The Eddies—annual, advocate-nominated and voted awards—feature strategic advocacy that is driving impactful policy change.
Best Implementation highlights the necessary implementation work to ensure that breakthrough policies or laws have a sustained impact on students. Advocates know that passing policy is only the beginning of the work to change students’ outcomes and opportunities.
See a complete list of 2026 nominees in all Eddies categories. Staff at PIE Network members and partner organizations, check your inbox for a link to vote in each category or log in and vote here. Questions? Email [email protected].
Best Implementation Finalists
A+ Education Partnership, ExcelinEd
Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, High Expectations
SUMMARY
The Numeracy Act is Alabama’s comprehensive plan to improve mathematics instruction and supports for both students and educators. It strengthens the Alabama State Department of Education’s (ALSDE) ability to build the capacity of elementary educators with the goal of improving student math achievement. Implementation of this policy ensures that educators have access to the tools, training, and supports needed to deliver high-quality instruction and provide targeted interventions.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 333,794 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
The Alabama Numeracy Act was passed in 2022. Through the Office of Math Improvement at the ALSDE, full support and limited support schools were identified beginning in August 2022 with full support schools receiving intensive support in August 2023.
Foundational mathematics skills are critical for success in college, career, and life. In Alabama, only about one-fifth of students demonstrated proficiency on the 2021 Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP), and the state ranked near the bottom nationally on the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). These outcomes signaled not only an academic crisis, but also an economic challenge, limiting the state’s ability to attract and retain business and industry. In response, A+ Education Partnership elevated the urgency of Alabama’s math outcomes and advocated for the Alabama Numeracy Act as a comprehensive, statewide strategy to improve math instruction and student achievement.
A+ emphasized the need to build educator capacity across the system, including both instructional leaders and elementary educators, and to provide targeted support for young learners struggling with mathematics. Central to this effort was ensuring that educators develop strong foundational math content knowledge and use evidence-based instructional practices. A+ also advanced a key policy lever ensuring that all educators have access to high-quality instructional materials paired with curriculum-aligned professional development to enable educators to deliver high-quality math instruction.
As a result of this advocacy, the Alabama Numeracy Act established critical statewide infrastructure, including the Elementary Mathematics Task Force, the Office of Mathematics Improvement within the Alabama State Department of Education to lead implementation and support school improvement, particularly in full- and limited-support schools, and a statewide system of elementary math coaches to strengthen instructional practice and provide job-embedded support for teachers. Together, these policy and implementation efforts aim to improve instructional quality and ensure that all students build the strong mathematical foundations necessary for long-term success.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
Effective implementation is central to the success of the Alabama Numeracy Act. For A+ Education Partnership, policy passage marked the beginning of the work. Ongoing engagement with stakeholders across the state has been critical to identifying challenges and refining implementation in real time. A+ has supported the evolution of the policy by maintaining a continuous feedback loop between practitioners and policymakers. Through representation on the Elementary Mathematics Task Force and its role as a system-level partner, A+ has helped promote coordination and coherence, ensuring that multiple policy levers work together as a comprehensive strategy.
This engagement also helped elevate school leadership as a key driver of implementation sustainability, recognizing the role of principals in supporting instructional change. As implementation has progressed, A+ has prioritized strengthening the quality and consistency of instructional practice, particularly by advancing the use of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). Ensuring that more educators implement HQIM with fidelity remains a central focus, as these materials increase instructional rigor and promote system coherence centered on student learning. A+ has also emphasized the importance of pairing HQIM with curriculum-aligned professional development, enabling teachers to effectively deliver grade-level instruction without relying on supplemental materials that may lack rigor or alignment.
In addition, A+ continues to advocate for sustained capacity-building across the system, including for teachers, math coaches, and instructional leaders. This includes supporting the use of data to inform instruction and monitor progress, ensuring that implementation improvements are grounded in evidence and contribute to continuous improvement. Through these efforts, A+ has helped ensure that implementation of the Alabama Numeracy Act remains responsive, coherent, and focused on improving student outcomes.
Recent data indicate meaningful progress in Alabama’s math outcomes following implementation of the Alabama Numeracy Act. Alabama is one of only two states performing above 2019 levels in mathematics. On the Education Recovery Scorecard, the state ranked 10th among 38 states in math growth, reflecting strong post-pandemic gains. Student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) also improved, with fourth-grade math scores increasing from 230 in 2022 to 236 in 2024. Alabama’s national ranking rose from 51st in 2019 to 32nd in 2024, marking the state’s highest ranking ever. Taken together, these outcomes demonstrate early evidence of improved instructional quality and student achievement, signaling progress toward sustained, system-level improvement in mathematics.
RESOURCES
- Alabama Numeracy Act: https://arc-sos.state.al.us/ucp/L0923406.AI1.pdf
- Improving Math in Alabama – A+ Policy Portal: Improving Math in Alabama – A+ Policy Portal
BEST NC
Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, Responsive Systems
SUMMARY
This policy helps NC school districts redesign school staffing structures to create meaningful compensation and career advancement opportunities for highly effective educators, embed coaching for developing teachers, and increase student access to excellent instruction. It’s working: ATR schools are 2-3 times more likely to exceed growth compared with other schools. The 2026 NC budget nearly quadrupled ATR’s state investment to $40.9 million, the strongest legislative acceleration toward statewide scale in ATR’s 10-year history.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 300,000 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
The ATR initiative was first established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2016. The initiative traces its roots to a public-private pilot that began in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 2013.
North Carolina’s teacher pipeline challenge reflects a profession whose structure has not kept pace with other skilled fields. Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR) addresses this at its root by reimagining how schools are organized: enabling outstanding teachers to lead teams, earn meaningfully more, and extend their reach to more students without leaving the classroom — shifting schools away from rigid hierarchies and toward professional workplaces where teaching expertise is recognized, distributed, and rewarded.
The impact is demonstrable. The Friday Institute’s October 2025 independent evaluation for NCDPI found ATR schools produced statistically significant positive effects on math and science scores — equivalent to approximately 1.04 months of additional learning in math between 3rd and 4th grade — with effects that grow stronger over time. New 2024-25 data from Public Impact shows Title I ATR schools with Certified Opportunity Culture School® status were 2-3x more likely to exceed learning growth expectations than comparable Title I schools. Of 222 certified Title I schools, 43% exceeded growth targets versus 21% statewide.
When schools used Multi-Classroom Leader teams for four or more years with full reach to core subjects, 63% achieved school-wide high growth — 3x the rate of comparable schools. Teachers benefit too. Educators in advanced roles report high satisfaction, and ATR teachers are less likely to leave their schools — evidence this model retains the highly effective educators communities need most.
As of this fall, ATR will reach 600+ schools across 37 districts, employing up to 5,000 Advanced Teachers who support around 20,000 classroom teachers statewide. With 16 more districts on the waitlist and expansion grants now totaling $7.5 million annually, the number of participating districts is projected to grow by nearly 50% within the year.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
As the state’s recognized authority on ATR, BEST NC has been integral to every stage of the initiative’s growth since it was introduced to the legislature in 2015 — and has been its most consistent champion through every legislative cycle since. Central to that role are BEST NCs ATR Sharing Sessions: quarterly convenings bringing together interested and implementing districts to exchange real-time lessons and surface promising practices. These sessions are the primary peer-learning infrastructure for ATR, ensuring what works in one district informs others — and that implementation challenges reach policymakers before they become systemic barriers.
That feedback loop has directly shaped policy. When districts needed flexibility, BEST NC championed changes that grew grant funding to $5.5 million annually. When data showed ATR effects compound over time, BEST NC made the case for sustained investment. When Session Law 2023-134 codified salary supplements for Adult Leadership ($10,000) and Classroom Excellence ($3,000) roles, BEST NC translated those changes for districts through policy briefs and its newsletter. When researchers flagged widespread use of partial-release teachers limiting schoolwide reach, BEST NC moved to address it through policy refinement and new research (Senate Bill 1006).
No other organization fills this role for ATR in North Carolina, underscored by the fact that NC’s current ATR Director is BEST NC’s former Vice President of Policy & Engagement, widely regarded as the nation’s foremost authority on Advanced Teaching Roles. That sustained advocacy produced its biggest victory yet: the 2026 NC Budget (S257) nearly quadrupled ATR salary supplement funding to $40.9 million, covering ~4,000 more teachers, while expansion grants grew to $7.5 million – projected to grow participating districts by nearly 50%, from 37 to 53.
The evidence base for ATR has grown substantially since 2016, with multiple independent data sources documenting sustained improvements at the student and teacher levels.
- Student Academic Growth: The Friday Institutes October 2025 evaluation found ATR schools produced statistically significant positive effects on math and science achievement — equivalent to 1.04 additional months of learning in math between 3rd and 4th grade. Effects grow stronger over time, particularly in years 3-6, demonstrating that sustained adoption drives outcomes.
- High-Growth Schools: New 2024-25 data shows certified Title I ATR schools were 2-3x more likely to exceed growth expectations: 43% exceeded targets vs. 21% of non-certified Title I schools. Schools with four-plus years of full-reach MCL implementation hit 63% schoolwide high growth — 3x comparable Title I schools. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, approximately 70% of those schools exceeded growth targets.
- Teacher Effectiveness and Retention: Math teachers in ATR schools showed significantly higher EVAAS scores than peers in comparable schools. Advanced Teachers are less likely to leave — strengthening retention of the educators communities need most. Teachers also reported having more time to do their work.
- ATR Reach: As of this fall, ATR will reach 600+ schools across 37 districts (⅓ of the state), employing up to 5,000 Advanced Teachers who support around 20,000 classroom teachers statewide. With 16 more districts on the waitlist and expansion grants now totaling $7.5 million annually, the number of participating districts is projected to grow by nearly 50% within the year. At the current pace, ATR will be accessible statewide within five years.
RESOURCES
EdAllies, Educators for Excellence, Great MN Schools
Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, High Expectations
SUMMARY
This policy helped Minnesota significantly improve statewide early literacy instruction, ensuring every aspiring teacher in the state is trained in a program aligned to the science of reading. Thanks to diligent implementation of the Read Act, NCTQ reports a 232% increase in the number of Minnesota teacher preparation programs whose instruction adequately meets all five core components of reading instruction.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 873,175 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
Strong teacher preparation is essential to ensuring the next generation of teachers understand scientifically based reading instruction, and Minnesota has moved the needle on the impact and quality of our local programs. In 2023, Minnesota passed the READ Act: a landmark literacy law aimed at getting better reading outcomes for students. The law advanced best practices in literacy instruction, curriculum, and teacher preparation. At the time of passage, only 28% of Minnesota’s prep programs adequately addressed all five core components of reading instruction according to the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ).
At the same time, only 32% of Minnesota 4th graders read proficiently based on the National Assessment of Education Progress, with historically underserved students faring even worse. Passing the READ Act was just the first step to addressing this. Implementation has been a major focus for a dedicated contingent of local partners, including EdAllies, Great MN Schools, and Educators for Excellence—who shepherded the work through advocacy, coalition building, and leveraging educator voice.
Advocates built partnerships with the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB), the Hunt Institute’s Path Forward Coalition, the Higher Education Literacy Partnership, the Minnesota Department of Education, and legislative champions to track implementation and secure continued investment and additional supports in both 2024 and 2025 to align teacher preparation with the science of reading. This June, NCTQ released an updated report, and thanks to hands-on implementation efforts, investments in teacher preparation programs, and the continued focus of advocates, 93% of MN prep programs now adequately addressed all five core components of reading instruction—an increase of 232% in three years. While reading proficiency is still lagging—61% of 4th-grade students read at or above a basic level—that number has increased since 2023.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
In 2023, Minnesota passed the READ Act—a bill that made sweeping changes to literacy training for teachers to better align instruction with evidence-based practices. As with most major policy reforms, there were a few next steps to advance the work and ensure students master reading in the early grades. EdAllies, Great MN Schools, Educators for Excellence, and a variety of local partners pushed for significant updates in 2024, 2025, and 2026—from funding to develop culturally competent literacy materials to professional development stipends. Much of this work focused on clarifying required literacy training for licensure and re-licensure of educators, and an expanded list of people and organizations that can provide professional development.
Advocates and teacher leaders also pushed for updates to local literacy plan requirements and more information on reading performance for students in dual language immersion programs. This work ultimately led to the retraining of more than 30,000 active teachers and a renewed focus on ensuring teacher preparation was aligned with best practices. Spurred by these collective efforts, PELSB, the agency in charge of approving teacher preparation programs, began an audit of all 165 Minnesota-based elementary, early childhood, reading, and special education programs. This work identified programs with ineffective practices and misaligned philosophies on teaching students to read, which led to the changes within programs in order to continue to be sanctioned to prepare teachers.
This accountability is what ultimately led to the improvements shown in the 2026 NCTQ report. This work would not have come to fruition without the multi-pronged advocacy and a sector-wide effort to track implementation and translate policy to practice. Advocates worked hand-in-hand with policymakers, educators, and community leaders to ensure that not only was the Read Act passed, but progress was made every year since its passage to better optimize outcomes.
At the time the READ Act passed, only 28% of Minnesota’s teacher prep programs adequately addressed all five core components of reading instruction according to the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). According to a newly updated report from NCTQ, as of June 2026, 93% of MN prep programs now adequately addressed all five core components of reading instruction.” This represents an astounding increase of 232% in three years.
These rapid improvements did not happen by chance or without outside pressure and coordination between both advocates and policymakers. In fact, many programs were initially resistant to the goals and requirements of the Read Act. Due to effective legislation, agency oversight with advocates in the wings, and ongoing accountability, Future Minnesota educators will be better prepared to provide all students with quality literacy instruction on day one of their careers.
RESOURCES
- READ Act
- Strengthening Minnesota’s Implementation of the Science of Reading through Teacher Preparation
- Teacher Prep Review: Strengthening Elementary Reading Instruction
- A Call to Action on Literacy in Minnesota: Recommendations By Minnesota’s Path Forward Literacy Team – EdAllies
- From buy-in to breakthrough | Educators for Excellence
Empower Schools
Network Policy Pillars: High Expectations, Innovative Options, Responsive Systems
SUMMARY
This policy helps rural high school students in small Texas districts access high-quality college and career pathways to earn college credit and industry-recognized credentials, pursue postsecondary education, enter high-demand careers, and build long-term economic prosperity.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 375,000 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
R-PEP was originally enacted in 2023 through House Bill 2209 (88th Texas Legislature), which created a $5 million allotment to incentivize rural districts to collaborate on college and career pathways. In 2025, the Texas Legislature significantly expanded the program through House Bill 2 and House Bill 120 (89th Texas Legislature), raising the funding cap to $20 million and adding a $5 million grant program for dedicated planning and implementation support.
Rural Texas students have long faced a structural ceiling on their futures. A small district cannot offer the breadth of pathways that prepare students for the full range of high-wage, high-demand careers in their region. Equipment costs are prohibitive. Credentialed instructors are hard to recruit and harder to retain. As rural enrollment declines, budgets tighten, and opportunities shrink further. The result: rural students graduate with fewer options, rural schools face consolidation, and rural communities lose the talent pipelines they need to thrive. R-PEP solves this at the regional level. By incentivizing districts to pool capacity — sharing instructors, equipment, facilities, and higher education and employer relationships — R-PEP enables partnerships to build what no single district could sustain on its own.
Since 2023, Texas has grown from 3 R-PEPs to 13, from 10 districts to 43, from 17 pathways to 40+, and from 1,800 to 10,400 rural high school students served. More than 600 Texas schools are eligible for R-PEP, collectively serving more than 375,000 students. R-PEP has also helped rural communities, historically underserved by philanthropy, attract $8 million in investment from foundations to support the work. The impact is already measurable.
Since launching in 2019, the Rural Schools Innovation Zone (RSIZ) — the first R-PEP — has achieved nearly a 4x increase in dual credit attainment, a 10x increase in industry certification attainment, and consistently outperforms state averages on College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR), graduation rates, and Texas Success Initiative metrics. This is what sustained, high-quality implementation looks like — and it is replicating across Texas.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
Empower Schools has been embedded in R-PEP implementation since before the program existed — first as the technical assistance provider for the Rural Schools Innovation Zone (RSIZ), the original collaborative whose results inspired R-PEP legislation, and then as a planning and implementation partner to all thirteen currently designated R-PEPs. That continuity — from proof point to policy to scale — has given us a distinctive vantage point on how the program functions in practice.
Two concrete examples shaped the 2025 expansion through HB 2 and HB 120. First, we identified that the original $5M statewide funding cap would run out as new R-PEPs launched and that no planning funds existed — the cap was raised to $20M, including $5M for planning. Second, we found that the 1,600-student enrollment threshold was creating unintended barriers: districts approaching the ceiling worried that modest growth would disqualify them from R-PEP funding, disincentivizing regional collaboration. The updated policy ensures benefits continue even if a district grows beyond the threshold. In both cases, Empower brought these findings to policymakers not just as outside advocates, but as partners with years of on-the-ground experience and the voices of superintendents, regional directors, and students behind us. We worked closely with partner organizations, legislative allies, and regional champions to identify implementation challenges, build consensus around solutions, and translate field-level learning into actionable policy recommendations. We have sustained ongoing engagement with TEA to inform iterative refinements to implementation guidance, particularly around coordinating entity roles, funding alignment, and the operational structures required to deliver cross-district pathways at scale.
The clearest evidence of R-PEPs’ sustained impact comes from the Rural Schools Innovation Zone, the original collaborative that has now operated long enough to show multi-year longitudinal outcomes across multiple pathways. Since the RSIZ launched in 2019-20, outcomes in the founding districts have transformed. CCMR has risen from 73% to 90%. Dual credit attainment has nearly quadrupled, from 15% to 56% — double the state average. TSI readiness in math and reading has climbed from 35% to 60%. Industry-based certification attainment has grown from 4% to 33%. These gains span a wide range of pathways and credentials. In 2023-24, RSIZ students earned 58 healthcare certifications (Patient Care Tech, CMA, EKG Technician, Phlebotomy), 56 trades certifications, including Electrical Levels 1 & 2, NCCER Core, and multiple welding credentials — plus one Associate’s Degree in welding earned while still in high school. Students in the STEM Discovery Zone earned FAA drone pilot certifications. The Grow Your Own Educator Academy is producing the next generation of rural teachers. RSIZ graduates attend 30+ colleges and universities — and several enter the local workforce immediately upon graduation.
Newer R-PEPs demonstrate what this model produces when it reaches new regions and sectors. While other R-PEPs are not yet mature enough to produce comparable longitudinal outcomes, they have seen promising leading indicators. The Permian Basin Innovation Zone (PBZ) had its first six students graduate with their Associate’s Degree in Welding Technology. The Falls County Career Collaborative will expand to include an additional Cybersecurity pathway, fully supported and funded by Baylor. Many districts have also added industry partners, expanding work-based learning opportunities. Most importantly, this program protects rural communities from consolidation — the talent pipelines R-PEPs generate can create generational change for rural communities and the schools at their center.
RESOURCES
State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), TNTP
Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, High Expectations
SUMMARY
The Tennessee Literacy Success Act (TLSA) – and SCORE and TNTP’s implementation – has played an essential role in supporting schools, districts, and education preparation programs (EPP) across Tennessee to improve educator preparation, better support existing teachers, and implement high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) connected to coherent instructional visions that ensure stronger literacy instruction and improved student reading outcomes across the state.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 450,000 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
Literacy unlocks opportunities. Students who cannot read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times less likely to graduate high school, severely limiting their long-term outcomes. In 2021, Tennessee confronted this challenge head-on by passing the Tennessee Literacy Success Act (TLSA)—mandating specialized teacher training, universal reading screeners, targeted interventions, and high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) rooted in the science of reading. Passing policy is only one step; strong implementation changes lives. Over the last five years, SCORE and TNTP have driven statewide efforts across multiple levels of the ecosystem to turn this landmark legislation into a reality for Tennessee students.
To bridge the gap between state policy and local classroom practice, SCORE and TNTP built an implementation infrastructure capable of reaching students in every corner of the state.
Transforming the K-12 Classroom: In partnership with the TN Dept. of Ed., TNTP scaled its on-the-ground support, now supporting 59 districts through its Early Literacy Network (ELN) and 40 districts in its Literacy Implementation Networks. Through classroom observations of ELN teachers, TNTP saw a 10% growth in lessons reflecting necessary instructional shifts from SY22 to SY23. Now, the new 2026 state assessment data show the impact: 3rd-grade reading proficiency has increased by 9.2 percentage points since the TLSA’s passage.
Reimagining Teacher Preparation: SCORE and TNTP also launched the Lead In Literacy Network, uniting EPPs and local districts to fundamentally reshape how new teachers are trained to teach reading. This structural shift ensures that the caliber of Tennessees educator workforce strengthens over time as more highly qualified teachers enter the profession. By coupling bold, evidence-based policy with statewide implementation support, SCORE and TNTP built a sustainable ecosystem that is driving early literacy gains for a generation of Tennessee students.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
Since 2021, SCORE and TNTP have worked to translate the TLSA’s science of reading vision into effective classroom practice, evolving the strategy from an initial legislative framework into comprehensive statewide implementation. TNTP met the moment by expanding its technical assistance efforts across the state. In partnership with the TN Dept. of Ed. (TDOE), TNTP has now supported 59 districts through its Early Literacy Network and 40 districts in its Literacy Implementation Networks, providing tailored support, trainings and classroom walkthroughs. TNTP also partnered with TDOE through the Reading 360 initiative, delivering comprehensive training to 30,000 Tennessee educators by 2022.
This collaboration continues, emphasizing a sounds-first approach through both asynchronous research modules and facilitated in-person training. These efforts have proved effective: 97.7% of in-person participants now feel equipped to implement these skills, and a recent report found that at-risk K-1 readers taught by trained teachers significantly outperformed their peers. In tandem with this scaling, state leaders reinforced the policy framework in 2022 by codifying annual implementation reviews and increasing EPP accountability through public reporting of reading exam pass rates.
As the implementation matured, we pioneered further structural evolutions to deepen the policy’s impact:
- Teacher Prep: We launched the Lead In Literacy Network, convening EPPs and partner districts to align teacher preparation coursework and candidate field experiences with Tennessee’s expectations for HQIM.
- Instructional Coherence: We facilitated a pilot in Knox County that aligned intervention materials with classroom HQIM that led to students gaining 1.3 additional months of learning. – Strategic Staffing: To sustain high-quality literacy instruction, SCORE’s TN Strategic Staffing Network is scaling from 6 schools in SY26 to 30 schools with 72 teacher leaders supporting 275+ teachers in SY27.
In Tennessee, we’ve proved that combining evidence-based policy (the passage of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act) with rigorous multi-system implementation can yield transformative results. These outcomes demonstrate sustained growth in both teacher quality and student success – with Tennessee’s students as the biggest winners.
Statewide Student Outcomes: The 2026 Education Scorecard release highlighted Tennessee as the #4 state in the nation in reading growth since 2022. This growth aligns with strong gains on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, on which recent analysis shows Tennessee as the #1 state in the South – driven by strong improvements in literacy.
Improvements in Teacher Quality: Our state’s student growth is underpinned by improvements in teacher readiness across the state. This year’s National Center on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) assessment highlights that the share of Tennessee’s EPPs receiving A/A+ ratings for curricular alignment to the science of reading has doubled since 2023. This is especially true for EPPs in SCORE and TNTP’s LIL Network – 100% have either increased their NCTQ rating by at least 2 levels or achieved an A/A+. These are not just improvements seen on paper – they’re translating to real outcomes in teacher preparedness. LIL Network EPPs graduates’ first-time pass rate on the newly required Tennessee Early Literacy Assessment (TELA) was 45% (compared to 34% statewide). And nearly a third (31%) of candidates who passed the TELA on their first try were from LIL EPPs, despite their overall share of the testing pool being only 10%. SCORE and TNTP’s strategic implementation approach targeting new teacher readiness, strategic staffing, and instructional coherence is not just working – it’s transforming outcomes for students and experiences for teachers from corner to corner of Tennessee.
RESOURCES
- TN Legislation & Guidance:
- TNTPs Early Reading Impact: https://ow.ly/A7RE50ZhBCq
- LIL Network:
- Strategic Staffing Network:
- Instructional Coherence Efforts:
Best Implementation Honorable Mentions
Educators for Excellence-New York
Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, Responsive Systems
SUMMARY
This policy helps NYCPS educators to deliver consistent, evidence-based, Science of Reading–aligned literacy instruction so they can ensure that hundreds of thousands of students—especially Black, Latine, and multilingual learners historically denied high-quality materials—build strong foundational reading skills and gain equitable access to grade-level content across the nation’s largest school district.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 326,000 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
NYC Reads was announced by Mayor Adams and Chancellor Banks on May 9, 2023, as an administrative mandate under NYC’s mayoral control of schools. It was phased in over two years—Phase 1 districts adopted new curricula in fall 2023, and by fall 2024, approximately 700 elementary schools were required to use one of three approved, evidence-based curricula. E4E-NY’s advocacy directly informing the mandate dates to 2022.
For more than two decades, NYCPS schools chose their own curricula. The result was a “free-for-all”: wildly uneven quality, no way to align PL to content, and a system where a child’s access to evidence-based reading instruction depended on which school building they attended. The harm fell hardest on the students least able to absorb it. As of 2019, nearly half of NYC elementary schools used a curriculum built on the discredited “balanced literacy” approach—and in 2022, only 15% of Black and 21% of Latine fourth graders were proficient in reading. NYC Reads ended that. In response to sustained advocacy from E4E-NY’s teacher members, NYCPS required all 32 local districts to adopt one of three evidence-based, Science of Reading–aligned K-5 curricula, used uniformly district-wide and backed by a major investment in curriculum-aligned PL. For the first time, instruction is consistent across schools, and superintendents can align PL directly with the curriculum in every classroom.
What makes this a Best Implementation story is what came after the passage. A policy on paper changes nothing if it falters in the classroom, and research is clear that major curricular shifts often see scores dip before they climb and can take years to pay off. E4E-NY has spent every year since 2023 making sure this one holds, by surfacing what teachers need, pushing the district to stay the course through the hard early years, anchoring a coalition of fellow advocates behind the policy, and tracking whether the promise is reaching kids. It is: implementation is now citywide and expanding into middle schools, and the early outcome and educator-capacity data (detailed below) show a system beginning to turn. For hundreds of thousands of children once denied consistent, high-quality reading instruction, that is a fundamental shift in opportunity—and a model other large districts can follow.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
We built a continuous feedback loop that has shaped NYC Reads at each stage of rollout. In December 2024, we released Reading Between the Lines, a survey of 205 K-5 educators across 21 districts, with 10 focus groups. We found that teachers who had implemented the longest reported the most confidence and the most positive student response. When early 2024 state scores dipped, the pattern research predicts for major curricular change, we used that finding to urge NYCPS to hold the course and allow a sustained implementation period rather than reverse a policy that was working as designed. The district stayed the course, and the outcome data that followed (detailed in the next field) bore out the judgment.
Our surveys also pinpointed where teachers needed help: differentiating for students with IEPs and English learners, and leveraging supplemental materials. We carried this to district leadership, and guidance evolved in response—clearer communication on pacing flexibility, and a growing emphasis on school-based coaching and peer collaboration. In short, the support our data identified as the most valued. We elevated bright spots, too: our District 8 spotlight (where 94% of teachers reported effective support vs. 80% citywide) gave NYCPS a concrete, replicable implementation model.
Most recently, our March 2026 Pulse Check tracked the maturation of the rollouts. In spring 2026, our survey data, a petition, and a town hall with the Chancellor directly informed the city’s decision to expand NYC Reads into additional grade levels. At every step, educator voice has guided the implementation, refinement, and scaling of this policy. We also did not carry these findings alone. Through our leadership of the Advocates Table—a coalition of fellow NYC education advocates—and our close partnership with the Center for Public Research and Leadership to build a citywide literacy ecosystem, we turned educator feedback into durable, system-wide pressure to get implementation right.
Access: Every K-5 and early-childhood classroom in the nation’s largest district now runs on uniform, evidence-based curricula with aligned PL. That is the foundational equity result: a child’s access to research-backed reading instruction no longer depends on which school they happen to attend.
Student achievement: The clearest sign the policy is reaching kids is the dip-then-climb arc research predicts. After 2024, state scores dipped modestly. In 2025, citywide ELA proficiency jumped 7.2 points, from 49.1% to 56.3%, and the gains scaled with time in the program. NYC Reads Phase 1 schools (two years in) saw grades 3-5 proficiency climb 11.6 points, while K-5 screener growth more than doubled, from 0.9 points (2023–24) to 2.5 points (2024–25). That dose-response (i.e., deeper implementation, bigger gains) is the signature of an initiative working as designed.
Educator capacity: Implementation quality is improving year over year. E4E-NYs surveys show teacher confidence in implementation rising across all student groups between 2024 and 2025, whether with on-grade-level students (4.35 to 4.53), students with IEPs (3.30 to 3.56), or English learners (3.08 to 3.29). The mechanism is clear. Teachers who receive effective PL are far more confident serving diverse learners—72% confident teaching students with IEPs, versus just 31% among those with ineffective PL—confirming that the curriculum-plus-aligned-PL design delivers where it is implemented well, and pointing precisely to where continued investment pays off.
RESOURCES
- Teacher Perspective on NYC Reads Implementation
- NYC must keep going strong on NYC Reads
- High teacher buy-in for NYC Reads initiative | K-12 Dive
- Mayor Adams, Chancellor Aviles-Ramos Expand Signature Initiatives NYC Reads and NYC Solves, Continue to Strengthen Literacy and Math Instruction in New York City
Latinos for Education
Network Policy Pillar: Great Educators
SUMMARY
This policy helps educators enter, advance, and remain in the teaching profession by transforming educator preparation, licensure, recruitment, and retention systems, so they can close racial representation gaps in classrooms, strengthen culturally relevant instruction, improve student achievement, and help address persistent teacher shortages.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 900,487 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
The Educator Diversity Act was included in H.5100, and was signed by Governor Maura Healey on November 20, 2024, as Chapter 238 of the Acts of 2024. Following the passage of the bill, on April 28, 2026, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education implemented a major provision of the bill by unanimously approving changes to the regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval, creating an alternative licensure pathway.
The Educator Diversity Act matters because educator diversity is an essential strategy and lever to boost student achievement. Massachusetts serves 900,487 public-school students; 47% of whom are students of color, yet the educator workforce does not reflect that diversity (BIPOC Educators are currently 10% of the Teacher Workforce). The Educator Diversity Act will accelerate the rate at which we close the representation gap. Research continues to show that having even one teacher of color can improve academic achievement, graduation, and college enrollment for students of color and for ALL students. Latinos for Education helped move the Commonwealth from naming this gap to building systems to close it.
The law creates lasting infrastructure: statewide educator diversity goals, public reporting on hiring, retention, preparation, and certification data; district and charter educator diversity plans; educator preparation equity plans; appointment of DEI officers or teams to develop and implement plans; and advisory governance bodies to school committees and superintendents by establishing statutorily required educator diversity councils. Our Educator Diversity Act Implementation work focuses on making the law usable. We created plain-language guidance, launched a public webinar, convened our coalition to work alongside the Commissioner and their office on implementation of key provisions, advised MTEL alternative certification work, supported the establishment of alternative licensure pathways broadly, and are prioritizing guidance for Educator Diversity Councils and district plans. The result is a statewide strategy that helps more Latino educators and educators of color enter, advance, and remain in the profession; requires districts to address hiring and retention barriers; and provides families, educators, and advocates with data to monitor progress.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
Latinos for Education has led the Educator Diversity Act Coalition to be a part of the implementation of the legislation. As issues emerged, we shifted our campaign from the passage of the legislation to ensuring good implementation and advocacy education on the legislation by: drafting plain-language materials, convening implementers, surfacing field questions to state leaders, aligning advocates around regulatory decisions, and preparing technical assistance so implementation is consistent statewide.
We developed an explainer guide on the provisions, highlighted bright spots across the state, were appointed to several state working groups, and brought coalition partners to the table. We launched an explainer guide webinar and gathered feedback from educators, preparation programs, district and charter leaders, and advocates about where the field needed clarity. That feedback identified three priority areas for implementation.
- First, licensure reform had to be broad enough to reach candidates blocked by the MTEL while maintaining high standards.
- Second, models for Educator Diversity Plans, not generic compliance checklists.
- Third, Educator Diversity Councils needed guidance on purpose, membership, student and family voice, and accountability to become meaningful implementation bodies.
We used those real-time findings from our reports, data, and partner research to support DESE and coalition working groups, advise the MTEL alternative certification committee, advocate for final regulatory adoption of alternative licensure access across pathways, and shift our 2026 agenda toward two next-stage priorities: model guidance for Educator Diversity Councils and strong district Educator Diversity Plans.
The Statewide Educator Diversity Dashboard was created as a central component of the legislation. This dashboard allows all stakeholders to now monitor the progress we are making towards the 2030 goal of reaching 25% educator diversity.
RESOURCES
- Educator Diversity Act
- EDA Guide Download
- Law: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2024/Chapter238
- Regs: https://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr7.html
- In Pursuit of Greatness Report: Educator Diversity Forecasting Report
- MA Passes new Alternative licensure pathways: Alternative Licensure Pathways – Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL)
Teach Plus California
Network Policy Pillar: Great Educators, Responsive Systems
SUMMARY
This policy helps local leaders and educators to serve diverse profiles of English learners so they can fully and meaningfully access and participate in a twenty-first-century education.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 1,000,000 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
Teacher-led implementation of the English Learner Roadmap, the landmark framework adopted by the California State Board of Education in 2017, presented a unique opportunity to ensure state and local systems are responsive to the diverse identities of more than 1 million English learners. The framework set a vision for LEAs to better serve multilingual learners, but change in policy and practice was slow and inconsistent.
Five years ago, Teach Plus California launched the Emergent Bilingual Change Agent Network, partnering with educators across California around a simple but powerful belief: The teachers closest to multilingual learners are also closest to the solutions. Since then, Teach Plus California has supported more than 80 educators in communities throughout the state to identify barriers, develop and implement change ideas to overcome those barriers.
EBCAN Change Agents have led projects across California that strengthen family engagement, expand multilingual access, elevate student voice, and influence district and state practices, resulting in improved student outcomes and transformed school climates. EBCAN also showed that when educators are supported, respected, and positioned as decision-makers—not just implementers—they are more likely to stay in the profession and grow within it.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
Teach Plus teacher leaders who have led site-based implementation projects have presented their lessons learned at regional and statewide conferences, sharing insights about different EL typologies, curricular and instructional needs, community engagement strategies, and innovations to school schedules and staffing models.
At the same time as they have been leveraging those insights to shape local implementation of the Roadmap, Teach Plus teacher leaders also advocated for a bill to require a statewide implementation plan, state budget investments in building the capacity of the state department of education to support implementation, statewide professional learning, and changes to the reclassification criteria, which had been identified as a structural barrier to EL students access to a broad-based curriculum.
California reclassification rates have recovered from the significant drop-off during COVID. Over 75,000 students have received the California State Seal of Biliteracy, and we have seen a slight increase in EL students graduating with the A-G requirements to attend a UC or CSU.
RESOURCES
ExcelinEd, Ohio Excels, Thomas B. Fordham Institute-Ohio
Network Policy Pillar: Great Educators, High Expectations
SUMMARY
This policy helps Ohio educators to effectively teach children to read so they can acquire the foundational literacy skills needed for long-term success.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 700,000 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
Under the bold leadership of Governor Mike DeWine–and with the strong support of PIE Network members–Ohio enacted a sweeping science of reading law in 2023.
In 2023, Ohio enacted laws that promote the science of reading and provided more than $175 million in support. While the science of reading promises more effective classroom instruction and stronger reading proficiency, it only succeeds if it is implemented well in classrooms around the state. Key legislative provisions and implementation details include:
- Requiring all elementary schools to use high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). The state department of education’s HQIM approval process has made an immediate impact. Formerly, use of discredited programs was widespread in Ohio. With those programs now disapproved, the most used program in Ohio is the well-respected Core Knowledge Language Arts.
- Verifying the use of HQIM. To further bolster effective use of high-quality curricula, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine earlier this year announced implementation teams that will assess schools’ fidelity to the science of reading and adopted curriculum.
- Requiring all in-service educators to complete a science of reading course. State leaders developed a professional development course that introduced educators to the science of reading and covered all five reading “pillars.” By the end of 2025, virtually all Ohio teachers (more than 100,000) had completed the course.
- Providing reading coaches to low-performing schools. Recognizing that educators in struggling schools need more intensive supports, Ohio invested in reading coaches. As of spring 2026, the state department of education oversees coaches working in 151 schools. Earlier this year, Governor DeWine pledged another 50 coaches to start work this fall.
- Requiring colleges of education to align with the science of reading. Lawmakers directed the Department of Higher Education to audit teacher preparation programs to ensure that training is aligned. In 2025, the department completed those audits, finding 10 out of 48 programs were non-aligned and in need of corrective action.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
Ohio Excels, ExcelinEd, Fordham-Ohio, and local partners continuously monitored implementation and responded to challenges as they emerged.
Monitoring revealed where implementation needed stronger support. Ohio Excels convened regular literacy coalition meetings that included the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and the Ohio Department of Higher Education. These meetings surfaced implementation challenges in real time, enabling advocates to ask difficult questions, identify barriers, and work collaboratively with state leaders to strengthen execution.
State officials identified a critical funding gap for teacher preparation program audits. The original legislation provided only $150,000—far short of what was needed. In response, our coalition secured an additional $2 million, ensuring all educator preparation programs could be rigorously evaluated. Recognizing that curriculum adoption alone would not guarantee lasting instructional change, we successfully advocated for state-led implementation teams to help schools maintain fidelity to the science of reading and avoid reverting to outdated practices.
Implementation also demonstrated that struggling schools needed sustained, job-embedded support. Our coalition secured continued funding in the 2025 state budget for reading coaches serving the state’s lowest-performing schools. We also used research to identify emerging challenges and inform continuous improvement. A statewide teacher survey conducted with Johns Hopkins University found broad support for phonics but lingering skepticism among some educators. Fordham also documented implementation in three early adopter Ohio schools and published reports in 2024 and 2026, highlighting progress, identifying challenges, and recommending strategies to sustain momentum.
The science of reading initiative has put Ohio in a strong position to see improved student achievement over the long-term. Early indicators of how it has impacted the quality of education in Ohio schools are as follows:
- Core Knowledge Language Arts is now the most used elementary reading curriculum in Ohio (used in approximately one in five districts), up from 5th prior to the science of reading reforms.
- Roughly 100,000 Ohio teachers, representing virtually all in-service educators across grades K-12, have received professional development in the science of reading.
- 151 low-performing schools (approximately 5 percent statewide) have received reading coaches.
- 48 colleges of education have been audited for alignment with the science of reading, and 10 have been identified as needing corrective action.
RESOURCES
- Off and Running: Ohio’s early implementation of its Science of Reading reforms
- Ohio’s path to early literacy: Science of Reading progress and challenges
- The Science of Reading in Action: How Margaretta Local Schools is adding phonics and rigor to its reading instruction
- Do Ohio’s teacher preparation programs follow the science of reading? How stronger teacher preparation and curricula policies can ensure scientifically based reading instruction in Ohio
School & State Finance Project
Network Policy Pillar: Innovative Options, Responsive Systems
SUMMARY
The implementation of the District Repair and Improvement Project (DRIP) program helps ensure safer, healthier learning environments for ALL of Connecticut’s students by providing grants to school districts — including charter schools and other public schools of choice — for minor capital repairs and improvements. This program establishes a dedicated, annual stream of state funding for the minor projects schools frequently need but have regularly deferred or eliminated due to budget constraints.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 498,000 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
Our team developed the DRIP program in early 2025 and worked with policymakers to pass it during Connecticut’s 2025 legislative session and to appropriate $60 million toward it as part of a bonding bill. Upon passage of the bill, we then mobilized school district leaders, municipal officials, and community members in Fall 2025 to successfully move the governor and the State Bond Commission to allocate the appropriated funds for the DRIP program and distribute the resources to districts.
While Connecticut has had a robust school construction program providing state financial support for new construction or major renovations, previously, there was no source of state support for the minor capital repairs and renovations that school districts frequently need. This lack of state support meant the costs of minor capital repairs and renovations were supported entirely by local taxpayers. Given municipal budget constraints, these projects were often the first to be eliminated from a budget request and frequently deferred — leading to unsafe, unhealthy, and undesirable school buildings, and ultimately deteriorating facilities that eventually required major, more costly renovations.
In 2025, we developed, legislatively passed, and successfully implemented the District Repair and Improvement Project (DRIP) program — an equitable, dedicated stream of state funding for minor school repairs. The DRIP program provides reimbursement grants to school districts for minor facility repairs and improvements that do not qualify under the state’s existing school construction program. Without the DRIP program, the costs for these critical projects would fall entirely on local taxpayers, leaving them unaddressed in lower-wealth districts and impacting students’ learning environments and experiences.
Most importantly, DRIP program grants, which are based in part on each district’s enrollment and community wealth, ensure all students — no matter zip code or public school type — have access to safe, healthy, and well-maintained learning environments. Research has repeatedly shown the condition of school facilities directly impacts student learning, health, and academic performance, and students in higher-need, lower-wealth communities are more likely to attend schools in poor condition, which further exacerbates educational inequities. The DRIP program helps address these inequities and improve the learning environments for all students.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
While we successfully secured authorization for $60 million in state general obligation bonds in June 2025 for the DRIP program, Connecticut has a multi-step bonding process, which meant additional action was needed before schools could access their DRIP funds. To begin receiving DRIP funding, the State Bond Commission needed to allocate the bond funds authorized by the legislature.
While this may seem like a routine step, it was far from it. Billions of bond dollars are authorized by the legislature and never allocated by the Bond Commission, which is chaired by the governor. The governor and his budget office opposed the DRIP program throughout the legislative session and were noncommittal about adding the allocation of DRIP funds to a Bond Commission agenda.
With its future on the line, we took action to make sure DRIP funds were allocated and the program was implemented. We mobilized superintendents, school business officers, and municipal leaders to contact the governor and his budget office and urge them to place the allocation of DRIP program funds on the Bond Commission’s agenda. We created an online tool and a rotating email template for stakeholders to easily make their voices heard, and saw hundreds of emails sent to the governor and his budget office.
The pressure campaign was successful, resulting in the governor placing the allocation of DRIP funds on the agenda for the Bond Commission’s December meeting, where it was unanimously approved. After the allocation, we continued to help the policy evolve by monitoring the progress of the distribution of program funds and keeping stakeholders informed along the way so there would be no delay in schools receiving their funds. By maintaining pressure on the administration to adhere to the program’s statutory timeline, the DRIP program was successfully implemented, and districts received and are now using their funds to make critical improvements to their learning environments.
While the DRIP program is in its first year of implementation, districts are already beginning to use funds for projects such as ADA compliance upgrades for greater student accessibility, upgrading electrical systems for tech compatibility, or retrofitting classrooms to better serve students. These projects don’t just improve a school’s appearance; they also impact student performance. Providing a safe, healthy learning environment is pivotal to ensuring students can achieve in the classroom and beyond. Research has shown that school facility investments result in improved student outcomes and increased home values, and the impact of these investments is most significant in communities with higher levels of student need and student diversity. Students’ overall health and ability to perform academically can be negatively impacted by environmental exposure to mold, poorly ventilated air, uncomfortable temperatures, and inadequate lighting or noise in school buildings.
Research has also shown that socioeconomically disadvantaged students are less likely to attend school in a building that is in “good” or “excellent” condition. The pandemic highlighted how vital a safe physical learning environment is for students, with Connecticut districts spending an estimated over $200 million of ESSER funds on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); outdoor classrooms; facility repairs; and upgrades aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19.
The DRIP program ensures funds continue to be available for critical facility investments, allowing students and educators to focus on learning and teaching without worrying about unsafe building conditions or classrooms in disrepair. Additionally, the DRIP program expands access to facilities funding to all public school types, including charter schools, which previously received no state funding for facilities. As a result, all students now have access to state funds to support and improve their learning environments.
RESOURCES
Tennesseans for Student Success
Network Policy Pillars: Innovative Options, Responsive Systems
SUMMARY
Tennesseans for Student Success’ Quality Charter Review (QCR) helps potential charter operators and authorizers to understand new-start charter school application quality relative to the Tennessee state rubric, so that operators can improve applications to ensure quality, and authorizers can make informed decisions about application authorization, leading to each authorized seat being a seat worth choosing and a seat with quality for the students that schools will serve.
Our policy and advocacy impacts 10,037 students.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
This policy was developed by Tennesseans for Student Success in 2023, with significant expansion in 2025, and a refined operator support system in 2026.
Charter growth should always center on the importance of quality and outcomes for students. Having a clear understanding of each application’s quality supports advocacy by ensuring high-quality schools are supported by advocacy coalitions. This work also supports the community’s understanding of the intent of each proposed school. The QCR is designed to support operators as they work to strengthen their applications on the path towards approval of high-quality seats by providing an objective, comprehensive review of all application materials relative to the state rubric, and to support a broad understanding of each application’s strengths and weaknesses through summary documentation that can be utilized by operators in community engagement, supporters, and stakeholders.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
The Quality Charter Review began during the 2023 cycle, reviewing only a subset of schools and without a line-by-line analysis for operators to utilize during the initial or amended application phases. The initial audience for the QCR was advocacy leaders internally at Tennesseans for Student Success and within our coalition. As the review process has expanded over the last few years, TSS now reviews every new-start application filed across the state, and in 2026, introduced an operator-facing rubric document that provides potential operators with a detailed, question-by-question analysis of application quality relative to the TN state rubric to support application improvement and, therefore, student experience and school quality throughout the authorization process.
The summary QCR document distills hundreds of pages of application materials into a digestible 6-page document that presents high-level information such as grade band, model, enrollment projections, leadership, mission/vision, and a summary page of overall application strengths and areas for improvement. The public-facing document allows operators to share key details about their school with potential advocates and provides a key summary for all stakeholders, from authorizers who may be new to the process to potential teachers, parents, and community investors. As we look to the future, TSS envisions continuing to produce both detailed analyses for operators to support strong applications with demonstrated quality and a summary document for public-facing communications and analysis. The broad investment in potential operators through the application process ensures that approved applicants across Tennessee will provide a high-quality choice for families and support improved outcomes for all students.
- During the 2023-2025 cycles, over 90% of schools recommended for approval by the QCR ultimately received authorization at the state or local level.
- During the 2023-2025 cycles, 10 of 11 schools that received operator support during the application process (after being recommended for approval by the QCR) received authorization.
- 100% of schools receiving TSS support during the application process reported positive impacts on data, outreach, and communications support in the application and authorization process, leading to growth of the TN charter sector that is squarely focused on quality for students, families, and communities.
RESOURCES
Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE), Education Forward DC
Network Policy Pillars: Innovative Options, Responsive Systems
SUMMARY
This policy helps children in DC by creating THE FIRST parent-selected public charter school on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. LEARN DC is on the base, but ~25% of students are non-military and live in the neighboring community outside of the gates. LEARN DC provides a high-quality education of choice that meets the unique needs of children of military and Ward 8 families, both of whom are often transient due to challenges like military orders and generational poverty.
HISTORY & WHY THIS WIN MATTERS
- March 2016: Military Installation Public Charter School Amendment Act of 2016 passed, allowing for the establishment of a school in Ward 8 where 50% of seats would be reserved for military families.
- Fall 2016: POST formed to identify the school, and after a rigorous 6-month process and site visits with finalists from DC, California, and Chicago, selects LEARN.
- 2019: PCSB approves LEARN DC’s charter application and attributes approval to the leadership of parents.
- Fall 2021: LEARN DC opens on JBAB
In 2016, the DC Council passed the Military Installation Public Charter School Amendment Act, opening the door for a public charter school in Ward 8 with 50% of seats for military-connected students on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. Ward 8 students experience housing instability, homelessness, and violence. Educational inequities contribute to proficiency rates that are significantly behind city averages. Military families also face challenges, including frequent relocations that require children to change schools every few years. This disrupts learning and contributes to lower academic outcomes.
In Fall 2016, The Ward 8 Parent Operator Selection Team (POST) was established by PAVE and former PIE Network member FOCUS, bringing together eight parents representing both Ward 8 and military communities. The POST created an RFP for LEAs. Academic rigor remained essential, and families emphasized positive school culture, strong social-emotional supports, individualized learning, safety, meaningful family engagement, and relationships between students, families, and educators. POST members chose 4 finalists from the operators that applied and did site visits in DC, California, and Chicago. They selected LEARN Network, an experienced operator with a school on a military installation that served both military and non-military students.
When LEARN DC’s application came before the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) in 2019, years of advocacy by POST parents made approval possible. In granting the charter, PCSB acknowledged that LEARN DC represented a departure from the traditional school approval process and recognized the central role that parents and community members played in shaping and selecting the school. LEARN DC’s approval is a testament to the power of family leadership and community-driven school design. Today, LEARN DC serves 318 children, 25% of whom are non-military, and has been recognized for double-digit growth on our statewide assessment.
IMPLEMENTATION & EVOLUTION
PAVE and FOCUS adapted the POST based on parent feedback, participation, and lessons learned throughout implementation. Parents prioritized school culture, student supports, and family engagement. They consistently emphasized nurturing environments, individualized supports, culturally responsive leadership, and social-emotional learning, especially given the unique needs of children from Ward 8 and the military.
Organizers knew the complexity of school finance, governance, academic evaluation, and other evaluation criteria, as well as how difficult they could be for people without prior experience in those areas to understand. Experts provided targeted training in the above topics, while maintaining parent authority over decisions. This decision ensured that parents had the information and knowledge necessary to make informed choices without shifting decision-making power away from the community.
After 6 months of biweekly four-hour Saturday meetings full of brainstorming and creating their own vision for what would work for both the Ward 8 and military communities, parents created an RFP and reviewed each applicant’s academic approaches, financial statements, and school culture plans, conducted a series of site visits to identify finalists, and selected LEARN, a charter network based in Chicago.
At the start of the process, the members of the POST (4 military, 4 Ward 8) saw themselves as different, but by the end, they said, “we want the same things for our children!” In 2019, PAVE’s ED became Board Chair of LEARN, and PCSB voted to approve LEARN’s application. Tara Brown, a member of the POST, joined the ED search committee and later LEARN DC’s Board of Directors, now serving as the chair of the academics committee. In early 2021, the PCSB fully approved LEARN’s charter, clearing the way for the school to officially open and fulfill the vision that Ward 8 and military-connected families had worked for years to bring to fruition.
The Ward 8 POST process demonstrated the power of putting parents in charge, showing what’s possible when they are given the information they need and the space to come together to ideate, create, and lead. The Ward 8 POST has since become a widely recognized model for community-centered school creation. Organizations locally and nationally have looked to PAVE’s work as an example of how to build educational systems with parents as leaders.
LEARN DC transformed educational opportunity for military families and Ward 8 students, two populations that have historically faced challenges. In the 2024-2025 school year, LEARN was recognized by the DC Public Charter School Board for double-digit gains on DC CAPE, growing from 13% to 38% proficiency in ELA. LEARN also saw growth in math proficiency in the 2024-2025 school year. They were also recipients of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Exemplary Student Participation Award in the Spring of 2025.
LEARN goes well beyond academics in supporting its students. One of the priorities of the Ward 8 POST parents was a school culture that supported the whole child. LEARN is committed to providing a well-rounded education, especially since it works with students who often experience challenges and losses that their non-military or Ward 8 peers do not. LEARN prioritizes helping students, especially the younger students, foster resilience and emotional well-being while managing stress and maintaining focus in a calm learning environment. Lastly, thanks to increased demand for the school and a proven track record of academic success, LEARN has expanded grades to serve more families and enable students to remain in the same school throughout their education. Today, LEARN serves PK3 through 5th grade and will be adding 6th-grade students in the 2026-2027 school year.