A Nation at Risk: 25 Years Later

Special coverage marking the 25th anniversary of the landmark report A Nation at Risk is supported in part by a grant from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

For more stories, take a look at the previous anniversary collections: 20th | 10th | 5th.

Anna Golob Doneva demonstrates a math problem on the board at Toneta Cufarja Elementary School in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The 10-year-old is following a curriculum that all 4th graders in her nation now use, which is credited for helping to improve performance. Related Photogallery: Global Strategies
—Matej Druznik/AP for Education Week
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A Nation at Risk: Timeline

After decades of trying to get common content in schools, the land Down Under appears to be on the verge of succeeding. April 21, 2009

In South Korea, families spend about 10 percent of their incomes on private tutoring and other academic services. April 21, 2009

Revamped content and teacher training has led to higher student scores on international exams. April 21, 2009

Three countries, in their own ways, search for the means to improve student achievement—and their chances for success in the world arena. April 21, 2009

Differences in demographics, policies, and cultural norms among nations make it difficult to judge the value of the tests. April 21, 2009

A tour of Education Week's commentary archives for perspectives on the findings of the landmark report, A Nation at Risk. April 21, 2009

The mediocre performance of U.S. students on international exams, such as the PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS, has prompted concern among American policymakers in recent years. April 20, 2009

Richard H. Hersh writes, "The debate is not just about the ends of education but, equally important, its means—curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment—and where the emphasis on content and skill acquisition and its measurement ought to be placed, given limited time and resources." April 20, 2009

Ronald A. Wolk writes, "We will make real progress only when we realize that our problem in education is not one of performance but one of design." April 20, 2009

A quarter-century after A Nation at Risk warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity," efforts are afoot to strengthen the growing charter sector. February 23, 2009

Scholars are studying how staffing practices in charter and regular public schools diverge, and what impact those differences make. February 23, 2009

A group of Texas charters aims to expand the ranks of disadvantaged students who graduate, not just from high school, but college as well. February 23, 2009

“It would make more sense to have an education system that focuses on what students learn, rather than what they are taught,” writes Arthur E. Levine. February 20, 2009

"The tragedy of A Nation at Risk is that those who were roused to action by the language of crisis got only half the report's message: the need for school standards," writes David S. Seeley. February 20, 2009

A tour of the Commentary archives shows writing on reform ideas has been a time-honored tradition. February 20, 2009

Gretchen E. Bueter and An-Me Chung discuss the implications of adding more hours to the instructional day and more days to the school year. September 24, 2008

Under enormous pressure to prepare students for a successful future—and fearful that standard school hours don’t offer enough time to do so—educators, policymakers, and community activists are adding more learning time to children’s lives. Updated: September 26, 2008

Since A Nation at Risk in 1983, one blue-ribbon panel after another has called for expanding learning time as a way to boost student achievement. Yet studies only recently have begun to document the potential impact that a little extra learning time might have in practice. September 22, 2008

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Chicago’s After School Matters is a national model for involving older students in activities to develop their skills and talents. September 22, 2008

Contributors to Education Week’s Commentary section needed little encouragement from the drafters of A Nation at Risk to contemplate the question of how best to deploy school time to improve student achievement. Variations on the theme of time and learning have been a staple for Commentary writers. September 22, 2008

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley and his longtime adviser Terry K. Peterson share in the following essay their reflections on those experiences, as seen through the prism of A Nation at Risk, the influential 1983 critique of American education. September 19, 2008

Dane Linn and Iris C. Rotberg discuss the impact of A Nation at Risk and the potential for using international comparison data to improve academic standards and student achievement in U.S. schools. May 21, 2008

As state leaders reassess the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a competitive economy, they are weighing plans to gauge how their schools measure up against those of Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, as well as Finland and other European nations—all perennial leaders on international assessments. April 22, 2008

Today, a mounting database of results from international studies has made it possible for researchers to start exploring the relationship between education and economic growth in much more systematic ways than in 1983. April 22, 2008

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The push to ensure that all students, not just the academically gifted, take introductory algebra and do so earlier has gained widespread acceptance in U.S. schools over the quarter-century since A Nation at Risk advocated strengthening graduation requirements in math. April 22, 2008

The persistent lack of significant improvement since publication of A Nation at Risk is owing to the unwavering persistence of the very ideas that caused the decline in the first place—the repudiation of a definite academic curriculum in the early grades, argues E.D. Hirsch Jr. Updated: April 29, 2008

India's education landscape reveals that its image as a rising force in science and math fields is driven mostly by changes in the private school sector. April 22, 2008

China’s education system has undergone significant changes over the past quarter-century, some brought into classrooms directly by government policy, others swept along by the rising tide of free-market reforms. April 22, 2008

The education system has long been viewed as a model because of its strong performance on international-comparison tests, but among its citizens, schooling in the nation is seen as inadequate. April 22, 2008

The European Union has its share of education successes with Finland outperforming the world on international exams and several other European countries scoring above the international average. April 22, 2008

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