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

Executive Summary

Section 312 of the authorizing statute requires a biennial report to Congress on the progress of Goals 2000. As the second such report to Congress, Goals 2000: Reforming Education to Improve Student Performance describes: 1) the legislation's history and impact on State planning; 2) its strategic role, the dynamic and diverse manner in which Goals 2000 supports reform; 3) change at the local level--the role and impact of Goals 2000 on districts and schools; 4) implementation of standards-based reform--progress in pursuing aligned principles of reform; and 5) continuing the effort--how far States and communities have come and what still needs to be done.

Goals 2000 supports State efforts to develop clear and rigorous standards for what every child should know and be able to do, and supports comprehensive State- and district-wide planning and implementation of school improvement efforts focused on improving student achievement to those standards. Largely through State awards that are distributed on a competitive basis to local school districts⁽¹⁾, Goals 2000 promotes education reform in every State and thousands of districts and schools.

Forty-seven States plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico now have comprehensive Goals 2000 plans for education reform. Thirty-six States have established content standards and 18--including Puerto Rico--have defined performance standards developed in a process approved by Title I; remaining States are currently working to complete both content and performance standards. In addition, all States are expected to have aligned assessments in place by 2001 and are developing systems that hold districts and schools accountable for student performance. Approximately sixty percent of Goals 2000 subgrants support local professional development and teacher preservice education efforts to support teaching based on high standards for student achievement.

By providing resources, direction, and flexibility, Goals 2000 supports State and local level implementation of school change. In Georgia, Goals 2000 support for school reform has been described as a "turning point," and in Colorado, Governor Roemer describes Goals 2000 as a "flexible partnership" that has allowed the State to "transform the federal grant into local action."

Over the last four years, Goals 2000 has allocated over $1.7 billion to the States. At least 90% of each State's award is subgranted to districts in support of local reform, professional development, and preservice education and in 1997 more than 3,000 local awards were made.

The subgrants cover a wide and imaginative spectrum of reform proposals and approaches to aligning school improvement efforts to high expectations for student achievement. For example, Brandywine School District in Delaware has focused its efforts on developing curriculum guides and demonstrating model lessons aligned to the State standards. One of the State's largest districts, Brandywine has seen annual increases in student performance. As Governor Carper said in response to State-wide improvements on the Delaware assessment, student outcomes "signify that we're on the right track."

In Kentucky, where the majority of awards focus on professional development and parental involvement, it has been reported that "the districts receiving Goals 2000 funds performed at higher levels than districts that did not."

In Oregon, where college-bound students score first nationwide on the SAT I: Reasoning Test, Goals 2000 supports professional development through K-12 teacher and university staff partnerships in school-based action research projects.

Continuing the school reform effort will require ongoing support and a solid commitment to ensuring that all children learn to high standards. It will also require the realization and understanding that: school improvements require systemic change; the process of aligning systems is difficult and complex; reform is an iterative process that calls for continuous improvement; and accomplishing the goals requires sustained momentum.

Through the implementation of Goals 2000 and standards-based reform, States and communities are working to ensure positive answers to lingering questions: To what extent are all teachers and schools familiar with the standards, to what extent are they driven by them, and do they believe and behave as though all children can reach them? Is student performance improving universally and for all children?

Implementation of significant changes--particularly across formerly fragmented systems-- aligned to high standards and improved performance requires a sustained commitment to education reform.

In the words of Dr. Henry Marockie, West Virginia Superintendent of Schools, Goals 2000 provides the flexibility and incentives to develop coordinated strategic plans that prioritize needs, address local concerns, and align necessarily diverse efforts. "The seemingly impossible dream of top down, bottom up reform [is] becoming a reality ... At last, the Feds finally got it right."

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