An Imperiled Generation

Download or read book An Imperiled Generation written by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Without good schools, none of America's hopes can be fulfilled. Since 1983, school reform has been at the top of the national agenda; however, there is a disturbing gap between rhetoric and results. After travelling to some of the nation's largest cities and interviewing administrators and teachers, Carnegie Foundation representatives determined the following priorities for improving urban schools: (1) affirm that every student can succeed; (2) build an effective governance arrangement for urban schools that ends excessively centralized, bureaucratic control; (3) introduce at every school a comprehensive system of renewal that emphasizes preschool and early education, breaks schools into smaller units, defines curricular goals, ensures flexible scheduling, and improves facilities; and (4) create a network of support beyond the school that empowers parents, and involves community, business and government participation. A new National Urban Schools Program is proposed which would: (1) incrementally increase funding of Head Start so that all eligible children are served by the year 2000; (2) increase the appropriation for federal child nutrition programs; (3) each year increase the funding for Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act by 5 percent; (4) add to the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act a provision enabling poor parents to place their children in afternoon and summer enrichment programs; (5) make summer fellowships available for teachers; (6) make available to school districts low interest loans to improve school facilities; (7) encourage schools to introduce new curriculum or scheduling arrangements; and (8) encourage cooperation between schools and postsecondary institutions. Data are presented in six tables. (BJV)