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How does a person, family, community, and a nation respond to the violence that struck a high school in Florida? Just over two weeks after the tragedy occurred, it looks like we all go through a sense of shock that numbs us all to the core. Almost all in our...

After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14, surviving students quickly organized and called for better school safety measures and more gun control, and political debates began. Learning First Alliance members have spent recent days offering sympathies and help for educators and students who were...

By Julie Stern This post was originally published on the Share My Lesson website. Has anyone else been having trouble sleeping since the school shooting in Florida? Every single life lost before its time is a tragedy. For many of us, this one feels… different. Perhaps it’s the fact that...

By Peter Adams This commentary originally appeared in The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., and is republished with permission We’ve become so accustomed to frequently and easily accessing information on-demand — from more sources and in more forms than at any other time in history — that it’s easy to...

The fiscal 2019 budget put forth by the Trump administration today would spend billions of dollars more than the federal government will take in, breaking promises to balance the federal budget, yet K-12 education is once again shortchanged. Members of the Learning First Alliance spoke out against the proposal as...

How does one begin a discussion on the strength of our society—one that is becoming more important with each passing day? The erosion of civil discourse has presented a new normal, with the continued use, by political and government leaders, of increasingly vulgar terms to describe those who disagree with...

AASA, The School Superintendents Association, recently announced the four finalists for the 2018 Superintendent of the Year, a program graciously sponsored by VALIC and First Student. This is our opportunity to showcase four champions for children and put outstanding school district leaders from communities large and small on the national...

In focus groups, voters in the South had a hard time relating the term “equity” to public education, a new report shows. But it’s clear they understand the concept, bringing up inequities organically in conversation and supporting the idea of addressing the differences in quality and funding that exist in...

The research and best practices behind Learning First Alliance’s new compendium, “The Elements of Success: 10 Million Speak on Schools That Work,” are not necessarily new. But what is unique in this report is how the six major elements fit together into the concepts of consensus and interaction. First, consensus...

It has become part of our nation’s consciousness to say and believe, “Our schools don’t do well when we are compared to other nations.” But that statement is now proven to be a myth. A major new analysis sheds light on common school accountability benchmarks in the United States. How...