Excellence in Education: Perspectives on Policy and Practice

In 1983 the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued a report calling for the total reassessment of policy and curriculum governing American education. The commission's findings were met with impassioned interest and volcanic debate. "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," set the tone of the views expressed in the report.

Seemingly overnight, the "education crisis" became a battleground on which citizens, education professionals and numerous organized groups fought for America's children. Nowhere is this more evident than in the compilation of essays contained in Excellence in Education.

Five areas of investigation are focused upon in this comprehensive volume: an overview of the debate occasioned by the report; a consideration of the social, political, and economic content of the report; how reform will affect policies initiated in the 60's and 70's; how reforms impact on curriculum, teacher preparation, and student success; and the historical implications of past reform movements in education. Essays reflecting every educational perspective have been contributed by such prominent scholars as Ernest L. Boyer, Michael W. Apple, Albert Shanker, Paul E. Peterson, Joel Spring, Sheila Slaughter, Richard C. Hunter, Carl A. Grant, Christine E. Sleeter, Rosemarie V. Rosen, Dennis Carlson, Hugh G. Petrie, Kowsar P. Chowdhury, as well as the editors.

Parents, teachers, administrators, and students have urgent questions that must be addressed. Should our schools be instruments of public policy? Is the commission's undertaking largely symbolic, since it lacks the power to implement its proposals? And will the development of literacy and reasoning skills be subverted by emphasis upon quantifiable criteria of student progress? How America deals with the "excellence debate" and the questions arising from it will have far reaching consequences for future generations. Together we can find the answers!