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Goals 2000: Increasing Student Achievement Through State and Local Initiatives - April 1996
Successful education reform requires a sustained, long-term commitment. With Goals 2000, we are out of the block and rounding the first turn, and we cannot afford to sacrifice the momentum achieved by nearly all the states and hundreds of communities.
-- Richard W. Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education17
Throughout the U.S., states and communities are leading the way to make higher academic standards a reality for every child. They are also developing assessments that measure student performance against their new standards and designing accountability systems that take student performance into account. As demonstrated throughout this report, Goals 2000 funds are providing significant support for these efforts.
While challenging standards and rigorous assessments are developed and put into place, simultaneous improvements are underway in the areas of professional development and teacher preparation so that teachers are equipped to teach to challenging standards. Curricula and instruction are being upgraded and technology brought into classrooms. These changes are being designed and implemented with the active involvement of educators, community members, business leaders, and policy-makers throughout states and communities.
While Goals 2000 has had a significant impact on the progress of school reform at state and local levels, numerous challenges remain. Helping all districts engage in comprehensive reform to bring every child to high levels of academic achievement is no easy task. Challenging academic standards will need to be clear and understandable for all school districts. Similarly, the development of new assessments that measure the performance of every child against high standards presents its own set of costs and complexities to adequately assess all students, including those who may need testing accommodations, such as those with disabilities or limited English proficiency. States and districts will need to make better use of all of their resources, including federal funds, to improve every school.
The kind of grassroots education reform that Goals 2000 supports will take a long-term commitment and sustained effort. The purpose of Goals 2000 is to stimulate real action, real change and real involvement in teaching and learning. It is not just a planning exercise, although the reform it envisions is based on solid planning. Once state and local strategies are developed they need to be implemented so that each strategy reinforces and supports the others. Change of this magnitude--in some 80,000 public schools in some 15,000 school districts--requires sustained commitment.
In order to succeed, states and school districts also need assurance that federal support for their reform efforts will continue. The recent National Education Summit involving the governors, business leaders, and the President gave renewed strength to calls for school improvements that include challenging academic standards, better school accountability, and more widespread access to learning tools such as educational technology. Goals 2000 can be a source of support for this effort by states and local communities. The achievement gains in states such as Maryland and Kentucky show that sustained comprehensive reform based on high academic standards works.
Despite the considerable challenges the nation, states, and communities face in the quest to raise student achievement and get our children on the right course, there are many promising activities under way, and Goals 2000 is helping accelerate this progress. Schools, districts, and states are using their funds strategically to build upon ongoing improvement efforts. Goals 2000 promotes the development and ownership of standards, assessment, and other aspects of education improvement at the local and state levels. It promotes effective innovations in a climate and spirit of self-determination by those in the states and school districts with federal support and assistance. Goals 2000 helps ensure that students complete school not only learning the basics, but with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in today's world. Teachers, parents, business leaders, and community members across the country have made their expectations clear: every child needs to reach higher standards. The future of our democracy and economy depend on it.
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