Background Information on a State’s Excellence in Education Act and the Department Politics Surrounding Its Implementation

In most states the criticism levied by A Nation at Risk (NCEE, 1983) mobilized legislators to attempt to legislate policies to improve the quality of schools. In this state as in many others, state legislators were determined to focus their energies on the improvement of schools through major educational reform legislation. This state met the challenge of preparing its school-age children by passing the Excellence in Education Act.