K-12 Education

Governors are leading efforts across the country to ensure that students in their states graduate prepared to succeed in postsecondary, the workforce, and life. The NGA K-12 Education Team supports Governors in these efforts by regularly bringing together Governors’ education policy advisors to connect with and learn from each other and national and state experts in the field; providing ongoing responsive and proactive technical assistance; and through the development of resources and reports that spotlight promising practices and actionable strategies on timely topics, including addressing students’ academic needs and well-being and strengthening the educator workforce.

Latest

Reimagining and Strengthening the Role of the School Principal

State Snapshots For Strengthening The Educator Workforce

High-Quality Youth Development and Out-of-School-Time (OST) Opportunities

Meet The Team

Seth Gerson, Policy Director
Devon Nir, Senior Policy Analyst
Lily Klam, Policy Analyst
Ekaan Ahmad, Policy Coordinator

Major Initiatives

Let’s Get Ready! Chair’s Initiative and Policy Academy

The NGA K-12 Education team partnered with Colorado Governor Jared Polis during his 2024–25 tenure as NGA Chair on the Let’s Get Ready!: Educating All Americans for Success initiative. During this year-long project, NGA convened education experts in Salt Lake City, Denver, Las Vegas, Washington DC, New York City, Vancouver, Colorado Springs, and online to determine how we can better understand and measure what helps students and state economies thrive. The initiative culminated in the Let’s Get Ready! Roadmap for Governors, which offers practical guidance to assist state leaders in strengthening their education systems.

Through June 2027, the K-12 Education team will support a bipartisan cohort of seven states and territories (three Republican, four Democratic) via a technical assistance project as they use the Let’s Get Ready! roadmap to advance their Governors’ visions for education. As part of the Policy Academy to Advance Data Dashboards Measuring Student and System Success, these states and territories will identify a set of metrics for success and develop a data dashboard to track student and system performance.

Phones in Focus

As states and territories take increasing interest in the distractions created by cell phones in schools, the NGA K-12 Education team has partnered with Dr. Angela Duckworth to launch Phones in Focus. This national research initiative will gather input from 100,000 educators nationwide with the goal of developing evidence-based recommendations for policies that support academic success, social well-being, and student focus.

Governors’ Education Policy Advisor Convenings

The NGA K-12 Education Team convenes Governors’ Education Policy Advisors regularly to support state leadership on key K-12 priorities. Past meetings have addressed topics such as academic supports, school finance, school cell phone policies, and educator workforce, all while providing advisors an opportunity to connect with peers from across the country. See recaps of previous meetings.

Timely and Ongoing Resources

The NGA K-12 Education Team regularly holds informative briefings and webinars featuring subject matter experts in the field, Governors’ staff, and state education leaders. This includes the State Strategies for Addressing K-12 Student Needs webinar series, which covers topics ranging from state budgets to family engagement to supports for students with unique needs, as well as the State Snapshots for Strengthening the Educator Workforce series focused on teacher and principal recruitment and retention.

The team also releases an annual analysis of education trends reflected in Governors’ State of the State addresses, offering crucial insight into the trajectory of K-12 education nationwide. See our analyses from 2024, 2025 and 2026.

NGA K-12 Education Library

First Spouses Meet with Second Lady, Convene at 2026 NGA Winter Meeting

First Spouses routinely convene at the annual NGA Winter Meeting to meet with philanthropic and government leaders and to elevate the initiatives they are leading in their states and territories ...

NGA Launches Data Dashboard Project to Measure Student Success

Washington, D.C. – The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) launched the Policy Academy to Advance Data Dashboards Measuring Student & System Success. The project will be ...

2025 In Education

Education is one of the largest elements of Governors’ budgets, and as an organization dedicated to supporting Governors’ work, it should come as no surprise that education was a strong ...

Policy Academy to Advance Data Dashboards Measuring Student & System Success

This project will support 6–8 states and/or territories in advancing their Governor’s vision for education through a dashboard of metrics tracking pertinent measures of student and system success across academics, ...

Governors Focus on Distraction-Free Learning

“The research is clear, cellphone use can create a trifecta of consequences for our young people – mental health issues, safety in school, and distraction from learning."Governor Tina KotekOregon Regarding ...

Let’s Get Ready to Implement a Roadmap for Governors

Each year, the Chair of the National Governors Association runs an initiative aimed at doing what Governors do best: improving the lives of the American people. Launched last year at ...

Governor Polis, Mark Cuban Discuss Education Solutions

Governors Collaborate on Bipartisan “Let’s Get Ready! Educating All Americans for Success” Initiative Colorado Springs – During the opening session of the National Governors Association (NGA) Summer Meeting, NGA Chair ...

Secretary McMahon Meets with Governors

Education Secretary Participates in Discussion on “Let’s Get Ready!” Initiative Colorado Springs – Education Secretary Linda McMahon attended the National Governors Association (NGA) Summer Meeting in Colorado Springs, joining NGA ...

Governor Polis Releases “Education Roadmap for Governors”

Roadmap Caps Yearlong Initiative: “Let’s Get Ready! Educating All Americans for Success” Colorado Springs – Colorado Governor Jared Polis released a Roadmap for Governors detailing policy solutions developed through Let’s ...