A Nation at Risk

A Nation at Risk is a report that brings to attention the problem faced by the American school system. The problem which the report speaks of is a general decline in the effectiveness and perception of the American education system. The article realizes that over the years, the US has begun to be outperformed scholastically by other countries that have taken the educational principals which our nation was founded upon and maximized them to a degree which we have failed to accomplish. The article highlights such indicators of the fall of the American Education as increases in remedial class and a lack of higher cognitive skills in adolescents and American adults. One of the problems realized by the article is that the American public recognizes the short comings of the educational system in place and feels as though one of the fundamental principals this nation was built upon is not being delivered in a satisfactory fashion. Increasingly the average American views the educational enterprise with a cynicism that debunks the success of curriculum goals to an even greater degree than would have otherwise taken place. The ray of hope in this deluge is that the American populous is not complacent with the status of learning received by it's youth; however, the true problems arises in the fundamental disconnect between the echoed cry for greater educational reform and the true level of interest our society invests to its schools as is shown by the delayed, and in certain cases ignored, adherence to the guidelines set forth by the Nation at Risk report. In truth, much of this report could be republished with the simple amendment of changing the date and remain just as accurate, poignant, and relevant as its initial publication 27 years ago.