A Nation At Risk

Abstract: This article argues that the United States of America is at risk of falling behind the rest of the industrialized nations in the areas of commerce, industry, technology and other sciences. This is due to the lack of skill that Americans possess the skills and training in order to surpass other workers from other nations. This is partly because of the attitude that “education means doing the minimum work necessary for the moment, then coasting through life on what may have been learned in its first quarter” (4). The article recommends that in response to this "risk", graduation requirements be strengthened, standards and expectations be raised of graduates, or that more time should be required to be spent in school (such as extending the school day.) Other suggestions are: Teachers be required to meet high standards, and other leadership and fiscal reforms take place.

Reflection: I thought that, in a lot of ways, this article seems to mimic No Child Left Behind, with the standards being put across the board in order to achieve a certain level of education. I think that a lot of the information and statistics in this article are interesting, however some of the ideas are a little bit absurd (extending the school day, for more homework than is now the case?) As a high school student, I had around 4 hours of homework a night! However, some of the ideas made a lot of sense; I liked the idea about better classroom management ideas, along with firm and fair codes of student conduct that are enforced CONSISTENTLY.