The preamble of the Goals 2000 Educate America Act of 1994 proclaims:

• "to improve learning and teaching by providing a national framework for education reform."
• "to promote the development and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill standards and certifications."

Title I specifies the National Education Goals. It consists of only two sections. Passages of relevance to world languages education are extracted, below.

Title I:

Sec. 101. Purpose

6.D. ... encouraging and enabling all State educational agencies and local educational agencies to develop comprehensive improvement plans that will provide a coherent framework for the implementation of reauthorized Federal education and related programs in an integrated fashion that effectively educates all children to prepare them to participate fully as workers, parents, and citizens.

Sec. 102. National Education Goals

(A) By the year 2000, all students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography, and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our Nation's modern economy.

(v) the percentage of all students who are competent in more than one language will substantially increase; and

(vi) all students will be knowledgeable about the diverse cultural heritage of this Nation and about the world community.