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

President Clinton's Call to Action for American Education in the 21st Century

National Standards of Academic Excellence

NOTE: This document was last updated on February 13, 1997. For the most recent information on voluntary national tests, please visit the Voluntary National Tests site.

Student achievement is not improving fast enough. Across our nation--in our cities, suburbs, and rural communities alike--far too many students are still not meeting the standards that will prepare them for the challenges of today and tomorrow. What the top 20 percent of our students typically learn in math in the 8th grade is learned by most students in Japan in the 7th grade. And while today America's 4th graders read as well as ever on average, 40 percent cannot read as well as they should to hold a solid job in tomorrow's economy.

As a nation, we do not expect enough of our students. Strong schools with clear and high standards of achievement and discipline are essential to our children and our society. These standards of excellence are important to help instill the excitement, knowledge and basic values, such as hard work, that will set our children on the right track. Unfortunately, we currently give far too many of our students a watered-down curriculum inadequate to prepare them for the challenges of the global society and information age. For too many of our children, we create a tyranny of low expectations. A watered-down and boring curriculum and low expectations are the surest way of turning a child eager to learn into an angry, high school dropout who can't read.

Every child can learn. We know that every child in America can meet higher standards, if we have the courage and the vision to set the standards, to teach up to them, and to test whether children have learned what we have taught them. Every state and every school must establish meaningful standards for what students should master in the core subjects. Only with a standard measure of excellence can parents hold schools accountable for improved performance, teachers and principals improve curriculum and instruction, and students have a guide for charting their own progress.

Mastering the Basics: High National Standards in Reading and Math

Every 4th grader should be able to read independently; every 8th grader should know algebra. To help make sure they do, we are going to provide states and local schools the opportunity to participate in rigorous national tests based on these widely accepted standards for reading and math. By 1999, every state should test every student in the 4th and 8th grades to make sure these standards are met. No matter where they live and no matter their background, all our students must master the basics.

Reading and math are critical starting points in our drive toward higher standards.
It is essential that our students master the basics of reading English by the end of 3rd grade. At 4th grade, students are expected to read so they can learn science, history, literature and mathematics. If they can read by then, they can read to learn for a lifetime. Students who fail to read well by 4th grade often have a greater likelihood of dropping out and a lifetime of diminished success.
It is also important that our students master the basics of math and the essentials of algebra and even geometry by the end of 8th-grade. They will then have the foundation to take college prep courses in high school and compete in the world arena. The United States ranks below average internationally in 8th grade math. We must do better.

A New National Test in 4th-Grade Reading and 8th-Grade Math

The Clinton Administration will support the development by 1999 of rigorous national tests for use by individual students based on the widely accepted 4th-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test and the 8th-grade Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) test of mathematics.
Although the national reading and math tests will be based on existing tests (National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP] in reading and the math portion of the Third International Math and Science Study [TIMSS]), new tests must be developed. NAEP and TIMSS test a random sample of students to produce estimates of overall statewide and nationwide student achievement; no one student takes the entire test. In contrast, the new tests will be expressly designed to produce individual student scores that will be useful for parents and teachers.
The new tests will be developed during 1997 and 1998, with a pilot test in the spring of 1998 and the first full administration in the spring of 1999. They will be updated annually. The U.S. Department of Education will provide ongoing funding for the development of the tests, and funding for administering and scoring them during the first year. Guidance for test development will come from the most successful math and reading teachers across the country, as well as from parents, governors, and local and state education, civic and business leaders.
The Administration is challenging every state and local school across the country to participate in these tests so students, teachers, and parents will know how they are progressing.
States and school districts can administer the tests as part of their local testing program. After each test's administration, the entire test (along with answers and scoring guides) will be released, placed on the World Wide Web, and widely distributed with supporting materials, so students, parents and teachers can know what is necessary to reach standards of excellence. New tests each year will keep the content current.
We need a national effort to ensure that our students learn the basics and achieve world-class standards of excellence in America's schools. These tests will help show us who needs extra help and which schools need to be improved.
The Administration urges schools and teachers to work over the next two years to improve instruction and prepare their students for these tests by 1999.
Preparing students for the national tests in 1999 means providing students the instruction they need to read independently and well by the end of 3rd grade and the after-school and summer tutoring they need. And it means ensuring that every student by the end of 8th grade has mastered the basics of mathematics and has had a good introduction to algebra and even geometry. While this will require teachers, parents, schools, communities and states to take a hard look at the rigor of what is being taught and the extent to which children are now learning, we know it can be done.
For example, the results on the 8th-Grade Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test showed that the United States is below average in mathematics achievement when compared with other countries. TIMSS also showed that U.S. students receive a less demanding and less focused curriculum, with instruction focused more on teaching mathematical procedures and less on helping students understand mathematical concepts. However, the First in the World Consortium, a group of 20 Chicago-area school districts that joined together to try to become the best in the world in math and science, defied these data, scoring among the top nations in science and second only to Singapore in math.

Developing Challenging Academic Standards in All Core Academic Subjects

Many states and school districts--along with thousands of educators, parents and business and community leaders--have been working to develop better academic standards for students. In almost every core subject, we are better off today because of their efforts in defining essential knowledge, skills and understanding in a range of subjects. But the work is not yet done.

Places that Set High Standards Have Shown a Difference
In Student Achievement
In 1993, the chancellor of the New York City Schools required all students to take math and science courses at the level of the state's Regents honors exam. In 1995, State Education Commissioner Richard Mills announced that all students would be required to take Regents-level classes starting with that fall's freshman class (the graduating class of 2000). Since the City University of New York (CUNY) began its College Preparatory Initiative with the district, the number of New York City freshman with four years of English has risen by 59 percent, the number of students passing CUNY math entrance exams has increased by 7.5 percent, and the number of Hispanic and black students who passed the science test has more than doubled. Entering freshman at the City University of New York are reportedly the best prepared academically in two decades.

Several important pieces of legislation developed by the Clinton Administration together with Congress support the efforts of local schools, communities and states to develop challenging standards and high-quality assessments and improve teaching and learning to help all children reach those standards:

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, passed in 1994, is helping communities across the country raise academic standards, improve teaching, increase parental involvement and expand the use of technology in the classroom. Communities in all 50 states and thousands of schools have decided to participate in Goals 2000 and many more than the program currently has money to support want Goals 2000 funding to raise standards.
The Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 fundamentally reformed Title I--a $7 billion program for teaching basic and advanced skills in high-poverty schools--to get rid of lower educational expectations for poor children and ensure that disadvantaged students are held to the same standards as other children. The Improving America's Schools Act also expands professional development focused on preparing teachers to help students reach the new standards, provides opportunities for waivers of federal requirements for the first time, and offers start-up funds for charter schools.
The Clinton Administration reinforces the importance of higher standards for all children through its proposal for the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as well as through strategies to support and strengthen bilingual education programs.

While the federal government can provide support and leadership through its programs, the success of this drive toward high standards rests in the hands of teachers and parents, business, community and religious leaders, and others at the grassroots level. Every community, school, and state needs to continue its work to develop challenging standards and high-quality assessments, measure whether schools are meeting those standards, cut red tape so that schools have more flexibility for grassroots reforms, and hold schools, teachers, and students accountable for results.

States Are Making Progress in Developing Standards and
Improving Achievement in Critical Areas
Since the early 1980s, the United States has made significant strides in raising standards and improving student achievement. Across the country, 48 states are developing common standards in core academic subjects, and 42 states either have or are developing assessments to measure student progress towards those standards. The proportion of students taking the core courses recommended in A Nation at Risk (4 years of English, 3 years of social studies, 3 years of science, 3 years of math) has increased from 14 percent in 1982 to 52 percent in 1994. These efforts are beginning to pay off. The number of students passing advanced placement (AP) exams has more than tripled since 1982. Combined math and verbal Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are at their highest since 1974, while the number and diversity of students taking the SAT has increased dramatically. American College Testing (ACT) scores have increased or held steady in each of the last four years. Math and science achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has risen since the early 1980s. And in states like Kentucky, which established comprehensive school improvements six years ago, student achievement is on the rise: more than 92 percent of Kentucky's schools posted achievement gains in 1995-96, and 50 percent of schools in the state met or exceeded their performance goals. University of New York are reportedly the best prepared academically in two decades.

Preparing Academically for College

To get ahead and navigate these changing times, our middle and high school students today need to be preparing to go to at least two years of college and probably go back to college, postsecondary training programs, and universities several more times in their lifetime to continually upgrade their skills and knowledge. That means our elementary and secondary schools need to raise their standards for promotion and graduation. They need to make mastering the basics universal and strengthen all of their core subjects from science to American history and English and from the arts to foreign languages. Students can get on the path to college by mastering successfully not only basic math but the essentials of algebra and geometry by the 8th grade. High schools need to eliminate their general track and replace it with advanced placement and tech-prep classes and other rigorous courses. Students need to be preparing to handle college work and careers. That's why the President in his 1998 budget is supporting expansion of advanced placement courses, raising standards for students, teachers and schools, and continuing support for tech-prep.

Holding Students and Schools Accountable for Reaching High Standards

It is not enough to set high standards; we must be willing to hold people accountable for meeting them. Our schools and teachers must give all children the help needed to meet high expectations. But we must also say: no more free passes. Today, only a handful of states in the country require young people to demonstrate what they've learned in order to move from one level of school to the next. Every state should do this and put an end to social promotion. No one in America should graduate with a diploma he or she can barely read.

Not only students should be held to high standards. Schools must also be held accountable for results. Despite the central importance of a school principal in leading a successful school, few states hold their districts accountable for having good principals in every school and then give the principals the authority they need to do the job. Too many school districts spend much too much money on central administration and too little money on education and instruction. It is time to hold administrators, as well as educators, accountable for results.

Every diploma must mean something, and students should pass tests to move from one level of schooling to the next.
Once we set high expectations for students, we must help them believe they can learn, challenge and motivate them so they want to learn, ask them to grasp challenging subjects, assess whether or not they're learning, reward them when they succeed and hold them accountable when they fall short. Every state should require a test for students to move from elementary school to middle school, or from middle school to high school or to receive a high school diploma. These tests should measure mastery of the basics and the rigorous material expected in these tough new standards.
Some children may not measure up at first and may need extra help to lift themselves up. Give them the extra help in afternoons, weekends and summers, keep schools open as homework centers, involve their parents more--do whatever it takes to encourage and help them master the basics and perform to the challenging standards we expect of them. If we believe all students can learn, we have to give them a chance to demonstrate it. Students, teachers, and schools will all perform better once we do.
We must begin holding schools and their states or school districts accountable for results.
We must insist that schools and districts have good principals, recruit and hire talented teachers, reduce administrative costs, and provide more options for parents. Moreover, we should overhaul or shut down schools that fail, and allow new charter schools to start over in their place. The Clinton Administration is urging states and districts to use their authority under the reformed Title I program to hold schools accountable for the assistance they receive, including reconstituting chronically failing schools.

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Last Updated -- June 5, 1998, (pjk)