Good Example Of Research Paper On A Nation At Risk

A Nation at Risk was developed and written by a commission of seventeen professionals from the fields of education, government and the private sector. The commission was headed by David Pierpont Gardner. The commission was created by the Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, T.H. Bell. The purpose of the commission was to investigate, analyze and supply suggested improvements in the educational system of the United States. It was widely recognized at the time that education in the United States was lagging far behind many other nations (U.S. Department of Education).
Historically, several presidents have created boards or committee to review the state of education. In 1947, President Truman created the first committee to study education in America. President Kennedy also initiated the Task Force on Education in 1960 (National Archives). In the 1980’s several studies had compared American children’s test scores with those of other countries and American children were functioning at much lower levels.
The United States was slowly coming out of a recession at the time. The government was grappling with economic reforms. Computers and technologically were becoming more widespread. The labor market was not as prepared or educated compared to many other nations. The Cold War and Communism were coming to an end in the Soviet Union. The War on Drugs was declared (The 1980s).
Since the publication of A Nation at Risk, many reforms have been made in education. According to the National Education Association, schools and states stepped up to improve educational outcomes. States instituted stricter and tougher standards in the curriculum. No Child Left Behind was implemented to ensure teachers were well certified to teach and also implemented strict standards in education. Today, the Common Core Standards have been adopted by many states to provide uniformity in teaching (Graham 2013).

References

A nation at risk (1983). U.S. Department of Education, Archived Information. Retrieved
Graham, E. (April 25, 2013). “A nation at risk” turns 30: Where did it take us? NEA Today.
Retrieved from: http://neatoday.org/2013/04/25/a-nation-at-risk-turns-30-where-did-it-take-
us-2/
Records of temporary committees, commissions and boards. National Archives. Date accessed
April 12, 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-
records/groups/220.html
The 1980’s. History.com Date Accessed April 12, 2015 Retrieved from:
http://www.history.com/topics/1980s