A national grassroots movement of parents, students, teachers and advocates against high-stakes testing and standards is growing, propelled by widespread grievances about inequity, unfairness, and public disempowerment. As the resistance swells, so does the call for sensible policies that support teachers and schools and provide all students with access to key resources and opportunities.

Mark your calendars for an exciting, free webinar on Wed. May 22nd at 7:00 p.m. (ET) hosted by the Center for Teaching Quality, OTL Campaign, National Education Association, and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education.

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has tracked preschool enrollment and funding data in the country for over a decade. Its latest annual "State of Preschool" report presents an alarming set of "firsts" in the 2011-2012 school year: Enrollment in state-funded pre-K programs has stagnated after a decade of growth, and average funding per child has decreased below $4,000 for the first time since NIEER began collecting the data.

It’s time we recognize that students fall behind not because of inherent character flaws, but because our education policies for the past two decades have focused on implementing tough standards while failing to build support systems that address the societal factors that create barriers to academic success.

Standards-based reform creates an inherent system of winners and losers by raising the bar and assessing who makes the cut. Supports-based reforms provide and strategically align the needed resources so each student has the opportunity to reach that bar—and surpass it.

Despite the wealth of research showing that early learning and after-school programs help close the achievement gap by ensuring children are prepared to start school and continue to achieve once they're there, a report from NY OTL ally Campaign for Children shows how funding instability for these programs could lead to their collapse.