Reaffirming Reagan administration policies on education and educational reform, the author proposes three priorities and four performance goals for American education over the next five years focusing on literacy, mathematics skills, civic instruction, the "five new basics," standardized test scores, dropout rates, and professional…

State legislation designed to help schools and students achieve "excellence" may spawn numerous unforeseen consequences. This article discusses seven potentially harmful reform ideas: extended school year, mimimum competency tests, reliance on standardized achievement tests, state-mandated courses or curricula, blue ribbon reform panels,…

This staff report summarizes testimony on competitiveness and the quality of the American work force. The testimony was received during 9 days of hearings held between September 23 and December 3, 1987, that featured 52 witnesses including federal and state officials, educators, business and labor leaders, and scholars. Contents comprise prepared…

Contrary to expectations a decade ago, the United States has not buried the dichotomy between vocational education and academic education. Instead, as shown by the publication of the report, "A Nation at Risk," the academic community is again declaring war on the vocational education establishment. This report, which stresses the need…

The present crisis in education has its roots in educational changes promoted by graduate schools of education which promoted looser standards as early as the 1920s. To reverse this trend will require more money, more rigorous qualifications for teachers, longer school days and years, and attention to new technologies. (IS)