What I’m Reading: ‘A Nation at Risk’

During an annual faculty and staff institute, my colleagues and I were challenged by our college president to read a seminal report published by the U.S. Department of Education in 1983. “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform” was produced by the National Commission on Excellence in Education at the request of Terrel H. Bell, then secretary of education.

The scathing report warned that our future as a nation and people was under threat because of our eroding educational foundations. “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today,” it said, “we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”

On the 35th anniversary of the report’s publication, I, like numerous scholars across the nation, reflected on America’s progress, failures, and unfinished business of improving the quality of education. Some early and later critics said that the report lacked robustness, failing to mine all available data, and that its approach and dive were not deep enough. Yet many of the same critics acknowledged its effectiveness as a much-needed wake-up call.

Reading “A Nation at Risk” has better positioned me as an educator to think more critically and holistically about efforts meant to promote learning and prepare students for college, like “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top.” Systemic and structural issues mentioned in the report, like achievement gaps, access, and equity, remain unresolved. Yet the report still serves as a reminder. We have a sacred trust to ensure that students receive the education they deserve and are equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills for success in college and their careers.

Curtis L. Todd is a professor of social work at Atlanta Metropolitan State College.