Education reform in the United States - National policy in support of local efforts for school improvement

School reform must be systemic, it must be coherent and it must expect accountability for student progress. School reform must ensure that all of its component parts are in alignment. Similarly, the professionals involved in education must work collaboratively in new ways to effect reform. Psychologists are key to such collaboration. Two decades of school reform have taught us lessons that lead to major changes in the 30-year-old legislation that authorizes the major investments of federal funds in programs to help elementary and secondary schools' students achieve. Title I, the centerpiece of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, is revamped to incorporate the important lessons of local and state efforts to improve their schools. In addition, a state-initiated and congressionally adopted movement toward establishing national goals of what students are expected to learn and be able to do at certain times in their educational development resulted in enactment of the Goals 2000: Educate America act (1994). The U.S. Department of Education has identified 5 important themes that are essential for comprehensive education improvement to be successful. It is the responsibility of all professionals involved in the educational process to commit themselves to be a part of and a catalyst for change to move our schools to ultimately provide a high-quality education for all children.