I joined the staff of the Learning First Alliance (LFA) in September 2007. LFA is a partnership of 16 education organizations representing more than 10 million members dedicated to improving student learning in America's public schools. We share examples of success, encourage collaboration at every level, and work toward the continual and long-term improvement of public education based on solid research.
I come to this work from a classroom perspective. I taught high school physical science, biology and remedial math in Reserve, Louisiana, for two years as a Teach For America corps member. I've also worked on both school- and community-based mentoring programs.
Blog Posts
Most of the population declares their New Year's resolutions January 1. For educators, it happens closer to September 1. And often high on the list: improving relationships with parents.
Read More.Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that one of the areas where the federal government has focused its efforts in education recently is on school turnarounds. They want to identify chronically low-performing schools and concentrate on making them better -- significantly better --...
Read More.Few would disagree with the notion that low-income children face enormous challenges outside the traditional school system in achieving academic success. Research has confirmed the role of everything from ...
Read More.We all know that reading and math standardized test scores do not truly represent how good a school is. But thanks to No Child Left Behind -- the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- they are just about all...
Read More.Last year, in an Edutopia post, Claus von Zastrow highlighted the achievement of Detroit's Carstens Elementary School -- achievement that unfortunately has...
Read More.It is no secret that we are in the midst of an economic crisis. The federal deficit is out of control. State budgets are hurting. Cuts must be made. But we have to make these cuts smartly.
Read More.Some strategies to close the achievement gap are widely discussed -- lowering class sizes and paying educators a bonus to work in a low-income environment, for example. Others are not. For instance, you rarely hear about efforts to close the gap by providing school-based healthcare. But in...
Read More.During the past couple years, teacher preparation programs have been taking a lot of heat. Everyone from the Secretary of Education to the...
Read More.Sometimes I write about concerns with education legislation. That it doesn't always take into consideration the expertise of those in the schools -- those who are actually responsible for the implementation of the...
Read More.Over the last few months, it has become painfully clear that state and local budgets are suffering. Given that they provide the vast majority of funding for public education, we can expect that public schools and districts will have to do more with less for the foreseeable future.
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