Nation at Risk

I found the Nation at Risk articles to be very interesting. I was very struck by a quote in the first article, which said:

"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. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves. We have even squandered the gains in student achievement made in the wake of the Sputnik challenge. Moreover, we have dismantled essential support systems which helped make those gains possible. We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament."

The Sputnik challenge and subsequent arms race was truly one of the steps that has brought American education to where it is today, and I think that this is something that is not recognized or even known by the general populace. In the earlier article, I found that many of the issues that were discussed we have addressed here at UMF, by way of differentiated instruction and an appreciation for the differing learning styles of students.

Although I do not think that the result of the earlier article (namely, the NCLB act) was worth it, I believe that if it truly was the kick-start that got America discussing education in a serious manner, than we may look back on it one day as one of the greatest articles in American Educational history. Although NCLB has many flaws and has perhaps caused far more problems than it has improvements, the theory behind it (ensuring that minorities and lower-class students were given extra help) was sound. The educational conversation has been initiated, and even 25 years later as we work out the kinks we continue to grow and try new approaches we are continuing the conversation for the better.