Today there is unprecedented consensus on the steps necessary to improve American education.
The Learning First Alliance saw this first hand last month when the nation's governors, business and education leaders met at the third National Education Summit . These leaders reinforced the messages of earlier national meetings by reaffirming their commitment to rigorous academic standards that ask students to learn more so they are prepared for success in the society of tomorrow. But, new at this Summit was the recognition that ensuring all students achieve these high standards will require intensive efforts to improve teacher quality, provide all students a fair opportunity to meet higher standards, and have fair accountability for results. Furthermore, there was agreement that governors, business and education leaders will have to work hard in harmony to make this happen. The Summit resulted in surprisingly concrete specifics.