Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 1.djvu/266

 108 STAT. 240 PUBLIC LAW 103-227—MAR. 31, 1994 (M) the involvement of parents and families in the management and governance of schools and the education of their children; (N) effective approaches to increasing the representation of women and minorities among leadership and management positions in education; (O) approaches to systemic reforms involving the coordination of multiple policies of each level of government to promote higher levels of student achievement; (P) approaches to coordinated services for children; (Q) teacher certification at the State and tribal levels; (R) school-based management, shared decisionmaking and other innovative school structures, and State and local reforms and educational policies, which show promise for improving student achievement; (S) policies related to school-to-work transitions and preparing non-college-bound students; and (T) other topics relevant to the mission of the Institute, (h) NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, LIBRARIES, AND LIFELONG LEARNING.— (1) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds as follows: (A) The American system of postsecondary education is foremost in the world in such system's achievement of both academic excellence and equity in access, but maintaining that preeminence requires renewed efforts to strengthen the quality of postsecondary education. Disappointing student performance on achievement tests and licensure examinations, declining rates of postsecondary education persistence and completion among minorities, and other troubling trends in the quality of postsecondary education should be addressed by the United States as part of its overall drive to improve American education. (B) The need to improve our economic productivity of the United States to meet the competitive challenges of a new, international economy, coupled with high levels of mobility in the United States labor market and demographic changes in the workforce, now demands more and higher quality programs of learning and training in the American workplace. (C) The more than 1,000,000 men and women incarcerated in the prisons and jails in the United States are among the most severely educationally disadvantaged in the United States, with high rates of functional illiteracy and extremely low levels of educational attainment. Since an estimated 90 percent of these individuals are expected to be released by the end of the decade, the United States must act to assure that our correctional system has the means to equip these Americans with the knowledge and skills they will need to participate productively in our society. (D) The development of a "Nation of Students" capable of and committed to the pursuit of formal and informal lifelong learning and literacy is essential to sustain both national and individual economic success and to provide a nurturing environment in which all children and youth can learn and achieve. Historically the most effective

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