National Business-Led Education Organizations

Businesses created and back several major national education organizations. These groups work together, with state and local education leaders and policymakers, with other business advocacy groups and with the federal government to improve public schools.

Achieve
Achieve, Inc., is led by governors and chief executive officers. Achieve's mission is to raise standards and achievement in America's schools by ensuring that all states have academic standards, assessments, curriculum and accountability systems aligned to the demands of work and college. Achieve works in partnership with state governors, education superintendents and leaders from higher education and businesses to raise standards and improve student performance. Through its 25-state American Diploma Project Network, Achieve help states build support for higher expectations, mobilize higher education and business leaders and upgrade their academic standards and accountability systems to match the skills and knowledge required for success in freshman-level college courses and family-supporting jobs.

This Business Tools for Better Schools Web site was developed by Achieve as a service of the American Diploma Project Network in collaboration with Business Roundtable, the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Center for Educational Accountability.

Business-Higher Education Forum
The Business-Higher Education Forum is an independent, nonprofit membership organization of leaders from American businesses, colleges and universities and foundations. The Forum's mission is "to engage and inform members, policy makers and the public regarding strategic national challenges of high priority to both business and higher education, and to help shape sound policy to address these challenges." The Forum's strategic priorities are: Expand the nation's human capital to meet emerging social, economic and technological challenges; advance public policy that encourages innovation, high-value research and development, and collaboration in university and business settings; and inform the leadership of American corporations and higher education institutions so as to strengthen these organizations and meet the challenges of a global knowledge economy.

Business Roundtable
Through its Task Force on Education and the Workforce, Business Roundtable provides issue leadership and leads policy and advocacy coalitions of business groups to get education policy enacted at the federal level. Business Roundtable's Nine Essential Components of a Successful Education System describes a comprehensive approach to education reform that has guided many state and federal education laws and regulations. Business Roundtable's current top education policy priorities are sustaining and improving the No Child Left Behind Act and increasing federal and state investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Business Roundtable also nurtures a network of more than 30 statewide business roundtables and business-education partnerships that are actively promoting and participating in school reform. These state groups are independent of the national organization, but often work in concert with Business Roundtable and/or use Business Roundtable materials to build public support for change and set education policy agendas for their communities.

Institute for a Competitive Workforce at the US Chamber of Commerce
The world's largest business organization, representing over 3 million businesses of all sizes, the U.S. Chamber is well-known for its leadership on issues affecting small business and its network of statewide chambers of commerce and local chambers of commerce in cities of every size. Its mission is "to advance human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility." The U.S. Chamber has long been involved in vocational education, K-12 education reform and workforce development issues at the federal level and through its state and local affiliates in communities across the country. In 2005, the U.S. Chamber created the Business Education Network (BEN), which became part of the Institute for a Competitive Workforce in 2006. BEN is a coalition of businesses, chambers, educators, and education-focused nonprofits of the US education system and of America's future workforce. BEN focuses on promoting business-education partnerships to accomplish local, regional, and national objectives. BEN also hosts an annual Summit of local, state and national corporations, business people and educators who are interested in strategic education and business partnerships.

Business Coalition for Student Achievement
Coordinated by Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Coalition for Student Achievement periodically convenes more than 20 national business groups around major federal K-12 legislation. The Coalition agrees to principles and policy positions that require federal investment to assist each state with implementing a standards-based, performance-driven system to meet the goal of higher student achievement.

Committee for Economic Development
The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is an independent, nonpartisan organization of business and education leaders dedicated to policy research on the major economic and social issues facing America. CED provides cutting-edge research and information on early childhood development, higher education policy and major topics within K-12 education reform, such as measurement, high schools and school finance reform. CED also conducts original research in the areas of workforce and domestic, economic and social policy.

National Center for Educational Accountability
An independent, nonprofit collaboration of Education Commission of the States, Just for the Kids and the University of Texas at Austin, NCEA leads major national initiatives in the area of improving the use of performance data in public education to raise student achievement. 

• Just for the Kids is designed to motivate educators and the public to take action by helping schools compare their achievement to schools with similar or more disadvantaged student populations. The Just for the Kids data report cards for schools are available in 31 states through state-level nonprofit affiliates that are often business-led organizations or coalitions.
• The Data Quality Campaign is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the collection, availability, and use of high-quality education data. DQC emphasizes each state's responsibility to develop longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement. It recognizes that having a data system that tracks individual students' progress from the day they enter pre-K to the day they complete their education will be an invaluable resource to policymakers and educators that seek to evaluate and improve upon existing education policies and practices.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills
The mission of P21 is "to bring 21st century skills to every child in America by serving as a catalyst for change in teaching, learning, and assessment and as an advocate among education policy makers through a unique partnership among education, business, and government leaders." P21 advocates for including the "21st century skill set" in state and local curriculum. According to P21, these skills include information and communication skills; thinking and problem-solving; interpersonal and self-direction skills; global awareness; financial, economic and business literacy; and civic literacy.