Launched a decade ago by reform-minded corporate CEOs, the New American Schools (NAS) initiative was meant to kindle a revolution in American education. Ten years later, however, rather than igniting change, it has largely reverted to the norms of the education establishment, according to a new report by historian Jeffrey Mirel which was released by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation this week. The Evolution of the New American Schools: From Revolution to Mainstream traces the development of this ambitious venture from its 1991 origins in the "America 2000" education-reform initiative of President George Bush, Education Secretary Lamar Alexander, and Deputy Secretary David Kearns. By 2001, New American Schools whole-school reform designs were in place in more than 3,500 schools, but along the way, Mirel argues, the organization shed its revolutionary colors and began to turn gray. According to the report, NAS allied itself early on with established educators who embraced the ideas and practices of the progressive education movement, which has long been the dominant paradigm of American education. The Evolution of the New American Schools describes how NAS and the whole-school approach to school reform have become fixtures of the U.S. education landscape and raises questions about how desirable that is. For more, see The Evolution of the New American Schools: From Revolution to Mainstream, by Jeffrey Mirel, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, October 2001.
