Towards these ends, in 1964 the NSF created a few dozen committees to broadly examine the current curriculum and make reform suggestions. The main finding of these various studies was that there needed to be more development of problem-solving skills that could be applied more generally than just rote memorization. In that respect they had an idea that has merit. Given that the NSF has an implicitly national reach, by the late 70s more than half of all schools had applied some aspects of the NSF recommendations.
The results of the NSF initiative were mixed. For the first time, the US had seen a major investment in primary and secondary education at a national level. Educators had critically examined the educational system and what was being taught. However, adoption was far from universal. The publishers of textbooks were understandably reluctant to rewrite their books to account for the new methods of teaching, and the cost of the new materials to the school districts were often substantial. Indeed, more recent studies have shown that many schools eventually returned to traditional methods of instruction. However, it did show what was possible.
From the 80s to current day, there have been a number of other attempts to reform education, none of which have met with great success. In the 80s the National Science Teachers Association pushed for educating the general populace to a basic level of scientific literacy. The primary result of this push was that by the end of the decade scientists reached an accord that this was a good idea.