'A Nation at Risk': How much of 'apocalyptic' education report still applies?

Both of those indicators have improved over time. Between 1990 and 2009, for instance, the average amount of instructional time that students received in high school increased by 400 hours, and high school graduates increased their average number of credits from 23.6 to 27.2, Education Week reports.

As for curriculum, 45 states and the District of Columbia have now adopted the voluntary Common Core State Standards in math and English – internationally benchmarked standards designed to foster deeper learning. And many states are considering adopting the recently released Next Generation Science Standards.

“A lot of people never got past the inflammatory introduction” to “A Nation at Risk,” says Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, a union with more than 3 million members. He thinks it would be healthy for the nation “to have a full and robust discussion about the recommendations.”

The report points to a need for a broad, rich curriculum, and it calls for improved salaries and career-development opportunities for teachers, for instance. But the country has been going in the opposite direction, Mr. Van Roekel says, because of NCLB’s narrow focus on high-stakes math and reading tests.

Nevertheless, improving teaching has been a main focal point in recent years, with education reformers pushing for changed policies on hiring, firing, and evaluation, as well as changes to teacher-education programs in colleges.

On Thursday, the US Department of Education released a blueprint for improving the teaching profession – including pushing for salaries competitive with professions like medicine and law, more support for novice teachers, and more career opportunities for accomplished teachers. President Obama has requested $5 billion from Congress to support this grant program, titled RESPECT.

Public opinion about how American schools are faring has been fairly evenly split for years. In 2012, 53 percent of adults polled by Gallup said they were dissatisfied with public K-12 schools, while 44 percent were satisfied. But among parents, 75 percent were satisfied with their child’s school.

When asked about public schools today versus when they were in school, 48 percent of parents said the schools today were worse, but 27 percent said they were better, and 22 percent said they were about the same.

Many of the issues raised by “A Nation at Risk” are “perennial questions,” and every improvement in education is met by people pointing out a need to still do better, says Mr. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute.

“We actually have made huge strides, but huge strides take us from the 35 yard line to the 45 yard line. And people are saying, ‘Holy cow, 30 years of hard work and we’re not even at midfield,’” Hess says. “All I can say is, ‘Yeah. Welcome to the world of trying to educate 50 million children better, day in and day out.’ ”

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