Who We Are:

The Kansas Learning First Alliance (KLFA) is coalition of organizations in Kansas representing school boards, administrators, teachers and teacher educators, parents and the Kansas State Department of Education. Founded in February 1999, Kansas is the first state to have a partnership affiliated with the national Learning First Alliance.

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Our Mission:

KLFA’s mission is “Our mission is to unite the education community to improve our outstanding public education system, pre-K through higher education, to empower each Kansan to succeed in the diverse, interdependent world of the 21st century.

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To achieve this goal, KLFA has chosen three target areas:

• Improving student achievement;
• Strengthening the professional development of educators;
• Engaging the public in school improvement and student achievement efforts.

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Over the past three years, KLFA achievements include the following:

• Distributed to all pre-K through third grade teachers in Kansas the national Learning First Alliance booklet, Every Child Reading: An Action Plan, along with a study guide for its use.
• Developed a presentation package based on Every Child Reading and delivered it to nearly 1000 people in the state, including school site council members, community groups, and professional organizations.
• Drafted and revised, based on input from hundreds of Kansas educators, a self-assessment rubric to guide attainment of the Standards for Professional Development established by the National Staff Development Council.
• Helped revise state in-service education regulations to reflect these higher standards of professional development.
• Partnered with NEA and Public Agenda to host a community conversation about the “Changing Landscape of Public Education” to introduce the structured conversation process to our constituent organizations and school leaders.

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