To Stem a "Tide of Mediocrity"

By Ellie McGrath

A federal commission calls for a return to excellence

"Our nation is at risk. The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity. If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament. History is not kind to idlers."

Those warnings, grim and intentionally provocative, were issued last week by the 18-member National Commission on Excellence in Education in a 36-page report called A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Headed by University of Utah President David P. Gardner, the NCEE was set up 20 months ago by Secretary of Education Terrel Bell to examine U.S. educational quality.

The evidence of decline was depressingly easy to find. About 13% of all 17-year-olds, and perhaps 40% of minority youth, are considered functionally illiterate. In 19 academic achievement tests given in 21 nations, American students never finished first or second and were last seven times. Before Sputnik launched a paroxysm of educational reform in 1957, average test scores were actually higher than they are now. From 1963 to 1980, the average scores on Scholastic Aptitude Tests fell more than 50 points in verbal skills (to 424 out of 800) and 36 points in math (to 466). And there was a pronounced rush from tougher to easier or "more relevant" subjects (see chart).

Nearly 40% of today's 17-year-olds cannot draw inferences from written material, and only a third can solve a math problem requiring several steps. It is no wonder that between 1975 and 1980 there was a 72% increase in remedial math courses at four-year public colleges. The trend, concludes the commission, "stems more from weakness of purpose, confusion of vision, underuse of talent and lack of leadership than from conditions beyond our control." Added Gardner: "There is ample blame to go around." Though the commission members all started with their "own jumble of biases," said Gardner, "almost miraculously we came to the same conclusions." The five major recommended changes:

Stiffer State and Local High School Graduation Requirements. Specifically, the report suggests at least four years of English, three years apiece of math, science and social studies, a half year of computer science and, for the college-bound, two years of a foreign language.

Higher Achievement Standards. Tests should be given to students periodically to certify progress. The commission urges tougher admission standards for four-year colleges and notes with dismay that 20% of those that are public must now accept any high school graduate in the state.

More Time Devoted to Learning Basics. Either the existing school day should be utilized more effectively (the average school provides just under 4 1/2 hours of academic instruction each day), or the school day or year should be longer. In England, many students spend eight hours a day, 220 days a year in high school; in the U.S., students typically face 180 six-hour days. The report also calls for "far more homework."

Better Training and Pay for Teachers. There should be incentives to attract outstanding students to the teaching profession and a system to recognize and financially reward superior teachers. Teachers should also have eleven-month contracts to ensure time to improve curriculums.

Increased Citizen Involvement. To make educational reform a top priority, voters should press educators and legislatures, as well as support necessary funding. Notes the commission: "Excellence costs. But in the long run mediocrity costs far more."

The final point was the commission's most formless and general. But in many ways, it was at the core of the entire report. The intent, said Gardner, was to provoke "whatever is necessary to get the people of this country to think about this problem." Despite some reservations about oversimplification, many educators were pleased. Observed Chester Finn, professor of education and public policy at Vanderbilt University: "The commission's report is a splendid codification of what I've regarded as the conventional wisdom of the past five years. It gives these ideas the kind of respect they deserve." The teachers unions also endorsed the overall goals, although they quickly cautioned that longer school days would have to be negotiated at the bargaining table. Said Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers: "We should make use of the time we already have by getting rid of Mickey Mouse courses and Mickey Mouse curriculums. If that doesn't work, enlarge the day and the year."

Some experts criticized the report as overly pessimistic and for failing to mention recent progress. Complained former U.S. Education Commissioner Harold Howe II, now at Harvard: "I think American education has a cold. Most people think it has the flu. It certainly doesn't have the pneumonia that the commission suggested." According to the College Board, SAT scores seem to have stabilized, and students have taken an increasing number of academic courses in each of the past six years. LeRoy Hay, chairman of the Manchester (Conn.) High School English department and 1983 National Teacher of the Year, said, "The recommendations are responsive to what used to be. We have begun to stress excellence once again."

At least twelve states, including North Carolina and Louisiana, have instituted tougher standards for high school graduation. California, Ohio and Florida, among others, have raised standards for admission to public colleges and universities. In the District of Columbia, the 1984-85 school year is planned for 192 days instead of the present 180 and seven hours a day instead of six. The Mississippi legislature has increased school aid by $69 million and is considering adding 20 days to the school calendar. New York City instituted a new policy this winter requiring nightly homework assignments. Last week the city's board of education chose Anthony Alvarado as the schools' new chancellor, partly because the innovative, ten-year administrator has turned around a local school district with a back-to-basics approach (and partly because his Hispanic heritage satisfied a fiery, racially politicized campaign for a minority appointee).

Although the report was unveiled at a White House ceremony, the Administration will evidently offer little more than verbal encouragement for reform. Even while praising the commission's work, President Reagan reiterated his belief that "parents, not the Government, have the primary responsibility for the education of their children." (He then went on to tout tuition tax credits, school prayer and the abolition of the Department of Education, subjects unrelated to and conceivably at odds with the findings of the report.) Local and state agencies, however, may be willing to spend more on education. Says Columbia University Education Historian Diane Ravitch: "Polls show that people are willing to support the schools if they feel they're getting their money's worth, which these reforms would help them to do."

Gardner, who moves this summer from Utah to take over as president of the University of California, will soon get a close-up first reading on whether his commission can make a difference. California, in its customary DEW line position on U.S. trends, led the way in the past decade's educational pandering to student enthusiasms and taxpayers' tight pockets. The state, which once boasted the wealthiest and most prestigious school system in the nation, is now below the U.S. average virtually across the board. In 1972 California students scored nine points above the national norm on College Board achievement tests in English; in 1981 they were 17 points under. Last year California ranked 50th in the percentage of personal income that went into school revenues.

After running on a basics-boosting "save our schools" platform, newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction William Honig has put a set of proposed reforms, much like those of the Gardner commission, before the state legislature. A coalition of business leaders has announced its support; their reason, explained a spokesman, is that "one of the main problems with unemployment in this state is the public school education offered here." The proposals would cost an extra $1 billion next year, an 8% increase. But Californians, and Americans, may be ready to conclude that excellence is worth regaining.

--By Ellie McGrath.

Reported by Anne Constable/Washington and Alessandra Stanley/Los Angeles

With reporting by Anne Constable/Washington, Alessandra Stanley/Los Angeles This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.