A Nation at Risk According to Ronald Reagan

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President Ronald Reagan once described America as, “A Nation at Risk,” He was addressing this statement to the education department thirty years ago and meant it as a wake-up call. He was aware that the United States was falling behind in education and needed to take action in order to prevent the demise of the country. Reagan correctly predicted the grim fate of America if education did not see improvement. Today, research finds that American education is failing to provide the necessary skills to succeed in college and various careers. The quality of education in America is a growing issue and every year graduate students are finding it more difficult to obtain high paying jobs and start his or her career. According to studies conducted globally, the curriculum in America is not as advanced and years behind international schools in countries such as China and Japan. There is much controversy in government over what can be done to reverse the situation in public schools but possible solutions that have been suggested are hiring more qualified teachers, more classroom time, and investing more money into education.
A very dramatic educational development in the past decades has been the global expansion of higher education. Harvard economist Richard Freeman has estimated that the total number of post-secondary students (students who continue school past the required level) fell from 29% to 12% from 1970 to 2006, a 60% decline. In China alone, postsecondary enrollments exploded from fewer than 100,000 students in 1970 to 23.4 million in 2006. The increase over the same period in India was from 2.5 million to 12.9 million students. According to the EPE on average there are 1.1 million American students dropping out of school every...

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..., Rob. "American Kids Score 'C' In Math, Science." InformationWeek 20 Dec. 2010: n. pag. ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. (“Preston”)
West, Martin. "Global lessons for improving U.S. Education: international comparisons of student achievement illustrate the gains possible for students in the United States and offer insights on how to achieve them." Issues in Science and Technology: n. pag. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. (“West”)
Wilgoren, Jodi. "Education study finds U.S. falling short." The New York Times 13 June 2001: n. pag. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. Zuckerman, Mortimer. "The United States Is at Risk of Deflation." Greenhaven Press 2 Nov. 2009: n. pag. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. (“Wilgoren”)
Wagner, Tony. The Global Achievement Gap. New York: Basic Books, 2008. Print.

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