Congress's role in defining and promoting equality of educational opportunity has evolved over the past 55 years since "Brown v. Board of Education." Most recently, all three branches of the federal government have focused more on equality of educational opportunity for "individual" students rather than for protected classes.…

Argues that the 1983 publication of "A Nation at Risk" catapulted the issue of educational reform into the public sphere, fueling educational reform policy, corporate involvement, gubernatorial attention, and legislative action, culminating in the passage of "Goals 2000." Offers a critical review of the scholarly literature…

During the past 12 years there was a sudden and unexpected consensus held by U.S. Congressmen and Presidents that students in U.S. public schools were learning less than they should. Moreover, the conservatives and liberals agreed that the proper policy response to this public problem was to raise education standards. Recent years brought five…

This paper discusses trends in British and U.S. school reform and compares government support of education by the "loyal opposition" of both countries. Between 1980 and 1995, school reform policies in the United States generally enjoyed broad, bipartisan support. The same, however, cannot be said in Britain where ideological differences…

"Short Route to Chaos" criticizes the Goals 2000 program, related educational reforms, and the agenda of the Religious Right from the viewpoint of the secular Left. Arons supports school choice, school and teacher independence from government regulation of instructional content, publicly funded schools, and equity in funding. (SLD)

Lessons learned from school reform are the foundation for Goals 2000: Educate America Act. It offers the framework and support for states and communities to reach goals designed to help schools create and achieve their own vision of what they want for their children. The U. S. Department of Education wants to be a partner in the efforts to bring…

Goals 2000 was developed in the face of a barrage of criticism of the public schools by people with the best of intentions and with great hopes for the future of American education. The effects of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act cannot match its supporters' intentions and its implementation threatens to escalate conflict over schooling. Goals…

"The ERIC Review" is published three times a year and announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This issue explores systemic education reform via an overview of systemic reform, a description of the Kentucky example, and an article, "Roadmap to Restructuring" (David T.…

Discusses the U.S. Department of Education's role as "America's best teacher," with the responsibility to provide national leadership and expertise on educational issues. Suggests that the department must support national education initiatives, such as the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, at the state and local level to help teachers,…

A historic change is taking place in American education with the development of voluntary national standards that will identify what all students should know and be able to do in order to live and work in the twenty-first century. Content standards will define what students should know and be able to do, and performance standards will identify the…

The passage of Goals 2000 represents a victory for advocates of a stronger federal role in improving schools. The article explores the principal elements of Goals 2000, the origins of the "new federalism," the education legislative record of the Clinton administration, and what further efforts are necessary to meet the needs of American…

This document consists of the 11 issues of this brief newsletter issued between April 1993 and May 1994. The newsletter provides information to help schools and communities to reach the National Education Goals. Each issue contains reports on monthly satellite town meetings focused on specific goals or issues; topics to be discussed in upcoming…

This Congressional report discusses recent accomplishments and continuing issues in the federal role in helping states and localities improve K-12 education. The panel that prepared the report consisted of state and local educators, researchers, and other citizens committed to education. The document focuses on the implementation of major federal…

The United States Secretary of Education explains how the Goals 2000 Act provides a framework for encouraging systemic education reform under the leadership of state and local education agencies. Discusses the nature of the federal government's role in education, its constitutional origins, and its development and expansion. (295 references) (MLF)

Constant attention by all Americans is needed to preserve what little local control in education remains. Chief among dangerous federal legislation moving the country toward a federal education system is the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. The paper examines Goals 2000 and other federal legislation that seeks to remove parental control, noting…