Recognizing the complexity of challenges facing public education, funders regularly collaborate to pool knowledge, align strategies and attract more resources. Over the past five years, Education First has provided strategy-setting, facilitation and management support to several funder collaboratives aiming to...
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Rachel Tapp once described herself as “math phobic,” but now she’s a superstar math teacher. She has coached other math teachers in her district—Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS)—on shifting their instruction to align with the Common Core State Standards, and she...
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When schools, teachers and community leaders work together, more students succeed. But it isn’t always easy—districts often encounter challenges when trying to find the time and resources to collaborate. And far too often, teachers simply don’t have sufficient time to...
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As part of our Districts Rising publications, we sat down with new Boston Public Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang to talk about his vision for the 56,650-student school system. Chang came to BPS after being an instructional superintendent in the Los...
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I stepped into my classroom at Eastern Senior High School, a public school in Washington D.C., for the first time in August 2000. At the time, D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) was a mess—student achievement was abysmally low, school buildings were...
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I realized how lucky I was on my first day as a classroom teacher. Walking into I.S. 162, a large comprehensive middle school in the South Bronx, I immediately recognized the halls, knew the principal and could greet my fellow...
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As districts face the recurring problem of ensuring every student has access to a high-quality teacher, a growing number have begun to proactively form deep, mutually beneficial partnerships with teacher preparation programs to produce teacher candidates who match their specific...
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Happy New Year from Education First! We hope you had a restful, joyous and peaceful holiday season. Now that the champagne bottles have been recycled, we are focused on what the future holds for students, educators and school systems in...
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I was a first-time principal when I first read my state’s kindergarten assessment policy. As a former kindergarten teacher, I had a lot of ideas about what 5-year-olds need to learn when they start school: how to sit in a...
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Race to the Top directed billions of dollars to states in order to put in place college and career ready standards, educator evaluations, data systems and school turnaround strategies. Yet after five years, the work of implementing and sustaining these...
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