Balance (1965 - 1990)
Outcomes and Excellence
By the 1980s, the federal government began to more vocally define educational problems and purposes in light of national economic concerns. The report A Nation at Risk (1983) changed public dialogue about education and focused attention on educational outcomes rather than inputs. In this way, policy shifted from concerns over equality alone to concerns about excellence.
The Department of Education, under Terrell Bell's leadership during the Ronald Reagan presidency, backed away from programs aimed at equal educational opportunity and began a new public discussion of educational excellence in the 1980s.
Concern over educational excellence began in the late 1970s and early 1980s as many educators realized that student scores on standardized tests had been dropping since the mid-1960s. The concern over the drop in SAT scores coincided with and perhaps precipitated the general concern about academic standards and the inability of youths to meet standards of educational excellence.
In 1981, Secretary of Education Bell appointed a commission to examine the decline in standards and achievement. The Commission published its report, entitled A Nation at Risk, in 1983 and turned the public dialogue toward educational and academic excellence.
A Nation at Risk stated that there was a rising tide of mediocrity in American education. The report argued that this state of American education threatened the nation's ability to economically compete in the global market against Japan, Germany, and Korea.
The report attempted to correlate economic productivity with academic achievement by comparing the educational standards and abilities of American young people with Japanese youngsters. The report stated that the most important subjects were mathematics, sciences, and technology.
While the report A Nation at Risk used military rhetoric, it did point out that there was cause for concern over the state of American education: declining test scores, increasing dropout rates, lower academic standards, and poor teacher morale. However, the report shifted emphasis from inputs into the educational process to the outcomes of educational experiences.
Bell's successor, William Bennett, tried to eliminate the department but did not find a willing Congress. However, budget cuts to the department led to severe down-sizing of federal education programs, especially federal financial aid for college students. These cuts again de-emphasized inputs and focused educational policy on outcomes.
Some institutions, however, attempted to balance concerns over equity with concerns about excellence. In the College Board Review article, "Babel or Opportunity: Recent Reports on Education" educators attempted to understand what reports like A Nation at Risk meant for education, educators, and educational organizations.
