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This article was originally published by Hobson's. For years, lack of detailed data correlating high school skills and experiences with workforce outcomes left policy advisors claiming the generic label ‘college and career readiness skills’ applied equally well to students’ readiness for university and workplace opportunities, often leaving students, families, and...

On a recent August day, members of the Learning First Alliance visited the Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) to see firsthand how this institution trains its students for high-tech, high-skilled jobs in its vast manufacturing facility. It was enlightening. The apprenticeship program has been in place since 1919...

We should be worried. While report after report has declared that school improvement is hinged on the teacher, we now have proof that we need to do more to focus on the teachers we have, and the future pipeline of teachers. But we also see that our public school teachers...

The African Americans’ fight for equality in education is often associated with the 1954 landmark case of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, KS. It has been considered one of the most compelling cases of the Supreme Court of the 20th century. The court unanimously decided that racial...

In the Elements of Success, the members of the Learning First Alliance present an integrated, profession-wide view that educating the total child includes social-emotional learning (SEL). The challenge is, how to integrate the SEL into an already full program? It’s important to note that a wide range of educators support...

In Elements of Success, a wide range of educators agree that social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies should be integrated into any curriculum to educate the total child. The challenge is, how to integrate SEL into an already full school day. The members of the Learning First Alliance support having the teachers...

The middle school years can be among the toughest for teachers, administrators, and students themselves. In my work across the country helping school systems create professional learning opportunities that help transform teaching and learning, I’ve had the opportunity to see innovative school districts create support systems that are improving the...

With the coming of the Digital Age, companies are embracing the emerging “no-collar” workforce trend by redesigning jobs and imagining how work gets done in a hybrid human-and-machine environment as reported by Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report. The rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) may require companies to...

Reflections on the passing of Mrs. Barbara Bush have shared her strength of character, her passions for literacy and her family, as well as her concern for others. I would like to add my admiration, from my perspective as a literacy advocate representing reading teachers, for her groundbreaking work to...

Last week, the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education released the 2015-16 Civil Rights Data Collection, producing two reports highlighting major findings related to school climate and safety and access to STEM courses. The findings are troubling. The data show that, for example, black students and...