2024 Eddies Awards: Best Implementation

A+ Education Partnership, ExcelinEd

Network Policy Pillar: High Expectations, Great Educators 

 

SUMMARY

In 2019, Alabama ranked 49th in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores for low-income fourth graders. The state’s education champions recognized the immediate need for early literacy reform and, with the policy support of partners like ExcelinEd, adopted comprehensive early literacy policy to support K-3 students and ensure they can read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. This represented a commitment to high expectations and high-quality educators throughout the state. Specific components of the Alabama Literacy Act included:

• Teacher training and preparation programs that embrace scientifically proven methods of reading instruction;
• Early identification of students with reading difficulties;
• Comprehensive reading interventions for struggling K-3 readers; and
• Targeted retention of struggling readers as a last resort.

In the years following policy adoption, more than 650,000 K-3 students have benefited from these sweeping reforms—and benefited in a meaningful way. 

 

WHY THE ORIGINAL WIN MATTERS

Originally passed in 2019

In 2022—just three years after implementing comprehensive early literacy policy—Alabama ranked 27th on the Nation’s Report Card, jumping 22 positions in the state rankings in the same 4th grade reading category. Progress continues to be made, with student proficiency on the third-grade English Language Arts summative assessment rising from 54% in 2023 to 63% in 2024.

 

HOW THE POLICY HAS EVOLVED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

This substantial progress could not have been achieved without strong policy implementation. ExcelinEd remained engaged with the Alabama Department of Education (DOE) to ensure the comprehensive policy would be implemented with fidelity. Key areas of our involvement include: 

• Serving on and advising DOE’s Literacy Taskforce, which guides implementation through activities such as developing an approved reading curriculum list. 
• Supporting a communications campaign for parental awareness of Alabama Literacy Act requirements. 
• Serving as the keynote speaker at Alabama’s Literacy Reimagined state conference. 
• Engaging Alabama’s literacy leaders in ExcelinEd’s Early Literacy Network. This dynamic network brings together 85 literacy practitioners from 35 states to exchange knowledge, solve challenges, share lessons learned and identify best practices for effective literacy policy and program implementation.
• Alabama’s strong implementation work was possible in part from continued legislative advocacy by ExcelinEd in Action alongside in-state education partners. In the five years since the act’s passage, we have worked together to address attempts to weaken the policy and protect its core components, such as the third-grade promotion gate. In addition, we have taken strides to further strengthen policy, advocating for additional literacy supports and better alignment with educator preparation program standards and other state education systems.

 

ADVOCACY STRATEGIES & TACTICS USED TO BUILD & EXECUTE A WINNING CAMPAIGN

Systems alignment, communication and flexibility have all been key components in the successful implementation of the Alabama Literacy Act that has already positively impacted so many students.

• Systems Alignment: the importance of systems alignment and its significance for student outcomes has been a major takeaway from this work. Alabama has seen great success in training teachers, with more than 10,000 educators to date completing an in-depth comprehensive professional learning option. Our work has demonstrated that, from policy to practice, continuity in implementation matters. Teacher training is important but ensuring educator preparation programs are rooted in the science of reading is key to sustained and impactful results in the classroom. 
• Communications: a strong communication plan that includes all stakeholders, including and especially parent engagement and involvement, is essential for effective and impactful early literacy policy. 
• Flexibility: flexibility in implementation is crucial; a plan for rollout and support should be developed in advance but should also be a “living” plan that can be modified in response to implementation context and conditions. Our team was able to work with the legislature to clarify language throughout the rollout process. 

This work was also made possible through A+ Education’s partnership with ExcelinEd and the Alabama Department of Education.

Teach Plus California, The Education Trust-West

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems

 

SUMMARY

This policy helps Californians access information so they can make education and workforce decisions.

Our policy and advocacy impacted 8+ million K-12 and postsecondary students. 

 

WHY THE ORIGINAL WIN MATTERS

Originally Passed In 2021

California is the first state to center families, communities and practitioners in their P–20W data system. This system will deliver the aggregate research data that many states do, but California went many steps further to innovate and design this system with individuals in mind. When it is fully launched, California’s system will center the types of tools and analytics that families, communities, and practitioners want and need to better serve students along their journey. 

 

HOW THE POLICY HAS EVOLVED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

California advocates and the Data for the People Coalition—including Ed Trust-West (one of two organizations leading the coalition) and Teach Plus CA—have been integral in ensuring that the state delivers on its promise of data access as it launches the Cradle-to-Career Data System. Members have worked closely with state leaders and have been outspoken about the need for robust data access for decisionmaking, participating in public stakeholder engagement opportunities as well as spearheading advocacy efforts. They have engaged in follow-up efforts to ensure that the system continues to be funded, staffed, and focused on stakeholder engagement; provide feedback and recommendations to the Governing Board charged with decisionmaking; and they serve as an intermediary to spread awareness and engagement opportunities with other folks.

 

FINANCIAL INVESTMENT

Our advocacy contributed to a $10 million investment in Californians.

 

ADVOCACY STRATEGIES & TACTICS USED TO BUILD & EXECUTE A WINNING CAMPAIGN

The Data for the People Coalition has worked to ensure that California builds a data system that is centered on achieving equity and the needs of students, parents, and families. They did so by not only showing up to raise their voices at public stakeholder engagement opportunities, but also by creating opportunities to share their perspectives. Leaders like Ed Trust-West’s Chris Nellum have worked closely with state leaders to ensure that California is delivering on its promise of data access. In fact, his efforts landed him a spot as a Governor-appointed member of the Governing Board. ETW and the Data for the People Coalition have leveraged every opportunity to engage productively, including cheering on the state when they’re getting it right. 

PIE Network members came together to do this work in the state and nationally. 

A+ Education Partnership, ExcelinEd

Network Policy Pillar: High Expectations, Great Educators 

 

SUMMARY

In 2019, Alabama ranked 49th in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores for low-income fourth graders. The state’s education champions recognized the immediate need for early literacy reform and, with the policy support of partners like ExcelinEd, adopted comprehensive early literacy policy to support K-3 students and ensure they can read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. This represented a commitment to high expectations and high-quality educators throughout the state. Specific components of the Alabama Literacy Act included:

• Teacher training and preparation programs that embrace scientifically proven methods of reading instruction;
• Early identification of students with reading difficulties;
• Comprehensive reading interventions for struggling K-3 readers; and
• Targeted retention of struggling readers as a last resort.

In the years following policy adoption, more than 650,000 K-3 students have benefited from these sweeping reforms—and benefited in a meaningful way. 

 

WHY THE ORIGINAL WIN MATTERS

Originally passed in 2019

In 2022—just three years after implementing comprehensive early literacy policy—Alabama ranked 27th on the Nation’s Report Card, jumping 22 positions in the state rankings in the same 4th grade reading category. Progress continues to be made, with student proficiency on the third-grade English Language Arts summative assessment rising from 54% in 2023 to 63% in 2024.

 

HOW THE POLICY HAS EVOLVED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

This substantial progress could not have been achieved without strong policy implementation. ExcelinEd remained engaged with the Alabama Department of Education (DOE) to ensure the comprehensive policy would be implemented with fidelity. Key areas of our involvement include: 

• Serving on and advising DOE’s Literacy Taskforce, which guides implementation through activities such as developing an approved reading curriculum list. 
• Supporting a communications campaign for parental awareness of Alabama Literacy Act requirements. 
• Serving as the keynote speaker at Alabama’s Literacy Reimagined state conference. 
• Engaging Alabama’s literacy leaders in ExcelinEd’s Early Literacy Network. This dynamic network brings together 85 literacy practitioners from 35 states to exchange knowledge, solve challenges, share lessons learned and identify best practices for effective literacy policy and program implementation.
• Alabama’s strong implementation work was possible in part from continued legislative advocacy by ExcelinEd in Action alongside in-state education partners. In the five years since the act’s passage, we have worked together to address attempts to weaken the policy and protect its core components, such as the third-grade promotion gate. In addition, we have taken strides to further strengthen policy, advocating for additional literacy supports and better alignment with educator preparation program standards and other state education systems.

 

ADVOCACY STRATEGIES & TACTICS USED TO BUILD & EXECUTE A WINNING CAMPAIGN

Systems alignment, communication and flexibility have all been key components in the successful implementation of the Alabama Literacy Act that has already positively impacted so many students.

• Systems Alignment: the importance of systems alignment and its significance for student outcomes has been a major takeaway from this work. Alabama has seen great success in training teachers, with more than 10,000 educators to date completing an in-depth comprehensive professional learning option. Our work has demonstrated that, from policy to practice, continuity in implementation matters. Teacher training is important but ensuring educator preparation programs are rooted in the science of reading is key to sustained and impactful results in the classroom. 
• Communications: a strong communication plan that includes all stakeholders, including and especially parent engagement and involvement, is essential for effective and impactful early literacy policy. 
• Flexibility: flexibility in implementation is crucial; a plan for rollout and support should be developed in advance but should also be a “living” plan that can be modified in response to implementation context and conditions. Our team was able to work with the legislature to clarify language throughout the rollout process. 

This work was also made possible through A+ Education’s partnership with ExcelinEd and the Alabama Department of Education.

Educators for Excellence-Los Angeles

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems 

 

SUMMARY

This policy helps Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) educators to build skills through an accredited program of study to teach from a truly antiracist perspective, so they can approach topics like racism at an age-appropriate level; build safe and accepting learning environments; and address difficult questions concerning racism in a way that is compassionate, open to constructive dialogue, and conducive to change. 

We estimate that our policy and advocacy has thus far impacted approximately 3,000 students, as 50 LAUSD teachers completed the microcredential in its first year. However, it has the potential to impact up to 530,000 students as teachers continue to pursue the credential in coming years.

 

WHY THE ORIGINAL WIN MATTERS

Originally Passed In 2021

With this win, we were proud to see LAUSD take concrete action toward addressing systemic racism in education by providing a professional development pathway to keep equity-focused teachers in the classroom and financial incentives to drive greater participation and benefit for anti-racist teachers. Furthermore, this victory laid the groundwork for other critical educator initiatives to improve the profession over time, such as differentiated compensation for specialized skills and expertise. We know that the number one predictor of student success is the quality of their teacher, so ensuring that we are valorizing and prioritizing equity-focused, anti-racist teaching practices is vitally important for the students of LAUSD.

 

HOW THE POLICY HAS EVOLVED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

In 2021, a group of 20 diverse E4E-LA educators formed a Teacher Action Team focused on addressing the culture of learning in our schools, specifically as it impacts Black students’ felt experience. After weeks of research and conversations with peers, the group identified a breakthrough opportunity to partner with LAUSD Human Resources to build the district’s first Anti-Racist Instruction Microcredential in 2021: Highlighting, Building, and Centering Black Excellence,an accredited program of study for educators focused on culturally relevant pedagogy. Having a grassroots team of committed educators who built the campaign from the conceptual phase to the finish line gave our campaign credibility, authenticity, and bought-in advocates. 

At the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, the E4E-LA team was informed that the time-bound commitment they had worked so hard to achieve had not been honored by the district, so their teacher leaders quickly sprang into action to collect petition signatures calling for the district to follow through with the micro-credential implementation as intended. E4E-LA also worked directly with the group of educators who were in close collaboration with the district on this initiative and provided them with guidance and training on how to put more pressure on district officials to ensure faithful implementation of the program. Those teachers used this practical opportunity to develop their skills in grassroots advocacy, striking the tricky balance between holding folks accountable and maintaining a strong working relationship.

After nearly three years of steadfast advocacy from E4E-LA teachers pushing for the buy-in, creation, and launch of this program, the micro-credential was made available to all educators in the district for the first time in the 2023-24 school year, allowing teachers to increase their knowledge and understanding of how to create more culturally relevant and affirming classrooms.

 

ADVOCACY STRATEGIES & TACTICS USED TO BUILD & EXECUTE A WINNING CAMPAIGN

Network members can learn from investing in a grassroots, constituent-led approach. Our Teacher Action Team crafted this campaign from beginning to end, they added credibility to our claims along the way, and were the best public advocates for the need for this change. We also would emphasize that building relationships with LAUSD Human Resources helped us hold them accountable when they didn’t follow through on their commitment to roll out the micro credential in 2022.

E4E-LA did not explicitly leverage the PIE Network in working toward this win. However, the Network’s policy resources, connection-building opportunities, and role as a consistent and reliable thought partner continually contribute to E4E-LA’s—and all of E4E’s—expertise and impact.

Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE)

Network Policy Pillar: Innovative Options, Responsive Systems 

 

SUMMARY

This policy helps parents, especially those furthest from privilege, get more equitable to access summer, after school, and other enrichment programs that allow students to build relationships, explore their passions, and extend their learning – a critical strategy to breaking the one-size-fits-all mold of education and supporting students’ academic recovery and wellbeing. 

Our policy and advocacy impacts more than 101,000 students.

 

WHY THE ORIGINAL WIN MATTERS

Originally Passed In 2018

“In 2018, PAVE Parent Leaders selected Out-of-School-Time (OST) programs as one of their top two priorities and their advocacy has led to historic investments. Parents’ asks around OST have been clear and consistent: more seats, better supports for students with disabilities, and a more accessible and equitable system to sign-up for programs. This matters because kids need a safe, productive space outside of school hours to build relationships, develop social skills, explore their passions, and extend their learning. Given DC’s record-high rates of chronic absenteeism and large gaps in academic achievement, improving access to OST is a key lever for change. Research shows that youth who regularly attended after school programs were 26% more likely to finish the year at or on track for grade-level reading compared to non-attending peers. Further, reports show that an overwhelming majority of students who were behind saw improvements in their classroom participation (73%), motivation to learn (66%), and attentiveness in class (66%) when participating in OST.

Despite investments made around OST in the District, challenges persisted. Too many parents were unaware of where to get information about OST programs or were unable to access the types of programs they thought would best support their child’s needs. Those with means could afford consultants to identify programs or even hire help to navigate sign-up processes on multiple devices to be first in line and secure a coveted program spot. In contrast, families with fewer resources were left at a disadvantage, resulting in a deeply uneven playing field. In the words of a PAVE Parent Leader, the process for signing up for a local educational program for kids felt as stressful as buying a Beyonce or Taylor Swift ticket.

In response, PAVE Parent Leaders showed their policy and advocacy might and led the way to improved implementation:

• In 2022-23, PAVE partnered with DC Policy Center to conduct a needs assessment that surveyed families about what types of programs they were most interested in, where there were program gaps, and any major barriers to access. This helped inform local policymakers on how to equitably expand access and prioritize the expansion of high-demand programs. 
• In Fiscal Year 2024, DC added 5,000 Department of Recreation (DPR) seats and invested an additional $6.8 million to fund dedicated slots for children with disabilities. 
• In Fiscal Year 2025 – despite budget cuts to many other District programs due to a tight fiscal climate – DC increased OST grants for community-based providers to $27 million. 
• In response to the feedback from PAVE Parent Leaders about the inequities of the first-come-first-serve sign-up model, DPR launched a lottery process for the first time in 2023. In 2024, DC will now take that even further by adding $1.875 million to go towards setting up a “My Afterschool DC” hub. This will serve as a one-stop-shop, centralized location for parents to get information and sign up for OST programs of all types (school-based, DPR, and from community providers, etc.) modeled off of DC’s award-winning public school lottery.

These implementation improvements will make it much easier for parents across the District to access the right program for their children, and ultimately ensure more kids can realize the many benefits of OST. 

 

HOW THE POLICY HAS EVOLVED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

PAVE worked in collaboration with Parent Leaders, research and data experts, and OST community providers to elevate what was working that needed to be expanded, where there were gaps or barriers, and what solutions were needed to address the challenges and improve access to programs for kids. We took a holistic approach to improving education, looking at policy (budgets informed by a community-driven needs assessment) and practice (continuous improvement around information sharing and equitable sign-up systems) and helped agency leaders and staff implement sustainable and innovative action steps. 

 

FINANCIAL INVESTMENT 

Our advocacy contributed to over $30 million of additional OST investments in 101,000 stakeholders.

 

ADVOCACY STRATEGIES & TACTICS USED TO BUILD & EXECUTE A WINNING CAMPAIGN

This work serves as a model for working collaboratively and strategically with parents, providers, and agency staff. Funding is a critical component to any issue in education, but just as important is keeping the focus on how the funding is being use and developing bold, innovative practices to make sure kids and families feel the impact. 

PAVE relied on reports and counsel from other PIE network leaders throughout the campaign to build out our policy materials, sharpen our advocacy messaging, and get advice on how to demonstrate return on investment for OST during a tight fiscal climate.

AlignED

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems 

 

SUMMARY

This policy provides state funding and frameworks to equip public districts and charter schools, otherwise known as Local Education Agencies (LEAs), and childcare providers with the resources and guidance to access state dollars appropriated for Pre-Kindergarten programs. This investment aims to provide high-quality early childhood programs for children from low-income families.

Our policy and advocacy have impacted 32,602 students over eight years by providing public districts and charter schools with per-pupil funding for Pre-K and the authority for LEAs to enter into contracting agreements with community-based childcare providers. 

Additionally, through the Missouri Quality Pre-K Grant Program, established in FY24, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) awarded funding to 116 LEAs to serve 4,528 4-year-olds and 115 childcare providers..

In the 2023-2024 academic year, 175 LEAs utilized funding for 6,793 Pre-K students, which resulted in $43 million distributed for school-based Pre-Kindergarten. 

 

WHY THE ORIGINAL WIN MATTERS

Originally Passed In 2014

Aligned worked to pass the original Pre-K funding law in 2014 and, over the next eight years, amended the law to serve more students, create complementary funding sources, and revise existing regulations to ultimately serve more students. In 2024, we advocated for a change in the existing law, which doubled the original investment. 

Investing in early learning is critical to ensuring that children are ready to succeed in school and life. Equitable, high-quality early learning opportunities improve students’ long-term school achievement, leading to higher test scores and graduation and college attendance rates, increased employment rates, and higher earnings in adulthood.

Aligned worked to pass the original Pre-K funding law in 2014, which made state aid dollars available to students in unaccredited and provisionally accredited schools. In 2018, Aligned advocated for full funding of the state’s foundation formula, which triggered a provision in the 2014 law and subsequently made state aid dollars available to all LEAs.

In 2018, Aligned fought off certain groups’ attempts to keep funding just below the threshold that would trigger statewide expansion of the Pre-K funding law and killed language that would incrementally phase in Pre-K funding for all LEAs. Aligned’s actions helped the Missouri General Assembly fully fund the state aid calculation, subsequently triggering the Pre-K funding. 

In 2019, Aligned educated lawmakers on the trigger provision to help them understand that the full funding threshold needed to be met only once for the Pre-K funds to remain in the formula for perpetuity. We also worked with DESE to ensure they communicated this correctly during budget presentations. 

Also, in 2019, we worked with the chair of the Senate Education Committee to add a provision to an omnibus bill that would authorize LEAs to lawfully enter into contracting agreements with private providers using the Pre-K funding available in the formula.

This action sparked the creation of Pre-K cooperatives in Kansas City and St. Louis, which now maximize equity-centered state Pre-K investments and serve hundreds of 3- and 4-year-olds in our most disadvantaged communities. 

While data are not readily available yet to show the rates of Kindergarten readiness among program participants statewide, one of the members of the Kansas City Pre-K Collaborative, Operation Breakthrough, shared data that shows that 89% of its 2022 cohort entered kindergarten ready-to-learn, compared with the national average of less than 50% for children in poverty.

 

HOW THE POLICY HAS EVOLVED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

By engaging with policymakers and stakeholders, Aligned was able to address issues that could help improve the implementation of the state Pre-K funds. These issues included the uneven utilization of the Pre-K program among LEAs and the unintended consequences of reducing the infant-toddler supply among private childcare providers due to the loss of enrollment of 3 and 4-year-olds who help offset the higher costs associated with staffing infant-toddler classrooms. 

Aligned collaborated with Kids Win Missouri and the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) to conduct a comprehensive survey of school administrators to understand better school districts’ barriers and challenges in utilizing the Pre-K funding and identify strategies that Missouri can adopt to expand Pre-K while simultaneously strengthening the entire birth-to-age-5 system.

Following this survey, we identified two key findings: 

Some of our LEAs are “hold harmless,” which means that any additional students added to the average daily attendance calculation would not result in any extra funds; therefore, attempting to draw down the new Pre-K funding would not increase their payments from the state.

Some private childcare centers also provide high-quality Pre-K programming. LEAs that offer free Pre-K have a competitive advantage over centers that charge parents for the same service. When private childcare centers experience enrollment losses of 3 and 4-year-olds, it negatively impacts their infant and toddler supply.

To address these issues, Aligned advocated for a separate pool of funds to provide Pre-K grants to LEAs and private childcare providers at a per-pupil amount equal to what LEAs could receive through Missouri’s foundation formula.

In FY24, the Missouri General Assembly created the Missouri Quality Pre-K grant program (MOQPK) and appropriated $56 million for LEA grants and $26 million for childcare provider grants. 

As we monitored the utilization during the first round of MOQPK grant funding, we learned that the existing teacher qualification requirements remained the most significant barrier to accessing or applying for the funds. The program required teachers to have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or early childhood special education and hold a teacher’s certificate. 

Consulting with other advocacy partners, we worked with DESE to develop additional qualifications for lead teachers. These qualifications still include a bachelor’s degree with a specialization in early childhood as a top standard but do not require a teaching certificate. In addition, the changes allow teachers to have an associate’s degree while they work to earn their bachelor’s degree. 

The new qualifications align with standards approved by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). DESE promulged an emergency rule in time to apply to the second round of funding in December 2023 and made that rule permanent in early 2024. 

Also, in FY24, the Missouri General Assembly increased the infant-toddler reimbursement rate for childcare in the state subsidy program from 58% to 100%.

 

FINANCIAL INVESTMENT

Since the original passage of HB 1689 in 2014, our advocacy has contributed to a combined total of $601 million appropriated for pre-K funding for Missouri over the past eight years. 

Our work this past session alone resulted in a record $204 million appropriated for pre-K funding for FY25.

 

ADVOCACY STRATEGIES & TACTICS USED TO BUILD & EXECUTE A WINNING CAMPAIGN

Network members can consider the following advocacy strategies and tactics for policy defense:

Collaborating with experts and organizations, such as the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), ensures that policy recommendations are grounded in robust data and expert analysis. 

Engaging with policymakers and relevant stakeholders is crucial for securing support and addressing implementation issues, fostering buy-in from those who can influence policy outcomes.

Conducting comprehensive research to identify barriers and challenges faced by school districts and other entities is not just a key tactic; it’s a crucial step. We used our findings to develop evidence-based strategies that led to system improvements. 

Monitoring the utilization and impact of funds is essential for identifying issues and barriers to effective implementation. By doing so, we discovered ways to adjust requirements based on feedback from those affected by the policy, such as childcare providers, allowing for more accessible and practical solutions. 

Partnering with other advocacy organizations strengthens your position. It leverages collective expertise while aligning policy changes with recognized national standards, such as those by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), ensuring credibility and acceptance.

Through our membership in the PIE Network, we have gained more understanding of how to place students at the center of our work. The support, resources, and connections provided by PIE Network have been instrumental in catalyzing our efforts in several ways:

Enhanced Understanding and Focus: PIE Network has helped us refine our focus on student-centered approaches. For example, just passing policies that increase student funding doesn’t always mean the money is directed to every student. We constantly pushed to ensure the system worked for all LEAs and childcare providers.

Successful Policy Implementation: With the strategies and frameworks shared within the network, we have successfully passed laws that have driven millions of new dollars into classrooms, directly benefiting individual students. This collaboration has enabled us to identify best practices and innovative solutions that address the varied needs of our student population.

Commitment to Equity: PIE Network members have played a crucial role in holding us accountable to our equity goals. When funds became available statewide through the Pre-K trigger, we assumed all schools would immediately ramp up programs. However,  we learned that utilization rates were highest in the wealthier suburban districts. Suppose we had not been monitoring implementation closely. In that case, we may have failed to push policies to eliminate existing barriers so all LEAs could establish or expand Pre-K programs.  

Inspiration and Tenacity: Being part of a network of dedicated education advocates provides ongoing inspiration to push the limits of the education bureaucracy and to not settle for paper wins that fail to change the narrative for students. 

Overall, the support, resources, and connections provided by PIE Network have been vital in advancing our mission. They have equipped us with the knowledge, inspiration, and collaborative spirit to effect meaningful change in education policy and funding.

BEST NC

Network Policy Pillar: High Expectations, Great Educators 

 

SUMMARY

The New NC Principals Fellows Program helps North Carolina school districts and educator preparation programs to recruit, prepare, and support the most highly qualified principal workforce in the country so they can flood the North Carolina principal pipeline with rigorously prepared principal candidates who are ready to improve student outcomes and teacher quality, with a particular focus on leadership in high-need schools.

Our policy and advocacy impact approximately 300,000 students who are currently in schools led by one of the 605 graduates of the New NC Principal Fellow Program.

 

WHY THE ORIGINAL WIN MATTERS

Originally Passed In 2015 

Great principals are the second most important in-school factor for student success – behind teachers, of course. But poor principal leadership is the number one reason why teachers leave the profession – beating out low pay and other factors. Given their importance, principal preparation should be robust, experiential, and challenging to ensure the very best talent is well-prepared to lead. 

But for a long time, principal preparation programs have been tailored to meet the needs of a very specific consumer: the overworked teacher. And in this traditional model, those teachers choose programs based primarily on two things: 

1. Do I have the free time to complete the courses? (Typically, at night and on weekends). 
2. Can I afford the program?

Unfortunately, program quality is often overlooked when considering which program to choose.  

As a result, principal prep programs have been incentivized to offer the least expensive and/or most time efficient coursework – and often that looks like online degrees and “add-on” licenses that offer minimal supports and little-to-no in-school experience. Program directors will concede that prioritizing cost and time reduces their ability to deliver a quality program.

Additionally, traditional principal preparation programs accept nearly 100% of applicants, all of whom are self-selected. This means that our principal pipeline is not highly recruited or vetted and is not well-prepared to step into school leadership.

In 2015, in response to advocacy from BEST NC and inspired by a successful Race to the Top pilot, North Carolina took the first step towards redesigning its principal preparation model with the creation of the Transforming Principal Preparation Program (TP3). TP3 was a state-funded competitive grants program that provided funding to the state’s top principal preparation programs to enable them to recruit, prepare, and support top-tier principal candidates. TP3’s competitive grants structure incentivized programs to adopt best practices and research-based components of successful principal preparation. 

By competing for and winning grants, the most high-quality MSA-granting programs in the state were able to flip their approach from the status-quo to a new model centered around the state’s priority to increase student achievement. No longer forced to chase tuition dollars, North Carolina’s TP3 programs were able to make serving North Carolina’s highest need K-12 students, schools, and districts their primary focus.

Key features include: 

• Strong program-district collaboration to ensure local needs are met, including rigorous candidate recruitment;
• A highly competitive candidate vetting process, driven by the grantees incentive to prepare only the highest quality candidates;
• Best practices such as a cohort model for training and a full year of paid residency; and 
• No cost to the candidate and a low cost to the state of about $10 per student in the state budget.

The result was a more highly qualified, rigorously prepared principal workforce that was helping to raise student achievement across the state. 

Since TP3’s first graduating class in 2018, 605 aspiring principals have graduated from what is now known as the New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program (see below on how TP3 evolved to become the New Principal Fellows). And this program is now providing 40% of the principals needed statewide each year. 

To date, 93% of the program’s graduates have been hired as school administrators across the state – that’s compared with only 51% of graduates of traditional principal preparation programs. 79% of Principal Fellows graduates are employed in high-need schools and evaluation is underway to measure the impact on student outcomes. 

The NC PFP is creating a veritable army of exceptional school leaders who will be the key to leading new innovations for decades to come.

 

HOW THE POLICY HAS EVOLVED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

The New NC Principal Fellows Program has evolved and improved each year since its passage. When it first started, the New NCPFP – known as TP3 at the time – was inspired by a nation-leading Race to the Top leadership pilot that was about to go to the ‘pilot graveyard.’ Years of development and successful implementation had identified clear best practices for recruiting, vetting, preparing, and supporting principals and BEST NC was inspired to find a way to take that to scale, statewide.

Originally passed in 2015, the program has gone through three major phases: 1) proof of concept, 2) expansion through merger, and 3) expansion, innovation, and defense.  Each of these was inspired by research and real-time information about implementation challenges and threats.  

2015: Proof of Concept The original TP3 legislation was inspired by pilot programs launched, funded through Race to the Top. NC State’s pilot program, the Northeast Leadership Academy (NELA), was recognized with an Exemplary Educational Leadership Program Award from the University Council for Education Administration, the highest honor you can get for this type of program. BEST NC studied NELA and identified several critical components for success, including:

• a high bar for recruiting and vetting candidates;
• authentic partnerships with districts, particularly high-need districts;
• a cohort model for preparation; and
• a full-year, paid residency. 

To scale statewide without reducing quality, the TP3 legislation leveraged key lessons learned from the Race to the Top pilots, most importantly the need to utilize a competitive grants approach that required programs to compete for a select number of grants.

Why? Because to receive grant funding and to be renewed every six years, programs have to demonstrate that they are producing exceptional school leaders, that they are committed to implementing best practices in principal preparation, and that they have a culture of continuous improvement.

2019: Expansion Through Merger In order to expand the program and reduce redundancies, BEST NC worked to merge the TP3 program with a respected but languishing scholarship program called the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program. The consolidation of the two programs was called the New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program (New NCPFP), and it did 3 critical things:

1. doubled funding for TP3’s competitive grants, processes, and priorities;
2. adopted the time-tested Commission-based governance model from the original Principal Fellows Program; and
3. it retained the storied and respected Principal Fellows brand. 

Most importantly, the New NCPFP legislation limits grants to only 8 degree-granting institutions. By doing this, we ensure programs are incentivized to constantly demonstrate that they are implementing the most current, research-backed practices in principal preparation, and that only the best preparation programs are funded. 

The merger legislation also established new appointments to the NC Principal Fellows Commission, which is the New NCPFP governing body, including a permanent seat for the CEO of BEST NC.  

2022 & Beyond: Expansion, Innovation, and Defense In 2022, based on findings that the programs were graduating more candidates in even years than odd years, creating staffing inefficiencies in the programs, BEST NC advocated for a $1.5M funding increase to balance out the program years. This allowed programs to maintain both coursework staff and mentoring staff without gap years. With that additional funding, the state investment rose to $9.4 million, plus the cost of candidate stipends for their residency year.

With a seat in the Commission, BEST NC’s CEO has had a meaningful impact on how the program is administered. She has been the foremost voice for maintaining an eight-institution limit, expanding the role of the program to develop curriculum on emerging initiatives like the Science of Reading and Advanced Teaching Roles, redrafting the RFP for grant applications, and developing a Commission strategy to expand from 40% of the principal pipeline to 70% of the principal pipeline over the next 10 years (245 graduates per year).

Now that the New NCPFP is successful and positioned to continue its expansion, programs that are not receiving the grants have begun lobbying to lower the standards and expand the number of grants to other institutions.  To date, BEST NC has successfully defended this limit, citing evidence that eight institutions can provide enough principal candidates to produce 70% of the principals needed annually in North Carolina. A key tool in this defense has been our Principal Fellows Brief, which documents the objectives of the program and evidence behind its design. 

As of 2024, the number of graduates each year is now at 145 graduates per year, or 40% of North Carolina’s principal pipeline need.

 

FINANCIAL INVESTMENT 

Our advocacy contributed to a $9.3 million recurring state investment in principal recruitment and preparation. 

 

ADVOCACY STRATEGIES & TACTICS USED TO BUILD & EXECUTE A WINNING CAMPAIGN

Plan and Adopt a long-term Strategy. The effects of systemic policy/program change take years to manifest, and your strategies should reflect your commitment to implement fully and with fidelity. BEST NC has been involved in this process since the beginning and have shepherded it through many challenges, including the important decision to run TP3 in parallel to the Original Principal Fellows program for a period to prove TP3’s effectiveness. That choice maximized the program’s funding and impact post-merger.

Document Everything. Publish your program or policy intentions clearly and early, and revisit them often. This allows you to retain control of your vision and significantly reduces the chances of the policy/program being hijacked. We have seen opponents try to rewrite the intention of legislation after it has passed, so we meticulously document our steps throughout the process, from how we got here to where we are going. 

Knowing we would eventually see pushback, we clearly documented our intention to merge TP3 and the Original North Carolina Principal Fellows program in our 2018 TP3 Policy Brief. When the merger legislation was presented the following year, some stakeholders claimed to have been blindsided. Fortunately, we had physical evidence that those plans had been shared with all stakeholders from day one.

To document the intention and progress of the New NCPFP and chart a roadmap for both the Commission and future legislation, BEST NC released an updated policy brief this year, The New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program: Navigating North Carolina’s Bold School Leadership Strategy.

These two documents are tools for both retaining the quality of the New NCPFP and charting its next steps. For example, expanding the New NCPFP to provide 70% of the principal pipeline was a recommendation in our 2024 brief, and the New NCPFP Commission approved the expansion just three months later. Our 2024 brief also remains the foundation for defending the program’s 8-grantee limit.

Create a Seat at the Table. Implementation of new policies and programs requires more than just annual or biannual policy shifts. When possible, establish a formal or informal seat at the table to help guide and influence program governance. In this case, the BEST NC CEO is named in state statute as a member of the Principal Fellows Commission. For other programs, our role is more informal and based on relationships with those who run the day-to-day operations. 

Develop and Refine Program Messaging. Curate and share as many perspectives as possible from the audience your policy/program targets – on video, if possible. Data and analysis are essential to get this work done, but anecdotal evidence can change people’s minds, too.

It’s difficult to overstate how important it is to share the perspectives of the people who are directly affected by the program/policy you’re advocating for. We can say as much as we want about how a program/policy improves the lives and experiences of educators and students, but when they can say it for themselves, and more importantly, are willing to put their face and name on your work, there is an impact that can’t be rivaled. For example, this short video was integral in helping legislators understand the effectiveness of and need for this program.

PIE Network members have always been a trusted resource for implementation strategies. The New North Carolina Principal Fellows strategy was part of a broader Educator Innovation plan that included strategic staffing and teacher recruitment strategies. As we developed, launched, and supported these Educator Innovation strategies, we have leaned heavily on other business-education groups in the PIE Network. Some of the best advice we received early on was that the win is not the legislation, but in the successful long-term implementation of the policy.