University of Missouri College of Education
Commencement Ceremony

Columbia, Missouri
December 14, 2007
Michael A. Middleton

Chancellor, Dean, College of Education administration and faculty, family and friends of these distinguished graduates. I am delighted to have been asked to give the commencement address at this most important ceremony.

I tried my best to think of something light and clever to say to you all this afternoon, but I must confess, I couldn’t resist the impulse to speak with you briefly about what I consider a very dire situation. A situation that I believe is one of our more important long term national issues, and one that I fear, is not taken seriously enough.

In most poor urban and rural communities, education in America is in desperately poor condition.

There are those who attribute the difficulties we face in education to the socioeconomic status of children and families in those urban and rural communities, and no doubt, there is some correlation between socioeconomic status and academic performance.

But the troubling fact is that even in suburban and more affluent rural areas, where one would expect significantly greater academic success if socioeconomic status were at the root of the problem, children are not performing at the level that they did when the U.S. had the best educational system in the world.

In 1983, the US Department of Education issued a report entitled “A Nation at Risk.” The report noted that on nineteen different international tests, American students were never first or second and were last seven times. 13 percent of all 17 year olds, were functionally illiterate.

Despite some attention to these issues since then, improvement has not been significant.

According to the 2006 Condition of Education report published last month by the US Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics, when U.S. 15-year-olds were asked to apply what they had learned in mathematics and science, they showed less ability than most of their peers in other highly industrialized countries. U.S. adults scored below four out of five other countries in literacy and numeracy.

The 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, looking at 4th grade reading achievement, revealed that the Russian Federation, Hong-Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark and three Canadian Provinces ranked higher than the U.S.

However one may interpret the data, this is not a positive development.

Following the release of the 2006 results, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings made the following statement: “If we want to sustain America's position as an economic power and innovative leader, our students must master the fundamentals. . . . We need to do better than simply keep pace.”

Secretary Spellings is, of course, correct in her assessment, but I believe her comments understate the urgency of the situation.

A dramatic improvement in the condition of American Education is important not only from the perspective of our competitive edge with other nations as we become more and more connected to this 21st century, information driven world. It is critical to the effective working of our American democracy.

This great university was modeled after Thomas Jefferson’s original plans for the University of Virginia. It was the first public university established in Jefferson’s Louisiana Territory. His tombstone sits on our historic quadrangle. We revere him for his dedication and leadership in public education.

Jefferson believed that the success of our nation’s experiment in self-government rested on an educated citizenry. According to Mr. Jefferson, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free . . . it expects what never was and never will be.”

Under our Constitution, you see, average Americans are responsible for exercising their voting rights to make political decisions that affect the future of our country.

The failure of our system of education to keep pace with the rest of the developed world poses significant long term problems for our nation both domestically and globally, and it is vitally important that we come together as a nation to solve this problem.

So, the question is - What will it take to restore our American system of education to its leadership position? What is your role as new graduates of MU’s College of Education?

Many pundits have offered various solutions:

1. More financial support for education at all levels
   • more resources for more and better research, and program development based on that research
   • more support for teachers salary and professional development
2. more rigid performance standards and stronger enforcement of those standards.
3. a better system of accountability at all levels
4. a better system for identifying and replicating school practices that work
5. greater competition among schools and greater choice for families
6. a better system of early childhood education

All of these ideas pose possible solutions. They, and many more, may be necessary if we are to make real progress in improving our educational system, but I want to suggest to you a much broader concept that I believe is necessary before any of these ideas can effectively be implemented.

I’d like to relate to you a personal story as background to my recommendation.

I attended segregated African-American schools in Jackson, Mississippi for several years in the 1950’s. The schools were clearly under-resourced. Class sizes were large, materials were scarce and always hand me downs from the White schools. No doubt, there are those of you in this assembly who did not have the African-American experience, but who attended similarly under-resourced rural and small town schools.

Despite the relative lack of resources, I believe I received a solid early education that prepared me for productive citizenship and relative success. What was it about those segregated, under-funded southern schools or those poor isolated rural schools that worked?

Let me suggest that it wasn’t the schools at all, but the people in those schools, the teachers and principles, and the families and communities that made the real difference. Perhaps my situation was unique because my parents were college educated - my mother, her 2 sisters and her mother were all teachers. In our family, reading was a common pastime. In our community, success in school was expected of all children. Teachers were committed to facilitating learning. The civil rights movement in the south was as much about education as it was the elimination of segregation and discrimination, and both were pursued with equal vigor by the entire community.

The conditions that shaped our positive attitudes about education created a culture that truly valued education. I fear that today, while other nations have been developing that drive, that burning desire for education, we have been losing it.

My suggestion then is that we concentrate over the long term on building a culture that truly understands the value of education in our society - a culture of educated people who are committed to education and who recognize that our children are our most important resource.

Once we establish a common understanding of the value of education, the solutions to our problems in education, I believe, will emerge.

Federal and State Legislators will understand the need for greater research on best practices, standards and accountability will be taken more seriously, teacher salaries will be more reflective of the value of educators in a society, - we will be more willing to commit the resources that are necessary to make the kinds of changes that we know are essential to making significant progress on this critical national issue.

There is an urgency associated with this problem and I know that if we are to have a chance at solving it, we must start now.

You, graduates of the MU College of Education are well equipped to lead the charge. You have been taught by an outstanding faculty of experts in so many fields of education. You have been exposed to the latest and best research available.

• You understand the importance of early pre-school literacy activities
• you know the nature of a good reading curriculum and outstanding instructional practices
• you know the importance of a good relationship between school and home.
• you are aware of the latest in Mathematics and science education
• you are aware of the latest methods to increase cultural awareness
• you have already had practical in-school experience through the College’s innovative Teacher Development Program
• you have worked with the latest technology and understand how to use it to enhance the educational experience

There is no doubt that you, graduates of MU’s College of Education, are very well prepared to meet the challenges that face the future of education.

It is my hope, and the hope for the future of our nation, that you will apply the skills and knowledge that you have developed here, with the kind of professionalism and dedication that has been modeled for you by this outstanding faculty, to improve the condition of public education and to build that culture of educated people who value education that is so necessary for our future success.

As Thomas Jefferson said, "The reward of esteem, respect and gratitude [is] due to those who devote their time and efforts to render the youths of every successive age fit governors for the next."

I wish you every success in the noble work that you have chosen to undertake.

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