The Learning First Alliance was a Summit co-sponsor and its report highlights current and planned Alliance initiatives that respond to last fall's Summit agreement calling for united action to improve student achievement. In addition to these Alliance initiatives, since the Summit, the Learning First Alliance's member organizations have worked to encourage national, state and local education leaders to address the challenges outlined in the Summit's Action Statement. This third National Education Summit was a vitally important event.
Educators know the standards movement, and the accountability that goes with it, is working.
We have a responsibility to ensure that they have the support and resources they must have for all children to succeed. In addition to the collective actions of the Alliance, Alliance member organizations are taking active steps to build on the Summit's national consensus agenda for improving student achievement. This unique forum will join school board members, administrators, teachers, and community leaders from across the country to lay the groundwork for each district's student achievement and community engagement plan. The American Federation of Teachers, recognizing that reading is a fundamental key to unlocking academic success, has launched an initiative to provide teachers with the tools they will need to help children become accomplished readers. This initiative includes advice on how districts can develop effective reading programs, providing members with professional development in effective reading instruction, and intensive work in three school districts that will increase the capacity of teacher unions to deliver effective professional development in reading.