compared America's schools to schools in other industrialized nations, as well as comparing the schools of America's past to the present. The report painted a merciless picture of the decline in education and its impact as it reported, ""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. . . . If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. . . . We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament. . . ."

The statistics given in the report were outrageous, and while they absolutely shocked me, I have to wonder where this data came from and how it was analyzed. After all, data can be manipulated to show anything people want to see. In fact, during 1990, the Secretary of Energy commissioned the Sandia Laboratories in New Mexico to use actual data to verify the decline in America's schools as the //Nation at Risk// report had documented. When the systems scientists broke down the SAT test scores into subgroups they discovered contradictory data stating in their preface, "To our surprise, on nearly every measure, we found steady or slightly improving trends." Education Week published an article on the Sandia report in 1991 but it received little attention. That said, I believe that much of the report was used as a **//much needed//** scare-tactic. While other countries were stepping up to the plate and improving drastically, the United States was becoming increasingly content and lazy as a super power, an attitude that is still present today. //A Nation at Risk// is the foundation in education reform, a ideology that still remains controversial.

**Jesse Mitchell** Abstract

The Nation at Risk article came out in April 1983 to warn Americans about our school system. It made the general public aware, using a lot of statistics, that American schools were behind schools in other countries. Some of the statistics include: The article continued on to say that if we want our children to grow up to be successful then we have no choice but reform our schools. Nation at Risk-25 Years Later, revisits the original article. There is a split opinion about the original article. Many people believe that is was too harsh, while many others believe it was 'just what the doctor ordered.'
 * Average achievement of high school students on most standardized tests is now lower than 26 years ago when Sputnik was launched.
 * Over half the population of gifted students do not match their tested ability with comparable achievement in school.
 * The College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) demonstrate a virtually unbroken decline from 1963 to 1980. Average verbal scores fell over 50 points and average mathematics scores dropped nearly 40 points.
 * College Board achievement tests also reveal consistent declines in recent years in such subjects as physics and English.
 * Both the number and proportion of students demonstrating superior achievement on the SATs (i.e., those with scores of 650 or higher) have also dramatically declined.
 * Many 17-year-olds do not possess the "higher order" intellectual skills we should expect of them. Nearly 40 percent cannot draw inferences from written material; only one-fifth can write a persuasive essay; and only one-third can solve a mathematics problem requiring several steps.

Reflection

Though the original article was harsh, I believe it was necessary. In order for people to pay attention, things can't be sugarcoated. Perhaps things could have been written less antagonistically, but it might not have had such an impact if it was written any other way. In any case, the statistics presented did stir up the American public and caused Reagen to back off on cutting spending for Education. And though schools have improved over the years, they are far, very far, from perfect. There is still a long road ahead. Which brings up another point; The article did a great job at bashing the American School System, but provided no concrete ways in which to fix the schools. Sure, the schools are bad, so what do you do? Maybe another article needs to be written.