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Education Reform
As we look to the future, it is imperative that we recognize that our national effort to raise standards is not just about testing, Mr. Riley notes. Rather, it represents a broad and sweeping endeavor to reform American education
from top to bottom. An unflinching commitment to excellence and equity must be our guiding principle.
When President Clinton took office in 1993, it was clear that American education needed to be strengthened at every level. Ten years had passed since the release of A Nation at Risk, which alerted many people to the woefully inadequate state ofAmerican education. Yet, because of a lack of rigor, standards, and funding at the local, state, and national levels, the crisis had continued. High-poverty schools were beset by the tyranny of low expectations, and there was little in the way of a national consensus on what to do about it.
The idea of higher standards for all children was emerging, but only in fits and starts. Just a handful of states and communities were consistently engaged in pursuing high standards, and the progress was slow. Many people doubted or simply did not believe in the fundamental principle underlying the standards movement: that we should have high expectations for all children - including poor children, children with disabilities, and the many new immigrant children flooding into our nation's classrooms.
Thus in 1993 American education was struggling to redefine itself, as well as to respond to the many new demands being placed on it. In many respects, we were unprepared. Yet, over the next eight years, a remarkable transformation took place.
Improving education moved to the top of the nation's domestic agenda, and a national consensus formed around the need to raise standards for all children, increase accountability, close the achievement gap, and reach clear national education goals. And instead of being eliminated, as sought by some in leadership positions, the U.S. Department of Education once again became the recipient of bipartisan congressional support that resulted in new and increased funding.
Credit for this remarkable turnaround must go largely to the American people - the parents, teachers, school boards, principals, superintendents, and others who dug in their heels and demanded a new level of excellence for...