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OCR for page 60
APPENDIX
CThe Education Refonn Movement
of the 19SOs
In the 1980s, a crusade to improve
public education gathered momentum. The movement began as several
states sought to correct long-standing problems in public schools.
In 1983, the education reform movement gained national prominence
with the publication of the report, A Nation at Risk (National Commis-
sion on Excellence in Education, 19831. That report criticized Ameri-
can education and issued several recommendations to remedy per-
ceived problems. The commission recommended 4 years of English, 3
years of mathematics, 3 years of science, 3 years of social studies, and
one-half year of computer science for high school students seeking a
diploma. The commission strongly recommended 2 years of foreign lan-
guage for college-bound students. The report suggested that the school
day be lengthened or students spend more of the year in school, and
schools renew their commitment to basic skills and academic subjects.
A Nation at Risk spurred action at all levels of government. Gover-
nors and state legislatures that had not already done so began to cre-
ate panels and develop strategies for educational reform. In some cases,
individual school boards began reform plans of their own (USDE, 19841.
The education reform movement touches virtually all aspects of ed-
ucation. Its general theme, however, is that more should be demanded
of teachers, students, and administrators, and basic subjects and cog-
nitive skills should be reemphasized.
One set of reforms sought to improve the quality and skills of teach-
ers. It was found that as a group, college students who planned to ma-
jor in education had low scores on Scholastic Aptitude Tests (The Col-
lege Board, 19851. To remedy this problem, schools and colleges of
teacher education are focusing on recruitment to attract and retain
60
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APPENDIX C
61
better students and upgrading course work contents and requirements
for prospective teachers (USDE, 19841.
Reformers also criticized the required curricula for undergraduate
and graduate degrees in education, which, they argued, showed future
teachers how to teach but not what to teach. Because teacher certifi-
cation in most states requires some credits in education, college grad-
uates with biology or English degrees who subsequently decide upon a
teaching career have to return to school to take required education
courses. Critics argued that such requirements keep many highly
skilled individuals out of the classroom. To encourage these people to
pursue careers in teaching, a few states have developed teacher prep-
aration programs for graduates with liberal arts and science degrees.
The programs generally involve participation in a 1-year or short-term
intensive teacher education program that grants full certification to
those who complete it.
Testing of the skills and knowledge of teacher candidates also be-
came more common in the early 1980s, following reports that docu-
mented deficiencies among active teachers. The National Teacher Ex-
amination became more widely used for individuals first entering the
teaching profession. Some states also began testing teachers already
at work.
The education reform movement affected teachers already in the
classroom in other ways, too. Following the lead of Tennessee's then-
Governor Lamar Alexander, states and school districts began trying to
assemble "master teacher" or "career ladder" plans. The goals of these
plans were to reward excellent teachers with higher status and more
money, as well as to use these teachers as mentors and models for less
experienced colleagues. In practice, however, the plans proved very dif-
ficult to set up; objective criteria for "excellence" were not easily de-
fined. Nevertheless, the career ladder concept is still being tried in
some places.
Most of the recommendations that came out of the reform movement
were aimed at students. The quality and the quantity of instruction
were generally found wanting.
In the area of quality, reformers criticized the emphasis on instruc-
tion that did not demand that students think critically and analyti-
cally. Results of the National Assessment for Educational Progress
(NAEP) found that students had improved in basic skills in recent years
and could now read and perform simple arithmetic better than stu-
dents could a decade earlier. But when confronted with questions that
demanded analysis or critical thinking, students did not improve. They
were not adequately taught to solve problems, only to recognize correct
answers (NAEP, 19821.
Education in mathematics, science, and foreign languages was found
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62
APPENDIX C
particularly deficient. A 1980 report by the NSF and USDE character-
ized Americans as "scientific illiterates." It found that students re-
ceived too little instruction in science and mathematics to prepare them
for their roles as workers and citizens in a highly technological society
(NSF and USDE, 19801. In 1983, a commission appointed by the Na-
tional Science Board (NSB) proposed a plan to remedy the deficiencies
in mathematics and science instruction (NSB Commission on Precol-
lege Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology, 19831. The
commission recommended that substantial science instruction begin
in the early years of school and be integrated into the curriculum in a
way that gives students more hands-on experience. As students pro-
gress through school, instruction should continue to illuminate the
links between science, society, and practical problems such as energy
use, pollution, and disease.
Most education officials and policymakers responded to these criti-
cisms in a straightforward way: they raised graduation requirements.
Many state colleges and land grant universities imposed stricter en-
trance requirements, typically involving more academic credits. In
many states where students were required to take one science course
before receiving a diploma, they are now required to take two or three.
The same is true for mathematics and, in some cases, foreign
languages.
Increasing requirements for the number of hours devoted to these
basic academic courses soon raised new concerns. Time available for
electives and extracurricular activities was reduced, as were opportu-
nities to explore different subjects or take vocational courses. Nor was
it enough simply to require more of the same abstract science typically
offered what students needed to learn was how science and technol-
ogy affect the world. Some agricultural educators were already work-
ing to incorporate more science into vocational agriculture courses, but
they found it harder to attract students who had to fit more academic
subjects into their school day.
The long-term effects of the educational reform movement on elec-
tives are still not known. Whether vocational agriculture will flourish
under the new requirements will depend at least in part on its own
capacity to be flexible and scientifically rigorous. Vocational agricul-
ture can achieve this rigor by satisfying, in part, newly imposed grad-
uation and college entrance requirements.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
vocational agriculture
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