20 U.S.C. § 5811 — Purpose

Page 1292 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 5811 AMENDMENTS 2004—Subsec. (a)(9). Pub. L. 108–446 substituted ‘‘sec- tion 1401’’ for ‘‘section 1401(a)(17)’’. 1996—Subsec. (a)(7) to (14). Pub. L. 104–134 redesig- nated pars. (8) to (14) as (7) to (13), respectively, and struck out former par. (7) which read as follows: ‘‘the term ‘opportunity-to-learn standards’ means the cri- teria for, and the basis of, assessing the sufficiency or quality of the resources, practices, and conditions nec- essary at each level of the education system (schools, local educational agencies, and States) to provide all students with an opportunity to learn the material in voluntary national content standards or State content standards;’’. 1994—Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 103–382, § 394(f)(1)(A)(i), substituted ‘‘section 8801’’ for ‘‘section 2891’’. Subsec. (a)(10). Pub. L. 103–382, § 394(f)(1)(A)(ii), sub- stituted ‘‘section 1401(a)(17)’’ for ‘‘section 1401’’. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 103–382, § 394(f)(1)(B), sub- stituted ‘‘section 8801’’ for ‘‘section 2891’’. SUBCHAPTER I—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS § 5811. Purpose The purpose of this subchapter is to establish National Education Goals. (Pub. L. 103–227, title I, § 101, Mar. 31, 1994, 108 Stat. 130.) § 5812. National Education Goals The Congress declares that the National Edu- cation Goals are the following: (1) School readiness (A) By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn. (B) The objectives for this goal are that— (i) all children will have access to high- quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that help prepare chil- dren for school; (ii) every parent in the United States will be a child’s first teacher and devote time each day to helping such parent’s preschool child learn, and parents will have access to the training and support parents need; and (iii) children will receive the nutrition, physical activity experiences, and health care needed to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies, and to maintain the men- tal alertness necessary to be prepared to learn, and the number of low-birthweight ba- bies will be significantly reduced through enhanced prenatal health systems. (2) School completion (A) By the year 2000, the high school gradua- tion rate will increase to at least 90 percent. (B) The objectives for this goal are that— (i) the Nation must dramatically reduce its school dropout rate, and 75 percent of the students who do drop out will successfully complete a high school degree or its equiva- lent; and (ii) the gap in high school graduation rates between American students from minority backgrounds and their non-minority coun- terparts will be eliminated. (3) Student achievement and citizenship (A) By the year 2000, all students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated com- petency over challenging subject matter in- cluding English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography, and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be pre- pared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our Nation’s modern economy. (B) The objectives for this goal are that— (i) the academic performance of all stu- dents at the elementary and secondary level will increase significantly in every quartile, and the distribution of minority students in each quartile will more closely reflect the student population as a whole; (ii) the percentage of all students who demonstrate the ability to reason, solve problems, apply knowledge, and write and communicate effectively will increase sub- stantially; (iii) all students will be involved in activi- ties that promote and demonstrate good citizenship, good health, community service, and personal responsibility; (iv) all students will have access to phys- ical education and health education to en- sure they are healthy and fit; (v) the percentage of all students who are competent in more than one language will substantially increase; and (vi) all students will be knowledgeable about the diverse cultural heritage of this Nation and about the world community. (4) Teacher education and professional devel- opment (A) By the year 2000, the Nation’s teaching force will have access to programs for the con- tinued improvement of their professional skills and the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to instruct and prepare all American students for the next century. (B) The objectives for this goal are that— (i) all teachers will have access to preservice teacher education and continuing professional development activities that will provide such teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to teach to an increasingly diverse student population with a variety of educational, social, and health needs; (ii) all teachers will have continuing op- portunities to acquire additional knowledge and skills needed to teach challenging sub- ject matter and to use emerging new meth- ods, forms of assessment, and technologies; (iii) States and school districts will create integrated strategies to attract, recruit, pre- pare, retrain, and support the continued pro- fessional development of teachers, adminis- trators, and other educators, so that there is a highly talented work force of professional educators to teach challenging subject mat- ter; and (iv) partnerships will be established, when- ever possible, among local educational agen- cies, institutions of higher education, par- ents, and local labor, business, and profes- sional associations to provide and support programs for the professional development of educators.