Relationship Between Problems In Education And Society

According to "A Nation at Risk", the American education system 
has declined due to a "rising tide of mediocrity" in our schools.   
States such as New York have responded to the findings and 
recommendations of the report by implementing such strategies as the "Regents Action Plan" and the "New Compact for Learning".
        In the early 1980s, President Regan ordered a national 
commission to study our education system.   The findings of this 
commission were that, compared with other industrialized nations, our 
education system is grossly inadequate in meeting the standards of 
education that many other countries have developed.   At one time, 
America was the world leader in technology, service, and industry, but 
overconfidence based on a historical belief in our superiority has 
caused our nation to fall behind the rapidly growing competitive 
market in the world with regard to education.   The report in some 
respects is an unfair comparison of our education system, which does 
not have a national standard for goals, curriculum, or regulations, 
with other countries that do, but the findings nevertheless reflect 
the need for change.   Our education system at this time is regulated 
by states which implement their own curriculum, set their own goals 
and have their own requirements for teacher preparation.   Combined 
with this is the fact that we have lowered our expectations in these 
areas, thus we are not providing an equal or quality education to all 
students across the country.   The commission findings generated 
recommendations to improve the content of education and raise the 
standards of   student achievement, particularly in testing, increase 
the time spent on education and provide incentives to encourage more 
individuals to enter the field of education as well as improving 
teacher preparation.
        N.Y. State responded to these recommendations by first 
implementing the Regents Action Plan;   an eight year...