The paper that started it all……
It is our conviction that the essential raw materials needed to reform
our educational system are waiting to be mobilized through effective
leadership:
- the natural abilities of the young that cry out to be developed and
the undiminished concern of parents for the well-being of their
children;
- the commitment of the Nation to high retention rates in schools and colleges and to full access to education for all;
- the persistent and authentic American dream that superior performance can raise one’s state in life and shape one’s own future;
- the dedication, against all odds, that keeps teachers serving in schools and colleges, even as the rewards diminish;
- our better understanding of learning and teaching and the implications of
this knowledge for school practice, and the numerous examples of local
success as a result of superior effort and effective dissemination;
- the ingenuity of our policymakers, scientists, State and local educators,
and scholars in formulating solutions once problems are better
understood;
- the traditional belief that paying for education is an
investment in ever-renewable human resources that are more durable and
flexible than capital plant and equipment, and the availability in this
country of sufficient financial means to invest in education;
- the equally sound tradition, from the Northwest Ordinance
of 1787 until today, that the Federal Government should supplement
State, local, and other resources to foster key national educational
goals; and
- the voluntary efforts of individuals, businesses, and
parent and civic groups to cooperate in strengthening educational
programs.
Recommendations
In light of the urgent need for improvement,
both immediate and long term, this Commission has agreed on a set of
recommendations that the American people can begin to act on now, that
can be implemented over the next several years, and that promise
lasting reform. The topics are familiar; there is little mystery about
what we believe must be done. Many schools, districts, and States are
already giving serious and constructive attention to these matters,
even though their plans may differ from our recommendations in some
details.
We wish to note that we refer to public, private, and parochial schools
and colleges alike. All are valuable national resources. Examples of
actions similar to those recommended below can be found in each of them.
We must emphasize that the variety of student aspirations, abilities,
and preparation requires that appropriate content be available to
satisfy diverse needs. Attention must be directed to both the nature of
the content available and to the needs of particular learners. The most
gifted students, for example, may need a curriculum enriched and
accelerated beyond even the needs of other students of high ability.
Similarly, educationally disadvantaged students may require special
curriculum materials, smaller classes, or individual tutoring to help
them master the material presented. Nevertheless, there remains a
common expectation: We must demand the best effort and performance from
all students, whether they are gifted or less able, affluent or
disadvantaged, whether destined for college, the farm, or industry.
Our recommendations are based on the beliefs that everyone can learn,
that everyone is born with an urge to learn which can be nurtured, that
a solid high school education is within the reach of virtually all, and
that life-long learning will equip people with the skills required for
new careers and for citizenship.
Recommendation A: Content
We recommend that State and local high school
graduation requirements be strengthened and that, at a minimum, all
students seeking a diploma be required to lay the foundations in the
Five New Basics by taking the following curriculum during their 4 years
of high school: (a) 4 years of English; (b) 3 years of mathematics;
(c) 3 years of science; (d) 3 years of social studies; and (e) one-half
year of computer science. For the college-bound, 2 years of foreign
language in high school are strongly recommended in addition to those
taken earlier.
Whatever the student’s educational or work objectives, knowledge of the
New Basics is the foundation of success for the after-school years and,
therefore, forms the core of the modern curriculum. A high level of
shared education in these Basics, together with work in the fine and
performing arts and foreign languages, constitutes the mind and spirit
of our culture. The following Implementing Recommendations are intended
as illustrative descriptions. They are included here to clarify what we
mean by the essentials of a strong curriculum.
Implementing Recommendations
- The teaching of English in high school should equip
graduates to: (a) comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and use what they
read; (b) write well-organized, effective papers; (c) listen
effectively and discuss ideas intelligently; and (d) know our literary
heritage and how it enhances imagination and ethical understanding, and
how it relates to the customs, ideas, and values of today’s life and
culture.
- The teaching of mathematics in high school should
equip graduates to: (a) understand geometric and algebraic concepts;
(b) understand elementary probability and statistics; (c) apply
mathematics in everyday situations; and (d) estimate, approximate,
measure, and test the accuracy of their calculations. In addition to
the traditional sequence of studies available for college-bound
students, new, equally demanding mathematics curricula need to be
developed for those who do not plan to continue their formal education
immediately.
- The teaching of science in high school should
provide graduates with an introduction to: (a) the concepts, laws, and
processes of the physical and biological sciences; (b) the methods of
scientific inquiry and reasoning; (c) the application of scientific
knowledge to everyday life; and (d) the social and environmental
implications of scientific and technological development. Science
courses must be revised and updated for both the college-bound and
those not intending to go to college. An example of such work is the
American Chemical Society’s “Chemistry in the Community” program.
- The teaching of social studies in high school
should be designed to: (a) enable students to fix their places and
possibilities within the larger social and cultural structure;
(b) understand the broad sweep of both ancient and contemporary ideas
that have shaped our world; and (c) understand the fundamentals of how
our economic system works and how our political system functions; and
(d) grasp the difference between free and repressive societies. An
understanding of each of these areas is requisite to the informed and
committed exercise of citizenship in our free society.
- The teaching of computer science in high school
should equip graduates to: (a) understand the computer as an
information, computation, and communication device; (b) use the
computer in the study of the other Basics and for personal and
work-related purposes; and (c) understand the world of computers,
electronics, and related technologies.
In addition to the New Basics, other important curriculum matters must be addressed.
- Achieving proficiency in a foreign language
ordinarily requires from 4 to 6 years of study and should, therefore,
be started in the elementary grades. We believe it is desirable that
students achieve such proficiency because study of a foreign language
introduces students to non-English-speaking cultures, heightens
awareness and comprehension of one’s native tongue, and serves the
Nation’s needs in commerce, diplomacy, defense, and education.
- The high school curriculum should also provide students
with programs requiring rigorous effort in subjects that advance
students’ personal, educational, and occupational goals, such as the
fine and performing arts and vocational education. These areas
complement the New Basics, and they should demand the same level of
performance as the Basics.
- The curriculum in the crucial eight grades leading to the
high school years should be specifically designed to provide a sound
base for study in those and later years in such areas as English
language development and writing, computational and problem solving
skills, science, social studies, foreign language, and the arts. These
years should foster an enthusiasm for learning and the development of
the individual’s gifts and talents.
- We encourage the continuation of efforts by groups such as
the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, the Modern Language Association, and the
National Councils of Teachers of English and Teachers of Mathematics,
to revise, update, improve, and make available new and more diverse
curricular materials. We applaud the consortia of educators and
scientific, industrial, and scholarly societies that cooperate to
improve the school curriculum.
Recommendation B: Standards and Expectations
We recommend that schools, colleges, and
universities adopt more rigorous and measurable standards, and higher
expectations, for academic performance and student conduct, and that
4-year colleges and universities raise their requirements for
admission. This will help students do their best educationally with
challenging materials in an environment that supports learning and
authentic accomplishment.
Implementing Recommendations
- Grades should be indicators of academic achievement so they can be
relied on as evidence of a student’s readiness for further study.
- Four-year colleges and universities should raise their
admissions requirements and advise all potential applicants of the
standards for admission in terms of specific courses required,
performance in these areas, and levels of achievement on standardized
achievement tests in each of the five Basics and, where applicable,
foreign languages.
- Standardized tests of achievement (not to be confused with
aptitude tests) should be administered at major transition points from
one level of schooling to another and particularly from high school to
college or work. The purposes of these tests would be to: (a) certify
the student’s credentials; (b) identify the need for remedial
intervention; and (c) identify the opportunity for advanced or
accelerated work. The tests should be administered as part of a
nationwide (but not Federal) system of State and local standardized
tests. This system should include other diagnostic procedures that
assist teachers and students to evaluate student progress.
- Textbooks and other tools of learning and teaching should
be upgraded and updated to assure more rigorous content. We call upon
university scientists, scholars, and members of professional societies,
in collaboration with master teachers, to help in this task, as they
did in the post-Sputnik era. They should assist willing publishers in
developing the products or publish their own alternatives where there
are persistent inadequacies.
- In considering textbooks for adoption, States and school
districts should: (a) evaluate texts and other materials on their
ability to present rigorous and challenging material clearly; and
(b) require publishers to furnish evaluation data on the material’s
effectiveness.
- Because no textbook in any subject can be geared to the
needs of all students, funds should be made available to support text
development in “thin-market” areas, such as those for disadvantaged
students, the learning disabled, and the gifted and talented.
- To assure quality, all publishers should furnish evidence
of the quality and appropriateness of textbooks, based on results from
field trials and credible evaluation. In view of the enormous numbers
and varieties of texts available, more widespread consumer information
services for purchasers are badly needed.
- New instructional materials should reflect the most
current applications of technology in appropriate curriculum areas, the
best scholarship in each discipline, and research in learning and
teaching.
Recommendation C: Time
We recommend that significantly more time be
devoted to learning the New Basics. This will require more effective
use of the existing school day, a longer school day, or a lengthened
school year.
Implementing Recommendations
- Students in high schools should be assigned far more homework than is now the case.
- Instruction in effective study and work skills, which are
essential if school and independent time is to be used efficiently,
should be introduced in the early grades and continued throughout the
student’s schooling.
- School districts and State legislatures should strongly consider 7-hour school days, as well as a 200- to 220-day school year.
- The time available for learning should be expanded through
better classroom management and organization of the school day. If
necessary, additional time should be found to meet the special needs of
slow learners, the gifted, and others who need more instructional
diversity than can be accommodated during a conventional school day or
school year.
- The burden on teachers for maintaining discipline should
be reduced through the development of firm and fair codes of student
conduct that are enforced consistently, and by considering alternative
classrooms, programs, and schools to meet the needs of continually
disruptive students.
- Attendance policies with
clear incentives and sanctions should be used to reduce the amount of
time lost through student absenteeism and tardiness.
- Administrative
burdens on the teacher and related intrusions into the school day
should be reduced to add time for teaching and learning.
- Placement and grouping of students, as well as promotion
and graduation policies, should be guided by the academic progress of
students and their instructional needs, rather than by rigid adherence
to age.
Recommendation D: Teaching
This recommendation consists of seven parts. Each
is intended to improve the preparation of teachers or to make teaching
a more rewarding and respected profession. Each of the seven stands on
its own and should not be considered solely as an implementing
recommendation.
- Persons preparing to teach should be required to meet high
educational standards, to demonstrate an aptitude for teaching, and to
demonstrate competence in an academic discipline. Colleges and
universities offering teacher preparation programs should be judged by
how well their graduates meet these criteria.
- Salaries
for the teaching profession should be increased and should be
professionally competitive, market-sensitive, and performance-based.
Salary, promotion, tenure, and retention decisions should be tied to an
effective evaluation system that includes peer review so that superior
teachers can be rewarded, average ones encouraged, and poor ones either
improved or terminated.
- School boards should adopt an 11-month contract for
teachers. This would ensure time for curriculum and professional
development, programs for students with special needs, and a more
adequate level of teacher compensation.
- School boards, administrators, and teachers should
cooperate to develop career ladders for teachers that distinguish among
the beginning instructor, the experienced teacher, and the master
teacher.
- Substantial nonschool personnel resources should be
employed to help solve the immediate problem of the shortage of
mathematics and science teachers. Qualified individuals, including
recent graduates with mathematics and science degrees, graduate
students, and industrial and retired scientists could, with appropriate
preparation, immediately begin teaching in these fields. A number of
our leading science centers have the capacity to begin educating and
retraining teachers immediately. Other areas of critical teacher need,
such as English, must also be addressed.
- Incentives, such as grants and loans, should be made
available to attract outstanding students to the teaching profession,
particularly in those areas of critical shortage.
- Master teachers should be involved in designing teacher
preparation programs and in supervising teachers during their
probationary years.
Recommendation E: Leadership and Fiscal Support
We recommend that citizens across the
Nation hold educators and elected officials responsible for providing
the leadership necessary to achieve these reforms, and that citizens
provide the fiscal support and stability required to bring about the
reforms we propose.
Implementing Recommendations
- Principals and superintendents must play a crucial
leadership role in developing school and community support for the
reforms we propose, and school boards must provide them with the
professional development and other support required to carry out their
leadership role effectively. The Commission stresses the distinction
between leadership skills involving persuasion, setting goals and
developing community consensus behind them, and managerial and
supervisory skills. Although the latter are necessary, we believe that
school boards must consciously develop leadership skills at the school
and district levels if the reforms we propose are to be achieved.
- State and local officials, including school board members, governors, and legislators, have the primary responsibility
for financing and governing the schools, and should incorporate the
reforms we propose in their educational policies and fiscal planning.
- The Federal Government, in cooperation with States and
localities, should help meet the needs of key groups of students such
as the gifted and talented, the socioeconomically disadvantaged,
minority and language minority students, and the handicapped. In
combination these groups include both national resources and the
Nation’s youth who are most at risk.
- In addition, we believe the Federal Government’s role
includes several functions of national consequence that States and
localities alone are unlikely to be able to meet: protecting
constitutional and civil rights for students and school personnel;
collecting data, statistics, and information about education generally;
supporting curriculum improvement and research on teaching, learning,
and the management of schools; supporting teacher training in areas of
critical shortage or key national needs; and providing student
financial assistance and research and graduate training. We believe the
assistance of the Federal Government should be provided with a minimum
of administrative burden and intrusiveness.
- The Federal Government has the primary responsibility
to identify the national interest in education. It should also help
fund and support efforts to protect and promote that interest. It must
provide the national leadership to ensure that the Nation’s public and
private resources are marshaled to address the issues discussed in this
report.
- This Commission calls upon educators, parents, and public
officials at all levels to assist in bringing about the educational
reform proposed in this report. We also call upon citizens to provide
the financial support necessary to accomplish these purposes.
Excellence costs. But in the long run mediocrity costs far more.
America Can Do It
Despite the obstacles and difficulties that
inhibit the pursuit of superior educational attainment, we are
confident, with history as our guide, that we can meet our goal. The
American educational system has responded to previous challenges with
remarkable success. In the 19th century our land-grant colleges and
universities provided the research and training that developed our
Nation’s natural resources and the rich agricultural bounty of the
American farm. From the late 1800s through mid-20th century, American
schools provided the educated workforce needed to seal the success of
the Industrial Revolution and to provide the margin of victory in two
world wars. In the early part of this century and continuing to this
very day, our schools have absorbed vast waves of immigrants and
educated them and their children to productive citizenship. Similarly,
the Nation’s Black colleges have provided opportunity and undergraduate
education to the vast majority of college-educated Black Americans.
More recently, our institutions of higher education have provided the
scientists and skilled technicians who helped us transcend the
boundaries of our planet. In the last 30 years, the schools have been a
major vehicle for expanded social opportunity, and now graduate 75
percent of our young people from high school. Indeed, the proportion of
Americans of college age enrolled in higher education is nearly twice
that of Japan and far exceeds other nations such as France, West
Germany, and the Soviet Union. Moreover, when international comparisons
were last made a decade ago, the top 9 percent of American students
compared favorably in achievement with their peers in other countries.
In addition, many large urban areas in recent years report that average
student achievement in elementary schools is improving. More and more
schools are also offering advanced placement programs and programs for
gifted and talented students, and more and more students are enrolling
in them.
We are the inheritors of a past that gives us every reason to believe that we will succeed.
A Word to Parents and Students
The task of assuring the
success of our recommendations does not fall to the schools and
colleges alone. Obviously, faculty members and administrators, along
with policymakers and the mass media, will play a crucial role in the
reform of the educational system. But even more important is the role
of parents and students, and to them we speak directly.
To Parents
You know that you cannot confidently launch your children into today’s
world unless they are of strong character and well-educated in the use
of language, science, and mathematics. They must possess a deep respect
for intelligence, achievement, and learning, and the skills needed to
use them; for setting goals; and for disciplined work. That respect
must be accompanied by an intolerance for the shoddy and second-rate
masquerading as “good enough.”
You have the right to demand for your children the best our schools and
colleges can provide. Your vigilance and your refusal to be satisfied
with less than the best are the imperative first step. But your right
to a proper education for your children carries a double
responsibility. As surely as you are your child’s first and most
influential teacher, your child’s ideas about education and its
significance begin with you. You must be a living
example of what you expect your children to honor and to emulate.
Moreover, you bear a responsibility to participate actively in your
child’s education. You should encourage more diligent study and
discourage satisfaction with mediocrity and the attitude that says “let
it slide”; monitor your child’s study; encourage good study habits;
encourage your child to take more demanding rather than less demanding
courses; nurture your child’s curiosity, creativity, and confidence;
and be an active participant in the work of the schools. Above all,
exhibit a commitment to continued learning in your own life. Finally,
help your children understand that excellence in education cannot be
achieved without intellectual and moral integrity coupled with hard
work and commitment. Children will look to their parents and teachers
as models of such virtues.
To Students
You forfeit your chance for life at its fullest when you withhold your
best effort in learning. When you give only the minimum to learning,
you receive only the minimum in return. Even with your parents’ best
example and your teachers’ best efforts, in the end it is your
work that determines how much and how well you learn. When you work to
your full capacity, you can hope to attain the knowledge and skills
that will enable you to create your future and control your destiny. If
you do not, you will have your future thrust upon you by others. Take
hold of your life, apply your gifts and talents, work with dedication
and self-discipline. Have high expectations for yourself and convert
every challenge into an opportunity.
A Final Word
This is not the first or only commission on education, and some of our
findings are surely not new, but old business that now at last must be
done. For no one can doubt that the United States is under challenge
from many quarters.
Children born today can expect to graduate from high school in the year
2000. We dedicate our report not only to these children, but also to
those now in school and others to come. We firmly believe that a
movement of America’s schools in the direction called for by our
recommendations will prepare these children for far more effective
lives in a far stronger America.
Our final word, perhaps better characterized as a plea, is that all
segments of our population give attention to the implementation of our
recommendations. Our present plight did not appear overnight, and the
responsibility for our current situation is widespread. Reform of our
educational system will take time and unwavering commitment. It will
require equally widespread, energetic, and dedicated action. For
example, we call upon the National Academy of Sciences, National
Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, Science Service,
National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, American
Council of Learned Societies, National Endowment for the Humanities,
National Endowment for the Arts, and other scholarly, scientific, and
learned societies for their help in this effort. Help should come from
students themselves; from parents, teachers, and school boards; from
colleges and universities; from local, State, and Federal officials;
from teachers’ and administrators’ organizations; from industrial and
labor councils; and from other groups with interest in and
responsibility for educational reform.
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