U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today marked the 25th anniversary of the ground-breaking A Nation at Risk report by broadening the national dialogue on the state of the American education system. Over the next several months, Secretary Spellings will pose various questions on the Department's website related to the state of education in the U.S. in an effort to spur ideas, discussion, debate and, ultimately, action to better serve America's students.

"I have spent a lot of time talking with students, parents, teachers, business leaders, policymakers and others about their education experiences, how they think the public education system is serving America's children and how we can better partner to make sure all children receive a quality education," said Secretary Spellings. "I want to broaden that discussion to a much larger and more interactive forum by continuing it on the Internet. I look forward to the public's thoughtful and candid responses and to engaging in this interactive national dialogue."

To advance the dialogue, Secretary Spellings also released an issue paper entitled A Nation Accountable, which examines America's response to the warnings of the 1983 national report on education, A Nation at Risk.

"In 1983, A Nation At Risk delivered a wake up call for our education system. The report described stark realities such as the significant number of functionally illiterate high school students, plummeting student performance and the increasing competition from international competitors. It was a warning, a reproach and a call to arms," said Secretary Spellings. "A Nation Accountable examines what has changed 25 years later."

A Nation Accountable indicates that the American educational system has not fully learned the lessons of A Nation at Risk and continues to deal with the consequences. At the same time, A Nation At Risk inspired some state-level pioneers to think about standards and accountability in education and put them into practice. The landmark No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 built on this foundation. Now, because of No Child Left Behind, across the nation the progress of students of every race and income level is being measured, the nation is holding itself accountable for all students' performance and the system is finally producing and sharing data to determine what works.

"Accurate, honest information is helping to show us the way forward, but it's also revealing disturbing realities—like grave inequities between students of different races and income levels. As a result, the accountability movement to raise student achievement has reached a tipping point," said Secretary Spellings. "Will we hide from tough problems or redouble our efforts to help every student achieve their potential? Twenty-five years after A Nation at Risk, it's time to review the progress we have made since the report's release. We remain a nation at risk but are also now a nation informed, a nation accountable and a nation that recognizes there is much work to be done."

To participate in Secretary Spellings' national dialogue on the state of the American education system, please visit http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/risk25.html.

###

Top

Back to May 2008