Nation at Risk

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.