A Nation at Risk: The crisis of the American educational mythos and the convergence of cynical political ideologie

Publication of the 1983 A Nation at Risk report marked the beginning of an educational policy regime which persists to the present. This regime draws upon six prominent educational myths and the core metaphysical assumptions of human capital theory. First, it is argued that pushing any of the myths to their logical endpoints will result in perverse consequences. Second, it is argued that human capital theory badly mischaracterizes the relationship between schools and the economy. Third, it is argued that the focus of the Nation at Risk policy regime on raising academic standards and improving economic productivity blinds reformers and the public to the vital policy issues faced by the educational system at the present moment. These are, the challenges of the system entering a latter stage of maturity, and the failure of the experiment known as the comprehensive high school. Finally, it is argued that the "politics of cynicism" makes it unlikely that the Nation at Risk policy regime will end any time soon.