forum

Our Schools and Our Future
Assessments of the state of American education on the 20th anniversary of the A Nation at Risk report

Are We Still at Risk
Students do no more homework today than they did 20 years ago, despite the recommendations of A Nation at Risk.
By Koret Task Force

Leftover Business
That the nation is still debating—and has yet to address—many of the issues raised by A Nation at Risk is a testament to its prescience
By Milton Goldberg

The Long Haul
It will take prolonged effort and more than just school reforms to boost student achievement
By Patricia Albjerg Graham

Unrecognized Progress
“It is high time that we commit the full resources required to improve every school in America, so that every child is at grade level or above"
By James B. Hunt Jr.

Help Wanted
Choice, accountability, and transparency will mean little without a new generation of school-based leaders to light the way
By Lisa Graham Keegan

features

The Test of Time
A Nation at Risk was an historic document—for its time. Now we know that while its findings were dead on, its reform agenda relied too much on the existing system
By Diane Ravitch

A Landmark Revisited
“Education reforms are useless unless our kids take responsibility for their education,” legendary union leader Albert Shanker wrote a decade ago.
By Albert Shanker

Ticket to Nowhere
In the wake of A Nation at Risk, educators pledged to focus anew on student achievement. Two decades later, little progress has been made
By Paul E. Peterson

Reforms for Whom?
The core of A Nation at Risk was its concern that America’s public schools were not challenging enough to prepare students for a future built on technology and information.
By Caroline M. Hoxby

The Chasm Remains
Addressing the unique needs of urban children
By Paul T. Hill, Kacey Guin and Mary Beth Celio

Reform Blockers
Why the status quo almost always wins
By Terry M. Moe

High Hurdles
The authors of A Nation at Risk recognized a fundamental truth of education: that reforms, if they are to be successful, must reach into education’s inner sanctum, the classroom.
By Chester E. Finn Jr.

Not So Grand a Strategy
A Nation at Risk emphasized the importance of learning so-called “higher-order skills” in the early grades. But even chess grand masters need to learn the basics first.
By E. Donald Hirsch Jr.

The Least Common Denominator
The effort to push underprepared students into academic courses has driven the rigor out of many textbooks and classrooms
By Paul Clopton and Williamson M. Evers

Accountability Unplugged
Time to actually try standards-based reform
By Herbert J. Walberg

Ignoring the Market
A Nation at Risk virtually overlooked school choice, education’s most promising reform strategy
By John E. Chubb

Lost Opportunity
Increased economic growth, fueled by improvements in student performance, might have funded the nation’s entire K–12 education budget by now
By Eric Hanushek

from the editors

The Erosion Continues
An education system soaked in mediocrity

correspondence

AFT and NCATE respond
AFT and NCATE respond

book review

Greek Lessons
Gymnastics of the Mind by Raffaella Cribiore
By Mary Lefkowitz

Out of Balance
School Choice Tradeoffs: Liberty, Equity, and Diversity by By R. Kenneth Godwin and Frank R. Kemerer
By John E. Brandl

education matters to me

Honest Abe
Lincoln taught himself the three R’s—and more
By William Lee Miller