The National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers, the American Geographical Society, and the National Council for Geographic Education partnered to outline a "road map" for long-term strategies to improve K-12 geography education. The partner organizations assembled three committees to create synthesis reports, each of which examined and made recommendations for an area of geography education that is critical to improvement. These areas include education research, assessment, and instructional materials and professional development. The recommendations for each report revolve around advancing a common goal; presenting an approach to geography education that balances "knowing geography" with "doing geography." Articles summarizing two of these reports (Schell et al. this issue; Wertheim et al. this issue) are included in this issue of "The Geography Teacher." This short overview is designed to provide background for those two articles.