This newscast from a Denver television station describes how schools in Colorado and across the country are preparing to embrace the Common Core State Standards, a nationwide effort to align curriculum across state lines and focus more extensively on higher-order skills, such as critical thinking and communication.

Recently, the Education Writers Association held their annual national seminar, “Learning from Leaders,” here in Philadelphia. The event brought together education reporters, experts, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, policymakers, district administrators, and educators to discuss important topics in education.

Working with an instructional coach does not mean a teacher is poorly trained, incompetent, or incapable of teaching. In fact, it is one of the best methods to help teachers develop exceptional instructional skills, practices, and strategies in the classroom, and to improve student achievement.

More and more people are discovering what we’ve known all along: that smart investments in educating our youngest children pay off. In this era of limited dollars and economic challenges, early childhood advocates are increasingly making a case that the benefits of early childhood investments don’t take a generation to yield fruit—they pay off right away.

A task force led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein released a report that states American students rank behind their peers in reading, math and science in many other developed and industrialized countries, and that this “educational failure” poses a risk for our future military and economy. 

One third-grade student at Chicago’s Armour Elementary summed up our feelings about the exciting collaboration with Target and Chicago Public Schools.  “I feel brand new!” he exclaimed after checking out a book from his classroom’s new home-lending library.