
NGA Center for Best Practices
NGA Center for Best Practices teams develop innovative solutions to today’s most pressing public policy challenges. The NGA Center is the only research and development firm that directly serves the nation’s Governors.
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Cultivating Consensus in Human Services
It's critical for Governors and human services leaders to navigate complex issues, especially when political tension feels high. In some scenarios, successful implementation can rely more on framing and relationship ...

Governors’ Perspectives on Addressing Child Care Needs: Supply and Demand Trends to Watch
Opportunities abound for state-led solutions, and Governors continue to take up the mantle by continuing to prioritize increasing the availability of early care and education. (Download) Ten years ago, Governors’ ...

Let’s Get Ready for International Best Practices in Education
Through Let’s Get Ready!, Governors are working with parents and educators not just to find new answers but to ask new questions. The Vancouver convening provided a valuable opportunity to ...
Let’s Get Ready
All Americans should have access to education that prepares them for success in life. As the world changes and technology evolves, ensuring all students graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary for success is increasingly critical for our nation’s economic competitiveness.
As Governors, we lead states facing economic opportunities but also challenges, shortages in workforce, skills mismatch, and widening opportunity gaps that limit true economic mobility for Americans. We must take these indicators as a call to action.
Program Areas
Center for Best Practices Library

Governors’ Perspectives on Addressing Child Care Needs: Supply and Demand Trends to Watch
Opportunities abound for state-led solutions, and Governors continue to take up the mantle by continuing to prioritize increasing the availability ...

Let’s Get Ready for International Best Practices in Education
Through Let’s Get Ready!, Governors are working with parents and educators not just to find new answers but to ask ...

Rx For a Healthier America Policy Academy
Chronic disease is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a condition lasting longer than a ...

Let’s Get Ready to Close the Achievement Gaps for All Students
The conviction that every student can succeed is one of Let’s Get Ready’s core tenets. As achievement gaps between top-performing ...

Lessons Learned from the NGA Policy Academy to Drive Thriving Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing
This report expands upon findings from the Policy Academy to Drive Thriving Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing and provides guidance ...

How States Are Expanding Quality Summer Learning Opportunities
Dr. Julie Fitz from the Learning Policy Institute joins NGA to talk about how states are expanding quality summer learning ...

Food is Medicine: A Strategic Shift in State Health Policy
Across the country, Governors are driving a new phase of healthcare transformation—one that positions healthy food as a reimbursable, clinically ...

Let’s Get Ready for Improved Educational Outcomes
At NGA, we take best practices seriously, with dedicated teams who work with state policy leaders and other experts to ...

Strengthening Outbreak Response through Data, Forecasting and Analytics
Governors play an important role in improving infectious disease preparedness and response efforts at state and territory levels. This year’s ...

The State of Advanced Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy is having a moment. That was the consensus during a briefing the NGA Economic Development and Revitalization Task ...

Understanding Lapses in Learning
The following letter to editor, regarding “Have We Quit on Learning?,” originally appeared in the New York Times on May ...

State Government as a Model Employer for People with Disabilities: A Playbook for Governors
This playbook highlights six actionable strategies Governors can use to improve state government career paths for people with disabilities. (Download) ...
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