On August 26, 1981, Secretary of Education Terrel Bell created the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Bell-appointed members of this team were charged with conducting an eighteen-month study of primary and secondary education in America. They were to present to the American people a detailed, impartial report on the quality of education in America by April 1983. The report that was produced was titled A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. The results of A Nation at Risk were extremely disheartening to the American people. The American school system was failing. Statistics indicated that American children did not meet global standards, the curriculum was outdated, and lacked rigor and relevance. The main findings of the study indicated that 23 million Americans over the age of eighteen and thirteen percent of all seventeen-year-olds could be considered functionally illiterate. The study concluded that these startling statistics were due to the educational process itself, citing that, compared to the rest of the world, American students spend less time on school work than their global peers. The American government viewed the failure of the educational system as the root of many of America's most pressing issues at the time. America's economic repercussions were believed to be directly linked to the lack of educational rigor and relevance. They believed that the declining importance of education was causing the American people to lose their competitive advantage in the global market economy. This report was particularly striking because it was presented at a time when America needed to be at the top of its game in all areas. , especially education. The American public has seen the information… half the paper… or years. The other example is that teachers who teach in an approved Title I school for five years are qualified to have their federal student loans paid in full through a program administered through the Regional Education Support Agency (RESAII). A nation at risk had excellent timing. It was commissioned when change was needed. The American people had softened in the face of a failing school system. The American government had turned a blind eye to the state of the country's school systems. A Nation at Risk identified problems and provided paths for improvement to the American people, American educators, and the United States government, ensuring that everyone had a clear understanding of the shortcomings of education in America. Hopefully, America remains vigilant and constantly seeks to improve the education it offers its young people.