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Every year during summer break, too many children lose more than baby teeth, frisbees and beach toys. They lose two to three months of progress in reading and math skills. This is what is known as the “summer slide.” And these losses add up. By fifth grade, summer learning loss...

There were 6 million open jobs in the United States in April, a record high, according to data released by the Labor Department. It comes at a time when 6.8 million unemployed Americans are looking for a job. Eighty percent of manufacturing executives reported they are willing to pay more...

By Alan Richard Despite new attention to rural areas of the U.S. following last November’s presidential election, the Trump administration and many leaders at the state and federal levels don’t seem to making education in rural areas a major priority. A new, 50-state report from our organization—the nonprofit Rural School...

Working with several of its member organizations and other partners, the Learning First Alliance has held a series of webinars on hot topics in federal and state policy. All of those webinars are now archived and available for viewing free of charge. These webinars include: Understanding the E-Rate: What to...

By Thomas J. Gentzel and Glenn Marshall In just three years, the gap between trained workers and job openings could threaten our nation’s economic security, reduce individual prosperity and create larger income gaps, if a 2020 forecast by the Bureau of Labor Statistics comes to fruition. This is a cause...

The priorities outlined in President Trump’s budget proposal are startling. LFA members representing teachers, parents, administrators, specialists, teacher educators quickly criticized the proposal , which shortchanges the nation’s public schools. And, its cuts go deeper than those that simply hit the U.S Department of Education. This budget includes cuts to...

Matthew Utterback took the leadership of the North Clackamas (Ore.) school district in the midst of a financial crisis: the state was in a deep recession and budget cuts had forced the school system to lay off about a quarter of its teaching staff. Utterback, who was principal of the...

Members of the Learning First Alliance sharply criticized the budget proposal put forth by the Trump administration today that would cut $9.2 billion--more than 13 percent--from the Department of Education's budget while creating new school choice incentives for states. It would eliminate funding for teacher and principal development under Title...

By Melinda Dart In April 2014, I had the opportunity to attend the Coalition for Community Schools ’ National Conference in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Public Schools system was one of the first districts in the country to have a districtwide community school strategy. During the conference, I participated in community...

This article was originally published on ISTE’s EdTekHub . Sign up to get articles like this one delivered to your inbox at iste.org/subscribe . Most of us can probably remember facing a few challenges in middle and high school — both academic and social. But can you imagine how it...