Gender and the reports: The case of the missing piece

Since A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), there have been a large number of reports on the state of the American educational system. The American school system, it is alleged, is ‘soft’; students do not learn enough; teachers are not well trained or motivated; and we are, by and large, falling behind Japan and Germany in a much-touted economic war. We simply are not competitive enough economically, and the educational system surely is to blame. If only we had a better educated citizenry, one more willing to be creative (but not too creative) on the job, one that at least can read training manuals, then we would not be in the deplorable situation we are in. This cry has been in the air for ten years now. It ebbs and flows, of course, but we are looking primarily at the schools as both the cause of our economic woes and our savior if we are to regain our competitive edge.