The Alliance released a brief exploring how to improve the distribution of teachers among and within low-performing high schools, and which outlines recommendations for federal policymakers in supporting and encouraging good practice at the state and local level. A panel of teacher quality experts discussed how state and local practice can inform federal policy.

Over one hundred educators, policymakers, and other key stakeholders gathered March 25 in Washington, DC to attend a forum addressing the challenges of measuring and improving the effectiveness of high school teachers. The event was convened to release the Alliance’s most recent publication, “Measuring and Improving the Effectiveness of High School Teachers.” The event also presented a panel of experts in the field who discussed the implications of research and practice on high school teacher effectiveness for federal policy.

Teachers are crucial to the success of our students. Yet many of them are leaving their schools and the profession, particularly in poorer, lower performing schools. Common wisdom says that good teachers are more likely to leave. But are they?

On Friday, February 22, Directions For Our Youth, Inc. (DFOY) hosted a Dropout Summit at Lehman College, City University of New York. Among the event sponsors were the Alliance for Excellent Education, America’s Promise, the Hispanic Federation and the After-School Corporation. The goals for the event were to assess progress since the Dropout Summit held in 2007 and to develop recommendations for local, state, and federal action.

Reauthorizing and improving NCLB is critical to our nation’s future -- to accelerating progress in assuring that all students, regardless of race or economic status, have access to a quality education. Every day we wait, thousands of students drop out of school, teachers continue to struggle for the support they need, and too many of our students, schools and communities miss out on the benefits that would come from improving the law.

Amid growing speculation over whether the U.S. Congress would reauthorize the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2008, the Alliance for Excellent Education and Catalyst Chicago convened a panel of experts to discuss ways that the law should be changed to be more supportive of local high school reform efforts—whenever reauthorization takes place.

Over two hundred educators, advocates, and other key stakeholders gathered on December 4 to discuss the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in reading, mathematics, and science. The event—cohosted by the Alliance for Excellent Education, Asia Society, Business Roundtable, Council of Chief State School Officers, ED in ‘08, and the National Governors Association—featured a dynamic presentation by Andreas Schleicher, PISA’s director and head of the Indicators and Analysis Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) Directorate for Education; reactions from each of the hosting organizations; and an engaging question-and-answer session with the audience.

Alliance President Bob Wise, U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), and education advocates discussed the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

On October 4-5, the Alliance for Excellent Education convened local, state, and national education leaders to discuss federal strategies for improving the achievement of our nation’s struggling middle and high school students. Last year’s conference examined the consensus that has been building around a federal agenda for high school reform. Leveraging that momentum, this year’s conference focused on explicit policies that should be included in NCLB to improve high schools.

Audio, video and materials from the Alliance for Excellent Education's High School Policy Conference

On September 12, the Alliance released High School Teaching for the Twenty-first Century: Preparing Students for College with a panel of national experts on teacher quality discussing how the teacher preparation pipeline, from pre-service training to professional development, can be strengthened in order to raise the quality of high school teaching in order to prepare students for success beyond the high school diploma.