Goals 2000

Goals 2000: Educate America Act

Since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landmark signing of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, the federal government has attempted to take a more active role in State and local education efforts. By instituting national objectives and awarding grants, the federal government, under the presidencies and bipartisanships of the last three decades, promotes the desirous outcome of a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce. The rapid acceleration of the information age places our once leading nation in a precarious position. The United States no longer has a monopoly on attracting the best and brightest of mathematicians, scientists, or innovators. Our nation competes with countries once consumed with lack of unity and resources, ie. China, Korea, and Japan. Therefore, what is the United States federal government to do?
In late 1989, President George H.W. Bush and the Nation’s Governors, including then-Governor Bill Clinton, met for a bipartisan summit on education in Charlottesville. At that time, the groundwork for Nation’s Education Goals, also known as America 2000, came into being. Building upon America 2000, a panel of advisors under President Bill Clinton met to address the purpose and objectives of a new initiative, Goals 2000. Interestingly, the appointments to the panel were political and not educational. I could discern no educators on the panel, only political appointments. The panel discovered that “the reforms from 1977 through 1992 have achieved some good results, but such reform efforts often have been limited to a few schools or to a single part of the education system.” On March 31, 1994, President Clinton signed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Goals 2000 addresses School Readiness; School Completion; Student Achievement and Citizenship; Teacher Education and Professional Development; Mathematics and Science; Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning; Safe, Disciplined, and Alcohol- and Drug-Free Schools; and Parental Participation.
The premise of Goals 2000 is “[t]o improve learning and teaching by providing a national framework for education reforms; to promote research, consensus building, and systemic changes needed to ensure equitable educational opportunity and high levels of educational achievement for all students; to provide framework for reauthorization of all Federal education programs; to promote the development and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill standards and certifications; and for other purposes.” It is evident the federal government has a purposeful outcome, to develop a highly skilled and internationally competitive workforce. However, it lacks the detailed minutiae necessary for consideration to implement a long-range plan. Interestingly enough, Goals 2000 spends more space outlining the application and utilization of Midnight Basketball League Training and Partnership than it does addressing how the nation will increase the high school graduation rate to at least 90%.
Adding to my frustration over the vague terminology of Goals 2000 is the use of the word voluntary. The Federal government states that the national system of skills standards and certifications is voluntary, yet on occasion throughout the objectives appear the definitive verb tense of will—“75% of dropouts will successfully complete a high school degree or its equivalent…every school will ensure all students learn to use their minds well…every adult will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship…every school will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol.” Whoa. I understand the authorized presence of firearms, ie. police officers. However, when was alcohol ever an authorized presence on school grounds? I fear the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, although conceived with the best intentions, falls short of its expectations. It is short sighted, only six years given to its desired outcomes, and vaguely worded.
NATIONAL GOAL
AND PURPOSE OBJECTIVES
SCHOOL READINESS--
By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn.
all children will have access to high-quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that help prepare children for school; every parent in the United States will be a child's first teacher and devote time each day to helping such parent's preschool child learn, and parents will have access to the training and support parents need; and children will receive the nutrition, physical activity experiences, and health care needed to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies, and to maintain the mental alertness necessary to be prepared to learn, and the number of low-birth weight babies will be significantly reduced through enhanced prenatal health systems.
SCHOOL COMPLETION--
By the year 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.
the Nation must dramatically reduce its school dropout rate, and 75 percent of the students who do drop out will successfully complete a high school degree or its equivalent; and the gap in high school graduation rates between American students from minority backgrounds and their non-minority counterparts will be eliminated.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP--
By the year 2000, all students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography, and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our Nation's modern economy.
the academic performance of all students at the elementary and secondary level will increase significantly in every quartile, and the distribution of minority students in each quartile will more closely reflect the student population as a whole; the percentage of all students who demonstrate the ability to reason, solve problems, apply knowledge, and write and communicate effectively will increase substantially; all students will be involved in activities that promote and demonstrate good citizenship, good health, community service, and personal responsibility; all students will have access to physical education and health education to ensure they are healthy and fit; the percentage of all students who are competent in more than one language will substantially increase; and all students will be knowledgeable about the diverse cultural heritage of this Nation and about the world community.
TEACHER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT--
By the year 2000, the Nation's teaching force will have access to programs for the continued improvement of their professional skills and the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to instruct and prepare all American students for the next century.
all teachers will have access to pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development activities that will provide such teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to teach to an increasingly diverse student population with a variety of educational, social, and health needs; all teachers will have continuing opportunities to acquire additional knowledge and skills needed to teach challenging subject matter and to use emerging new methods, forms of assessment, and technologies; States and school districts will create integrated strategies to attract, recruit, prepare, retrain, and support the continued professional development of teachers, administrators, and other educators, so that there is a highly talented work force of professional educators to teach challenging subject matter; and partnerships will be established, whenever possible, among local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, parents, and local labor, business, and professional associations to provide and support programs for the professional development of educators.
MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE--
By the year 2000, United States students will be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.
mathematics and science education, including the metric system of measurement, will be strengthened throughout the system, especially in the early grades; the number of teachers with a substantive background in mathematics and science, including the metric system of measurement, will increase by 50 percent; and the number of United States undergraduate and graduate students, especially women and minorities, who complete degrees in mathematics, science, and engineering will increase significantly.
ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING--
By the year 2000, every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
every major American business will be involved in strengthening the connection between education and work; all workers will have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills, from basic to highly technical, needed to adapt to emerging new technologies, work methods, and markets through public and private educational, vocational, technical, workplace, or other programs; the number of quality programs, including those at libraries, that are designed to serve more effectively the needs of the growing number of part-time and midcareer students will increase substantially; the proportion of the qualified students, especially minorities, who enter college, who complete at least two years, and who complete their degree programs will increase substantially; the proportion of college graduates who demonstrate an advanced ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and solve problems will increase substantially; and schools, in implementing comprehensive parent involvement programs, will offer more adult literacy, parent training and life-long learning opportunities to improve the ties between home and school, and enhance parents' work and home lives.
SAFE, DISCIPLINED, AND ALCOHOL- AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS--
By the year 2000, every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning
every school will implement a firm and fair policy on use, possession, and distribution of drugs and alcohol; parents, businesses, governmental and community organizations will work together to ensure the rights of students to study in a safe and secure environment that is free of drugs and crime, and that schools provide a healthy environment and are a safe haven for all children; every local educational agency will develop and implement a policy to ensure that all schools are free of violence and the unauthorized presence of weapons;
every local educational agency will develop a sequential, comprehensive kindergarten through twelfth grade drug and alcohol prevention education program; drug and alcohol curriculum should be taught as an integral part of sequential, comprehensive health education; community-based teams should be organized to provide students and teachers with needed support; and every school should work to eliminate sexual harassment.
PARENTAL PARTICIPATION--
By the year 2000, every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children.
every State will develop policies to assist local schools and local educational agencies to establish programs for increasing partnerships that respond to the varying needs of parents and the home, including parents of children who are disadvantaged or bilingual, or parents of children with disabilities; every school will actively engage parents and families in a partnership which supports the academic work of children at home and shared educational decision making at school; and parents and families will help to ensure that schools are adequately supported and will hold schools and teachers to high standards of accountability.












Resources:
http://www2.ed.gov/G2K/index.html
http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/GOALS2000/TheAct/sec102.html
http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/goals200.html
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/stw/sw0goals.htm
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/opptolearnstandards