Your Child's First and Most Influential Teacher

A Word to Parents and Students

The task of assuring the success of our recommendations does not fall to the schools and colleges alone. Obviously, faculty members and administrators along with policymakers and the mass media will play a crucial role in the reform of the educational system. Even more important is the role of parents and students, and to them we speak directly.

To Parents

You know that you cannot confidently launch your children into today's world unless they are of strong character and well-educated in the use of language, science, and mathematics. They must possess a deep respect for intelligence, achievement, and learning, and the skills needed to use them; for setting goals; and for disciplined work. That respect must be accompanied by an intolerance for the shoddy and second-rate masquerading as "good enough." You have the right to demand for your children the best our schools and colleges can provide. Your vigilance and your refusal to be satisfied with less than the best are the imperative first step. But your right to a proper education for your children carries a double responsibility.

As surely as you are your child's first and most influential teacher, your child's ideas about education and its significance begin with you. You must be a living example of what you expect your children to honor and to emulate.

Moreover, you bear a responsibility to participate actively in your child's education.

You should encourage more diligent study and discourage satisfaction with mediocrity and the attitude that says: "Let it slide."

Monitor your child's study.

Encourage good study habits.

Encourage your child to take more demanding rather than less demanding courses.

Nurture your child's curiosity, creativity, and confidence.

Be an active participant in the work of the schools.

Exhibit a commitment to continued learning in your own life.

Help your children understand that excellence in education cannot be achieved without intellectual and moral integrity coupled with hard work and commitment.

Children will look to their parents and teachers as models of such virtues.

To Students

When you give only the minimum to learning, you receive only the minimum in return....