<Table> A Nation at Risk <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> </Td> </Tr> </Table> <P> A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform is the 1983 report of American President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education . Its publication is considered a landmark event in modern American educational history . Among other things, the report contributed to the ever - growing assertion that American schools were failing, and it touched off a wave of local, state, and federal reform efforts . </P> <P> The commission consisted of 18 members, drawn from the private sector, government, and education . The chair of the commission was David Pierpont Gardner . Secretary of Education T.H. Bell sought to have the commission be presidentially appointed . Reagan did not concur, and Bell used his own authority as Secretary to establish the commission and appoint its members . </P>

What was the significance of the 1983 department of education report a nation at risk answers
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