Is There a Conflict Between Equity and Excellence?

Abstract

This paper addresses the question posed by A Nation at Risk: Is there a conflict between the pursuit of equality and the pursuit of excellence? It argues that this question disguises another and more fundamental conflict between the economic and political goals of education. Concepts of equity and excellence are developed within the contexts of human capital theory and of “the Jeffersonian ideal.” It is argued that these conflicting concepts of equity and excellence cannot be simultaneously realized and that the tendency to link educational reform to the goals of human capital theory threatens the Jeffersonian ideals of democratic participation