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Forty years ago, the release of (ANAR) led to what is known today as the modern school reform movement. With its calls for increased academic rigor, more productive use of instructional time, more effective teaching and more impactful leadership, ANAR set policy and practice changes in motion at every level of the education system.

In incendiary language that still echoes four decades later, the report warned of a 鈥渞ising tide of mediocrity鈥� that was 鈥渆roding鈥� the 鈥渆ducational foundations鈥� of the nation. 鈥淲hat was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur,鈥� the authors wrote, 鈥渙thers are matching and surpassing our educational attainments.鈥�

Policymakers wasted no time responding, with governors of both parties quickly adopting the report鈥檚 recommendations including raising graduation requirements, strengthening teacher certification and evaluation systems, and increasing instructional time. In the decades that followed, countless additional attempts at reform were launched at seemingly every level.

But what has resulted from this constant, decades-long churn of change?

In a new to be released by the Hoover Institution on Dec. 12, a dozen scholars set out to answer that very question. In examining the reforms enacted over the past four decades, each author focused on the impact of these efforts, digging into the evidence base and providing lessons for today’s education policymakers.

• Stanford University鈥檚 Deborah Stipek kicks off the series by diving into the rapid expansion of early childhood programming. The 鈥渙perative phrase,鈥� Stipek concludes, is 鈥渉igh quality.鈥� Programs that 鈥渕eet high-quality standards鈥� have 鈥渢he most potential to move the needle on improving student achievement.鈥�
  
• In her analysis of 鈥渨hole child鈥� education models, Cornell鈥檚 Maria Fitzpatrick finds 鈥減romising evidence from a few programs in a few settings鈥� but cautions policymakers to be sure to maintain a 鈥渇ocus on academics by investing in tools that we know work,鈥� such as improving teacher quality.
  
• Michael Hansen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, explores ANAR鈥檚 recommendations for strengthening the teacher pipeline, and the tensions between the need for more, versus more effective, teachers. This tension, he writes, 鈥渃oalesced into two different approaches to teacher reform that frequently came into conflict and worked at cross-purposes.鈥�
  
• Hoover senior fellow Tom Dee focuses on efforts to better evaluate and support teachers. Dramatic policy interventions followed, writes Dee, such as new evaluation, professional growth and compensation models, but 鈥渦ninformative, low-stakes assessments of professional practice and rigid single-salary schedules are still the norm.鈥�
  
• Robert Pondiscio, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, describes what he sees as a 鈥渘ew willingness to question longstanding classroom practices.鈥� He makes the case for 鈥渁 strong, knowledge-based curriculum鈥� that will allow teachers to 鈥渄evelop subject matter expertise, help struggling students and make connections with families.鈥�
  
• Hoover senior fellow Eric Bettinger focused his research on 鈥渨ithin-system鈥� innovations such as reducing class sizes, adjusting the length of the school day and year, and creating specialized schools. Despite 鈥渃ontinuous experimentation and innovation,鈥� he writes, what may be most notable about these efforts is their 鈥渇ailure to be scaled up or to generate impacts when scaled up.鈥�
  
• Tom Vander Ark, CEO of Getting Smart, dives into 鈥渢he 40-year shift from print digital learning,鈥� which he characterizes as 鈥済radual, chaotic, expensive and largely ineffective at transforming learning experiences and outcomes.鈥� The introduction of artificial intelligence, he says, marks 鈥渢he beginning of a new era鈥� that will 鈥渃hange how we work and learn.鈥�
  
• In his exploration of school finance, Hoover senior fellow Eric Hanushek finds that despite ever-increasing K-12 spending, 鈥渋t has not been possible to describe when funds are particularly effective or ineffective.鈥� He suggests a new approach to school funding based around 鈥渟etting up incentives so the decision-makers take actions that lead to better student outcomes.鈥�
  
• Hoover fellow Michael Hartney investigates efforts to reform a 鈥渃entury-old, one-size-fits-all governance model.鈥� Innovations such as mayoral control and site-based management hold promise, he writes, and he encourages policymakers to overcome the 鈥渇ailure of imagination鈥� that burdens schools with 鈥渂ureaucratic structures and work routines.鈥�
  
• In his study of school choice, the University of Rochester鈥檚 John Singleton concludes that such policies can 鈥渃ause public schools to raise their quality in the face of competition.鈥� There are, though, 鈥渋mportant gaps in knowledge鈥� around the 鈥渋mpacts of school choice on students鈥� long-run success,鈥� which will be critical to address as choice options expand across the nation.
  
• Michael Petrilli, Hoover research fellow and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, dives into the standards-based reform movement that has 鈥渄ominated education policy鈥� in recent years. Education researchers need to continue exploring 鈥渨hat exactly schools did鈥� to generate the learning gains that came as a result of these efforts, he writes, but there are 鈥渃lear lessons鈥� for policymakers.
  
• Cami Anderson, CEO of ThirdWay Solutions, closes out the research series by describing the 鈥渆normous challenges鈥� of 鈥渨hole-system鈥� reforms like the one she led in Newark. 鈥淭ransformative and disruptive systemic change will never be quick or tidy,鈥� she writes, but 鈥渞eal, material gains鈥� can be realized by 鈥渟tepping back and asking what the shared goal was for the entire community.鈥�
  

This analysis could not be timelier. The nation鈥檚 schools face an ongoing cascade of challenges, not the least of which is the continuing impact of COVID-19 learning loss. Federal pandemic relief funding is scheduled to sunset next year, creating a fiscal cliff for school systems. Student absenteeism continues to be a serious issue, and  student population declines in some areas, driven by longer-term demographic trends, will present school and district leaders with hard choices.

Hoover鈥檚 new research series digs deeply into the past 40 years of reform to better understand what worked, and why, and to provide policymakers with key takeaways and recommendations.In the conclusion to their report, 础狈础搁鈥檚 authors wrote that the road to reform would 鈥渢ake time and unwavering commitment鈥� as well as 鈥渨idespread, energetic and dedicated action.鈥� Four decades of widespread, energetic and dedicated action did indeed result. The imperative today is to better understand what worked, why and how the nation and its schools can best meet the challenges ahead.

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