2017 Eddies!

Celebrating Exemplar Advocacy & Policymaking

One of our greatest strengths as a Network is working together to spread impact and know-how. In that spirit, we’re proud to feature excellent policymaking and advocacy campaigns from the past year, telling the story of how education policy was advanced one state at a time. 

The Eddies!—annual, advocate-nominated awards—celebrate exemplar work in five categories:

View the 2017 Winners

THIS COLLECTION OF DYNAMIC ADVOCACY IS PROOF ADVOCATES CAN AND DO MOVE POLICY FORWARD AT THE STATE LEVEL.

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

Modeled off the Oscars, the Eddies! has previously included a member-driven voting process. As the Network has grown, members have increasingly raised that it is challenging to digest the scope—and vote on—work happening across the country. Therefore, this year, while advocates still drove the nomination process, a selection committee made up of 13 state advocates and national partners selected finalists in each category and will select the winner of each award, with the exception of MVP, which will be voted on virtually by Summit participants. 

TOP 2017 EDDIES! NOMINEES

Best Kept Secret

  • Numerous Reforms in North Carolina: 
    • BEST NC; NorthCarolinaCAN; and Foundation for Excellence in Education: Numerous Reform Wins in North Carolina, including a brand new Education Scholarship Account, reforms to the accountability system, improved School Report Cards, among many others
    • BEST NC: Transforming Principal Preparation Program (TP3) & $34M to Raise Principal Pay by an Average of 10% in a Single Year 
  • Colorado Succeeds & ReadyCO: Demonstrating College and Career Readiness, Without the Need for Remediation 
  • EdAllies & Educators for Excellence – MN: Teacher Licensure Overhaul 
  • Students for Education Reform Minnesota: Remedial Education Reform
  • Tennessee SCORE: Improving Educator Preparation 
  • The Education Trust – New York: ESSA Implementation, Higher standards, and Support for Immigrant Students

See a complete list of all nominees for this category.

Most Actionable Research

  • Data Quality Campaign: 50-state Analysis of State Report Cards
  • EdBuild: The Breakdown of America’s School Districts
  • The Collaborative for Student Success & Bellwether Education Partners: An Independent Review of State ESSA Plans
  • Students for Education Reform: First Generation College Student Poll
  • Colorado Succeeds: Positive Outliers – Scaling Colorado’s Most Successful Schools 
  • Stand for Children Illinois: An Education Funding No-Brainer: Stop the Teacher Pension Surcharge
  • Foundation for Excellence in Education, GeorgiaCAN, Tennessee SCORE, and TennesseeCAN: ESSA Playbook Series, including personalized interventions playbooks for Georgia, Nevada, and Tennessee

See a complete list of all nominees for this category.

Best Ensemble Cast

  • Advance Illinois, Stand for Children Illinois, and Educators for Excellence – Chicago: School Funding Reform
  • The Kentucky Charter School Project: Passage of Enabling Public Charter School Legislation
  • Campaign for School Equity, TennesseCAN, Tennessee SCORE, Stand for Children Tennessee: Charter School Policy in Tennessee
  • America Achieves, Colorado Succeeds & Democrats for Education Reform-Colorado &: STEM High School Diploma
  • Democrats for Education Reform-DC, PAVE DC, FOCUS DC,  and the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools : Charter School Funding
  • Democrats for Education Reform-Louisiana, Stand for Children-Louisiana, The Education Trust: Louisiana ESSA State Plan Coalition
  • Tennessee SCORE, The Education Trust, Foundation for Excellence in Education: Tennessee ESSA Coalition

See a complete list of all nominees for this category.

Most Valuable Player

  • Ben Boer, Deputy Director, Advance Illinois 
  • Claire Voorhees, National Policy Director, Foundation for Excellence in Education
  • Daniel Zavala, Director of Policy and Government Relations, League of Education Voters
  • Daria Hall, Vice President for Partnerships and Engagement, The Education Trust
  • Diane Hopkins, Vice President, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
  • Jen Walmer, State Director, DFER Colorado

See a complete list of all nominees for this category.

Game Changer of the Year

  • A for Arizona & Foundation for Excellence in Education: Results-based Funding 
  • Advance Illinois, Stand for Children Illinois, Educators for Excellence Chicago, Illinois Network of Charter Schools, One Chance Illinois, Foundation for Excellence in Education and many others: Funding Formula Reform, Charter School Funding, and a New Tax-credit Scholarship Program
  • Colorado Succeeds, Democrats for Education Reform Colorado, ReadyCO, Colorado Children’s Campaign, Stand for Children Colorado, Colorado League of Charters, Colorado Charter Institute: First State to Equalize Local Funding for Public Charter School Students 
  • Foundation for Florida’s Future: HB 7069, Comprehensive Education Reform Legislation
  • EdVoice: California Legislative Landscape

See a complete list of all nominees for this category.

Winners in each category will be announced at the PIE Network Summit on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 26.