National Education Technology Plan - Baker School District

A Nation on the Move
Twenty-one years ago, the U.S. Department of Education’s
National Commission on Excellence in Education published
the landmark report, A Nation at Risk. It warned
that “the educational foundations of our society
are being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity
that threatens our very future as a nation and a
people.” 2
It made the case that students are not being
challenged with high quality mathematics
and science curricula and many students are
not learning the basic skills. A majority of
our secondary school students still are not
grade-level proficient in reading, mathematics
or science. The data for minority students
remain alarming. 3
But change is in the air. Clearly, we must
innovate for our country to succeed in this time
of rapidly increasing global competition. This
innovation is occurring. We see dramatic changes
taking place in the educational landscape – a new
excitement in the vast possibilities of the digital
age for changing how we learn, how we teach, and how the various
segments of our educational system fit together – a ferment for
reform that is bringing changes undreamt of even five years ago
and unparalleled in our nation’s history.
“The people of the United
States need to know that
individuals in our society
who do not possess the levels
of skill, literacy and training
essential to this new era will
be effectively disenfranchised,
not simply from the material
rewards that accompany
competent performance,
but also from the chance to
participate fully in our
national life.”
A Nation at Risk, 1983 1
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