New "Learning First" Alliance announced by major national educational organizations

Educational Organizations Announce Collaborative Commitment to Improve Student Learning and Plans to Sponsor National Summit on Priority Issues of Reading and Math

(Washington, D.C.) Twelve leading national educational organizations came together today at a press briefing to announce the formation of the Learning First Alliance -- an unprecedented and permanent collaboration of the organizations who will work together within this newly incorporated framework strategically and aggressively to improve student learning in America’s elementary and secondary public schools.

The Learning First Alliance will serve as a catalyst to coordinate resources and initiatives of its member organizations to further student achievement. The Alliance organizations, whose own members and constituencies represent more than ten million Americans, include the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Education Commission of the States, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Parent Teacher Association, the National Education Association, and the National School Boards Association.

"It is hard to name a challenge confronting our public schools that could not be better addressed by a fuller and more forceful collaboration of the education community -- both inside and outside our schools," Anne Bryant, NSBA executive director and new chair of the Learning First Alliance Steering Committee, said today at the press briefing. "Our primary objective in bringing together our unique organizations is to unleash the combined commitment of our nation’s teachers; principals; parents; teacher educators; state policy makers; local school board members; and school administrators in improving public schools and student learning."

According to Bryant, the Alliance will work with and through its member organizations on three specific objectives:

To ensure that high academic expectations are held for all students.
To ensure a safe and supportive place of learning for all students.
To engage parents and all community members in helping students achieve high academic expectations.

The Learning First Alliance represents a commitment by its members to work in concert for the first time in history on a strategic set of common goals. The presidents and executive directors of the Alliance member organizations will meet regularly to coordinate efforts that will include the development and delivery of messages to all segments of the education system, the discovery and dissemination of success stories and model initiatives, the conducting and analysis of solid research, and collaboration on short and long-term actions.

"Our joint commitment to student learning is real and will be unrelenting," said Alan Glenn, president elect of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and chair of the Learning First Alliance. "Each education leader here today, in fact every educator and policymaker, and indeed every American has ultimately failed if a single child leaves school without the basic skills he or she needs to become a productive citizen. It is time for us to double and redouble our efforts."

Shirley Sagawa, the executive director of the Learning First Alliance, announced that the Alliance will initially focus on improving reading and math achievement. The Alliance member organizations will sponsor a national summit on reading and math to be held in January, 1998, in Washington D.C. According to Sagawa, the summit will feature national and local delegations of the member organizations, as well as outstanding and innovative leaders in the education and related communities. The summit will conclude with a strategic action plan on reading and math to be undertaken by the Learning First Alliance member organizations that will be announced at the summit’s conclusion.