A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Section I: Introduction and Purpose of the Document

"To prepare America for the 21st century, we need strong, safe schools with clear standards of achievement and discipline, and talented and dedicated teachers in every classroom. Every 8-year old must be able to read, every 12-year old must be able to log on to the Internet, every 18-year old must be able to go to college. . . . We must provide our people with the best education in the world."

-- President Bill Clinton, 1997

On February 4, 1997, President Clinton, in his fifth State of the Union address, announced a bold, far-reaching national crusade for education. The following week, he issued a "Call-to-Action for American Education" that set forth ten broad principles to guide the nation's education improvement agenda. Then, during the last week of February, Secretary Riley convened a retreat of the U.S. Department of Education's senior leadership. The purpose of the retreat was to identify those specific areas in the "Call-to-Action" that the U.S. Department of Education could most effectively address -- areas in which it could make a strategic difference. During the retreat, the Department identified seven national priorities that would guide its activities over the next four years.

The first three priorities focus on specific results all students should achieve at critical points in their schooling.

1. Read independently and well by the end of third grade;
2. Master challenging mathematics, including the foundations of algebra and geometry, by the end of eighth grade; and,
3. By eighteen years of age, be prepared for and be able to afford college.

Priorities four through seven are key strategies to enable students to achieve these results:

4. All states and their schools will have challenging and clear standards of achievement and accountability for all children and effective strategies for reaching these standards;
5. There will be a talented, dedicated and well-prepared teacher in every classroom;
6. Every classroom will be connected to the Internet by the year 2000, and all students will be technologically literate; and,
7. Every school will be strong, safe, drug-free and disciplined.

These priorities, which engage all of the U.S. Department of Education's program offices, build on and reflect the Department's activities and legislation over the past four years. Although more focused and specific, they also fit with the eight National Goals and the Department's broader mission to promote equity and excellence in education for all children. The seven priorities are intended to serve as leverage points for moving students and school systems towards excellence and equity for all.

This document is intended to state clearly the significance of each of these seven priorities, as well as illustrate how they grew out of previous and ongoing efforts of the U.S. Department of Education. Section II provides an overview of the seven priorities, including an historical perspective. Section III describes each priority in greater detail. It highlights the importance of each priority and the strategies and the existing Department programs that can support each one. Overall, the document is a work in progress and will evolve as the seven priorities gain greater specificity in the months ahead.

Your comments on this document are invited, please send them to 7priorities@ed.gov.

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[ Table of Contents ] [ Overview of the Seven Priorities ]