Five systems chosen to receive matching funds of up to $1 million over four years

September 1, 2018

ANet’s Breakthrough Results Fund supports a cohort of five diverse districts through a four-year partnership. Launched in the 2018-2019 school year, the initiative is designed to deepen our collective understanding of the most critical factors for boosting student learning and accelerate those outcomes within our partner schools. We will examine strategies for fostering strong system-wide alignment on instructional goals and effective implementation at the school level to support great teaching and expand educational equity for students.

ANet will support this cohort of districts, at the school and system levels, to implement structures, practices, and tools we know lead to improved student outcomes. In the process, we will also study the impact these changes have in classrooms and share what we learn with the field. As with all of our work, this initiative focuses on supporting schools to expand educational opportunities for students of color and those from low-income backgrounds. Our partner districts include:

• Louisiana: East Baton Rouge Parish School System

• New Mexico: Carlsbad Municipal Schools

• Ohio: Lorain City Schools

• Washington: Bellevue School District

• Wisconsin: Madison Metropolitan School District

Support for accelerating instructional change

The systems selected for the program receive ANet’s full partnership support for 10 schools—including coaching, instructional tools, interim assessments, and professional learning. Participating districts and CMOs also receive system-level support to enable and reinforce the school-level work.

We bring everything we’ve learned from thirteen years of working with thousands of schools to foster high quality, standards-aligned instruction—the kind of instruction that improves student outcomes.

Demonstrate what’s possible in improving instruction

We know that ANet schools with the right conditions in place see 6 months of additional learning over 2 years. We also know these outcomes aren’t magic: they’re the result of many decisions, shifts and improvements that add up to changes in adult behavior that lead to better student outcomes.

While many of our partner schools can tell stories about aspects of that change, this project will provide a comprehensive view into the journey of improvement across all levels of a district or CMO over several years.

By showing what changes have the most impact on instruction in a diverse set of districts and CMOs, the Breakthrough Results Fund will help educators across the country to apply these lessons in their own schools and school systems.