Blog

By design, the Common Core standards and other college- and career-ready expectations states have established recently were designed to have a ripple effect throughout the education system. A clearer focus on the writing, problem solving and critical thinking that are essential skills for student success after high school has repercussions for curriculum and instructional tools, how educators are teaching, and...
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It’s no secret that our education system continues to struggle with issues of race and diversity. I recently saw this firsthand when my son’s school was combined with a school a little over a mile down the street that has a much higher percentage of low-income students of color. This was part of the superintendent’s plan to address the impact...
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As state K-12 education agencies simultaneously scramble to complete their required state plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and wonder what the Trump Administration will mean for enforcement of the new law, an important opportunity might be slipping away to deepen collaboration across the education system. Buried in the long list of groups with which states are required...
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In 2010, the Hewlett Foundation committed to an ambitious vision for improving public education in the U.S.: Ensuring underserved students develop the skills and knowledge to succeed in college, careers and civic life in the 21st century. Education First has had the privilege of working alongside the foundation as it implemented grantmaking strategies in support of this vision and capitalized...
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I taught sixth grade in Austin Independent School District before working in education policy. It’s hard to be a sixth grader as it is, but some kids have even more trouble fitting in and making connections with others. I remember three students in particular: a devout Muslim boy who recently immigrated to the U.S. from Jordan; a girl who was...
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Back when we started teaching almost 15 years ago, “assessments,” in our minds, were things like spelling tests and exit tickets. We mostly created them ourselves and learned through trial and error how to write questions that would help us understand our students’ learning. We also learned what types of questions don’t work—like the one Emily asked her students on...
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Few states have had as exciting a journey for public education as Delaware. Fueled by multi-million dollar grants, a committed coalition of public and private stakeholders, and a consistent focus on a few key areas, Delaware has witnessed improvements on critical indicators such as graduation rates and children receiving high-quality preschool. We at Education First had the privilege of chronicling...
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As a Hispanic, first-generation college graduate teaching in Houston, one of the many ways I connected with my students was through our shared identity. When I taught elementary school, my second graders acknowledged that “I looked just like them,” and parents felt more comfortable when I could speak with them in Spanish. These were small—but significant—relationship builders. When I taught...
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“Pretty much everything you could do under No Child Left Behind is still authorized,” notes Stephen Sawchuck in a recent edition of his Education Week Teacher Beat blog that explores the differences between Title II-A in ESSA and NCLB. I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. I think we can do better with the more than $2 billion in Title...
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The year was 2013. Opposition to the Common Core—and to the new assessments aligned to these more rigorous standards—was running high. And states were suddenly questioning their prior commitment to using high quality assessments, like PARCC and Smarter Balanced, to measure student progress on the Common Core. Enter philanthropy: With support from Education First, five major funders—the Gates, Lumina, Schusterman...
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