ABSTRACT
A single report is rarely sufficient to redirect policy priority. Released in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education (NCEE), A Nation at Risk (NAR) may, however, be an exception. The direct influence of NAR on the nation’s reform agenda is complicated by the release of about a dozen other major reports on education, productivity, and standards during 1983 and 1984. Among these were reports from the Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Policy (1983) and the Task Force on Education and Economic Growth (1983). The latter called for deep and lasting change in the educational system that would include a more flexible teacher pay structure, integration of technology in instruction, and alternative certification.
