History does not move neatly by decades but the 1980s have an international identity., with profound economic and political changes taking place. The 1980s are in many respects a discontinuity, with major shifts of policy emphasis in Britain, the United States and other countries, from ‘access’ to ‘excellence’ in education, from equity to economic need. However, in the United States more than in Britain the continuities are of profound importance. In 1981 an Education Consolidation and Improvement Act – effective from October 1982– did not, as originally intended when converting ‘Title I’ to ‘Chapter I’, subsume efforts for the disadvantaged in a block grant, but instead retained the principle of targeting. Parent Advisory Committees were no longer to be mandatory, but parents still had to be consulted. The fear that Chapter I would disappear into general aid accompanied by budget cuts proved unfounded. The evaluation of Chapter I services continued to show that students who received them registered larger achievement on test scores than those who did not, while not significantly reducing the gap with the advantaged (A: McClure, 1982, 450–3; McLaughlin et al., 1985; Kennedy et al., 1986, vii–viii; Birman et al., 1987, 5–8). The Title I/Chapter I impetus not only survived the decade, it gained renewed vigour from the School Improvement Act of 1987. Chapter I funding had been increased by 12 per cent in 1986, and was further increased by 16 per cent under the Act. When the Act was debated in the House no member spoke against it and only one voted against.