Assignment & Discussion Questions: A Nation at Risk
The President’s Commission on Excellence in Education released A Nation at Risk
(ANR) in April, 1983. While most reports on education molder on the shelf, this one has
been surprisingly influential, and its influence continues more than three decades later.
Its claim that US education is in a crisis has proven to be politically potent. National
candidates from both of the major corporate parties have sought to attract votes by
attacking public schools and the teachers who work in them. The report’s influence is
even more surprising when one realizes that President Reagan initially spurned it. As
you read the assigned material think about the different views our authors have of
teachers and their place in the school.
Groups 1 & 5 & 9
Individual work: Do brief argument outlines for each of the readings. Look at the large
number of claims made in ANR. Select several of those claims and summarize the
evidence presented to support them. What major claim does the report make about
schooling in the US? What evidence does it give? What does the report say was
happening in US society and in the US economy in the years leading up to the report?
What does the report say was happening in the global economy? How does the report
relate what it claims was happening in the schools to what it says was happening in the
economy? What role does the report say or imply that teachers, students, and parents
play in the portrait of failure it paints? Given what we’ve learned in this course, do you
think the report’s claims are credible? Remind yourself what Mike Rose said about
reports on education. Think about how ANR might be related to the changes in the
political economy and dominant ideologies discussed in last week’s readings, particularly
the piece by Kantor & Lowe. You may want to go online to learn more about the
political economy during the 1970s and 1980s. (Note: The passage Group 4 is asked to
interpret below may help you think through some of these issues.)
Group Work: Do a detailed analysis of ANR and outline the criticisms Rothstein levels
against ANR. Relate the criticisms in this article to those made in the other materials this
week. Try to place ANR in the context of material we have read this term. What do you
as a group think of ANR? Post your outlines of ANR and Rothstein along with a
summary of your group discussion to the Class Discussions board.
Groups 2 & 6 & 10
Individual work: Do brief argument outlines for each of the readings. Look at the wide
variety of claims made in ANR. Select several of those claims and summarize the
evidence presented to support them. (You can divide up the report so that you can cover
the entire report if your group is organized in a way that allows you to do so.) After
you’ve done your own analysis of ANR, examine what the other readings say about the
report. Why are they critical of the report? Write three questions or comments you
would like to discuss with your group. Post your work to your group discussion board.
Group Work: Do a detailed analysis of ANR and a longer outline of the argument in
Rothstein and detailing his criticisms of ANR. Relate the criticisms in this article to
those made in the other materials this week. What do you as a group think of ANR after
reading these materials? Post your outlines of ANR and Rothstein along with a summary
of your group discussion to the Class Discussions board.
Group 3 & 7
Individual work: Do brief argument outlines for each of the readings. Look at the wide
variety of claims made in ANR. Select several of those claims and summarize the
evidence presented to support them. After you’ve done your own analysis of ANR,
examine what the other readings say about the report. Focus on Bracey. Why does he
call ANR foolishness? Interpret the following passage, which Bracey quotes from a book
by Lawrence Cremin. That is, explain what this passage means, connect it to other parts
of the reading showing how it fits into the article as a whole, and relate the reading to
other material in the course.
American economic competitiveness with Japan and other nations is to a considerable degree a
function of monetary, trade, and industrial policy, and of decisions made by the President and
Congress, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Departments of the Treasury, Commerce,
and Labor. Therefore, to conclude that problems of international competitiveness can be solved by
educational reform, especially educational reform defined solely as school reform, is not merely
utopian and millennialist, it is at best a foolish and at worst a crass effort to direct attention away
from those truly responsible for doing something about competitiveness and to lay the burden
instead on the schools. It is a device that has been used repeatedly in the history of American
education.
What questions or issues does Bracey raise that you would like to discuss with your
group? Post three of those questions or issues. Post your work to your group discussion
board.
Group Work: Do a detailed analysis of ANR and a longer outline of the argument in
Bracey detailing the criticisms he levels against ANR. Discuss the meaning of the
passage quoted from Cremin. Relate the criticisms in this article to those made in the
other materials this week. What do you as a group think of ANR after reading these
materials? Post your outlines of ANR and Bracey along with a summary of your group
discussion to the Class Discussions board.
Group 4 & 8
Individual work: Do brief argument outlines for each of the readings. Look at the wide
variety of claims made in ANR. Select several of those claims and summarize the
evidence presented to support them. After you’ve done your own analysis of ANR,
examine what the other readings say about the report. Focus on Bracey. Why is he
critical of ANR? What issues do the criticisms of ANR raise about the meaning of
democratic education? What questions or issues these readings raise that you would like
to discuss with your group? Post three of those questions or issues. Post your work to
your group discussion board.
Group Work: Do a detailed analysis of ANR and a longer outline of the argument in
Rothstein or Bracey detailing the criticisms of ANR. Relate the criticisms of ANR in this
week’s readings to those made in Maxine Greene’s article early in the semester. Why
does Greene believe ANR and the “reforms” it spawned make education less democratic?
What do you as a group think of ANR after reading these materials? Post your outlines
of ANR and Greene along with a summary of your group discussion to the Class
Discussions board.