Graduation is always a special time for me as a school leader. At Ednovate, our mission is to educate high school students who will use their college degrees and careers to enact Positive Multigenerational Change in their communities, nation and world. There are currently three schools in the Ednovate network. Each student in our community is so dear to me, and there are few things more gratifying than seeing them reach the important milestone of high school graduation.

But this year, it was a college graduation that was the most memorable to me. A former student of mine, Felicia, who I met long before I opened Ednovate, graduated from UMass Amherst this spring. A few weeks ago, I flew there from Los Angeles to see Felicia receive her Bachelor’s Degree, 11 years after I watched her graduate from high school.

As an educator, each student touches your life in a different way. I met Felicia in 2002 when I was a high school math teacher in Boston, and she inspired me to ultimately found the schools I opened in Chicago and Los Angeles. I remember those days when she would tell me: “I’m bored” or “I’m not being challenged.” Back then, I wished I had a way for Felicia to work at her own level without waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. Instead, I would tell her to go to the computer lab and research something she was interested in.  The trouble was Felicia didn’t know what she was interested in because she hadn’t yet found her passion, and her school didn’t have a structure to help her discover it. That experience inspired me to create a model that would have better set her up for success.

I’m thankful to NewSchools Venture Fund for supporting us as one of our earliest funders, which was crucial to getting Ednovate off the ground. Ednovate is just five years old, but we’ve had a 100 percent graduation rate each year, and from last year’s graduating class, 93 percent are still in college in their second year.

I worked with Felicia throughout her high school years and when she was accepted at college I was so excited to tour her around the campus. I went with her to freshman orientation and bought her and myself a Bridgewater State University t-shirt. But within the first semester, staying on top of classes and finances became too difficult and she left the school. Felicia told me, “I will graduate from college, I promise.” I said, “I’ll be there,” and that was 11 years ago. We stayed in contact and she kept me updated on her life – she had two kids, got married, and bounced between different community colleges and online degree programs until landing at UMass Amherst University Without Walls where she found her groove. Felicia realized she wanted to create an afterschool program to help students like her through high school, and finding this passion gave her a strong purpose to finish her degree.

One year ago she contacted me and said, “Here is my graduation date.” Felicia never asks for anything but I knew from her message that she remembered the promise I made. I kept that date on my calendar, and when she reached out again a few months ago, I booked a ticket to Boston. I had a great time seeing her after 11 years and meeting her husband and two beautiful kids, and I could tell she was filled with pride.

Felicia’s story is not unusual – many of her fellow students faced similar obstacles to obtain a college degree. Out of Felicia’s group of 20 students, only three graduated from college within four years. Often students left school because the academic requirements were too difficult to finish in four years, and the additional semesters created an impossible amount of debt.

Graduations are enormous accomplishments for students – many of whom have faced challenges you couldn’t even imagine – but we’re hoping high school isn’t the last graduation ceremony they attend. I’ve been to many graduations as a teacher, a principal and a founder of a network of schools, and I’ve learned that getting students to their high school graduation is just the first step. If the school has done its job right, we’ve set up them to succeed in their next chapter without us. Graduation at Ednovate is always a special day for me, but four years from now I’m hoping to be at a whole bunch of new graduations for our students who are on track to finish college.

Paige addressed a packed ballroom, saying, “In 7th grade, I was encouraged to begin taking college classes. A lot of our learning is project based, and that makes me feel ready to take on new projects when I begin my career.” She added, “I’ve loved going to school every single day. Everyone is expected to put forth their best effort.”

Paige has aspirations of becoming an occupational therapist, and she is well on the way to achieving that goal. She has taken so many college courses that she will receive an associate degree next year — before she even receives her high school diploma. She closed out her remarks by imploring everyone in the room to listen to students. “We need more schools that meet each student’s needs. Ask a student what they want to accomplish. The more you know about the students you want to help, the better you will be equipped to help them.”

Our CEO Stacey Childress then took the stage, and reminded us all that we need many more schools like Paige’s. “They are necessary in rural areas, as well as in cities where so many of our students attend schools,” said Childress. “With the wide range of perspectives and philosophies we have represented in the sector…when we mix it up, it can seem like it’s hard to find common ground. Sometimes we disagree, and it’s productive in the long term. Other times, it can be unproductive and make it harder to make progress in the short term.”

She added, “Why Can’t We Be Friends builds on a year of discussions. Some were roundtables, off the record. There were also public panels. We’ve been trying to rebuild trust among those who are working to improve education, recognizing that bonds have been frayed a little bit.”

Stacey then invited Layla Avila, Matt Ladner, Shevar Jeffries and Gerard Robinson to join her on the stage. Sprinkled throughout the discussion, there were short videos collected over the past few months, that featured folks on the left and right to show a range of perspectives. Participants included Mike Petrilli, Joe Williams, Derrell Bradford, Amy Wilkins, Lamar Alexander, Roberto Rodriguez, Jason Crye, James Forman, Jr., Jeanne Allen, Jonah Edelman and Rick Hess.

Gerard Robinson noted today’s auspicious date, the anniversary of the landmark civil rights and education law, Brown v. Board of Education. “It’s tough to have a conversation about education without acknowledging Brown v. Board. This room would look very different without the passage of that law.” He went on to say those of us who work to improve public education are not necessarily friends, but comrades with a common enemy. He added, “Some of us are also friends. But, friendship requires trust and respect.”

Matt Ladner reminded the group that “big tents” with many different people are good, and disagreements are ok. He said that failure is also ok, but we must learn from our failures. He further opined that there is a lot of polarization from outside education that has had an impact on our coalitions.

Layla Avila agreed, and said the bruising election did not help. “For many people of color, the spokesperson of the Democratic party confirmed what a lot of us feared in the Latino community. The schisms began before the election. We saw increased police violence…we had been working in the tent with allies, and would have liked to see more people stand up and show up for us, which we didn’t see. Folks of color are asking who’s really with me?”

Shevar Jeffries said that in order to have a tent, we must have clarity on the values undergirding it. “We need a basic commitment that kids need food and access to healthcare, in order to get an education. Sometimes we have to fight where we have disagreements on our core values. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t work together.”

There was general consensus there is a real value to focusing on a discreet set of goals, and being part of a team of people who are able to disagree on some issues and come together when they can find common ground.

The exchange was lively, and at times humorous. But, most of all showed that folks are not oceans apart on these issues. There is far more common ground than unchartered territory in enemy land. Most in the room left feeling hopeful for the future.

• ESSA has made possible a true sea change in federal law; ESSA features a near total lack of prescriptiveness about how to turnaround schools. The playbook is now gone and extraordinary flexibility given to state and local leaders to turnaround schools. There is also unprecedented flexibility in how to use federal title funding to do that work.
• ESSA is offering an opportunity to create new alignment across the school system in San Antonio; we are creating a new environment where we can nont only turnaround schools, but also try new innovations.
• New Mexico: it’s a complete game changer for our school systems. Under the old federal laws we spent our time fighting about how and what we were going to measure, now we spend our time problem solving on how to close the achievement gap.
• Across all three contexts: ESSA is fundamentally shifting the human capital pipeline and the role of teachers In all three places, systems leaders are offering compensated roles for teachers to play to extend their reach and their leadership.
• Across all three contexts, system leaders are finding that ESSA has the potential to enshrine equity for all students. First from the perspective of accountability, it mandates that states and school districts have clear, actionable data on student performance. Second, the “Supplement, not supplant” language in ESSA has major impact on how states and districts are funding equity; there is recognition of the need to understand across the system whether dollars are being equitably distributed, which has huge implications for school choice and instructional choice and making sure kids have equitable access. So first it mandates that we know what type of kids are in our schools and second it mandates we understand how resources are distributed to those kids.

At next year’s Summit, we look forward to hearing from the teachers who are making this work happen (instead of the systems leaders who are also interesting, but further removed).

The session opened with a video about Shaylean Hester, a mother who is deeply passionate about her fifth-grade son, Ke’Anthony, and making sure he receives the best education possible. Ke’Anthony recently transferred to Valor Collegiate Academies, where the focus on social-emotional learning has helped him grow into a more engaged, passionate scholar. “Ke’Anthony loves it, every day he comes home and is so excited by what he’s learning,” Shaylean tells us about his switch to Valor.

The program then transitioned to a spotlight of parent stories on stage. First, we heard from Sipinga Fifita-Nau from RISE Colorado, who attended a presentation at her child’s school and heard about the 30-million-word gap, the current graduation rates, and the lack of quality education in her community. “This led me to take action on education in my community,” Sipinga told us. She organized a coalition with other parents to have a healthy conversation with the school board to improve academic achievement. This started other organizing campaigns, including a resolution passed just last night to keep schools safe and inclusive regardless of immigration status.

Next on the stage was Chapelle White from ACE of Nevada, whose daughter was yelled at for asking questions at school. Chapelle found out about Education Savings Accounts, which give children a right to other school options. Her daughter was so passionate about attending a new school that she wrote a letter to policy makers in Nevada, but the resolution didn’t pass. As a result, Chapelle made the difficult choice to send only one of her four children to private school. She explained, “Today children and parents are waiting for the Education Savings Account to be funded in our state, and we will continue to organize until great schools for our children are made possible.”

The third story spotlight came from Enrique Esparza from Innovate Public Schools, whose daughter had recently started kindergarten, but he felt the school had low expectations for his daughter and he was worried about her future. “I didn’t want her to end up working a minimum wage job,” Enrique said. “I asked friends and relatives for advice, but no one had the answer.” He then heard about a high-performing school nearby and wanted to bring it to their community, but he needed local support. With the help of Innovate Public Schools, he worked to engage the community. His strategy is to “knock doors, listen, and always carry a data report and let them know I’m the same parent as him.” He explained, “Data is so critical to wake people up to the reality of what is going on. Parents sometimes blame themselves for what is really a systemic problem, so data is critical to show they’re not alone.”

Matt Hammer, founder and CEO of Innovate Public Schools, then joined Sipinga, Chapelle and Enrique on stage with three more inspiring parents for a thought-provoking discussion on how getting involved in their communities’ education has changed their lives, and their advice to all of us in the audience to continue parent engagement.

Next we heard from Tiecha Ashcroft, also with ACE of Nevada. Tiecha’s eldest daughter was struggling in kindergarten, and by the second semester, her daughter was in danger of being held back. Tiecha asked for her daughter to be tested for an IEP, and she learned that her daughter would do best in a small group setting. However, the school wasn’t able to provide the small-group support her daughter needed, so Tiecha moved her into home school. “I found that Nevada lacked education choice so I decided to do something about it. I got together with a few other parents to create ACE of Nevada, and now we’ve grown to nearly 700 members.” She now organizes this passionate group of fellow parents to speak at community events in support of Education Savings Accounts to bring more choices for students like her daughter. “It just takes a few parents to stand up and say this isn’t working for us, and there are 700 other parents out there who are in the same boat. So the power of the people is tremendous if we exercise it.”

Diana Castro, also with RISE Colorado, came to the United States from Mexico when she was 15. She told us, “I never thought that the US had educational inequity.” She wasn’t getting enough resources to help her child learn at home and after speaking to the teachers and getting pushback, “I didn’t stop.” Diana persisted until she got a summer homework calendar, and then a year-round calendar, and now it’s a policy in the parent handbook. “That was our first win and that’s when I realized that we had power,” she said. “I never imagined I would be doing this type of work.”

Geraldine Anderson, also from Innovate Public Schools, has three sons and has worked with the San Francisco Superior Court for the last 28 years. “It was alarming to find out about the achievement gap with Latino and black students in San Francisco.” She told us about her work with the court, seeing the same faces that schools are failing being failed by the courts as well. “I was told that my son is meeting what he needs to meet according to his school’s standards, but that may not be good enough to make it to the college level. So, I chose to be involved to create parent power and get other parents on board to hopefully go to the legislature very soon.” She continued, “I want to take this experience [at Summit] back to my community, and I hope next year they’ll be sitting here where I’m sitting. We can make a movement happen with parent power.”

The parents then gave their advice directly to the audience:

• “Keep us in mind when you start to design this great school – parents want to be involved”
• “There has to be a relationship between teachers and parents. We are willing to help and we can make big changes”
• “It’s important to truly understand the value of parents – every parent has something to offer. They know their children best and if you push parents away, you don’t get to know the kids.”

Matt closed out the session with the powerful message that parent organizing isn’t just about elevating parent voices, but about creating lasting, impactful parent power. He challenged us to think about what each of us in the audience can do over the next year to engage parents in our roles, regardless of whether we’re a funder, entrepreneur or educator. At the next Summit, we can’t wait to hear how you’ve incorporated these parents’ powerful messages into your work.

Jahari Shelton, a tenth grader from Washington, D.C., was the first voice we heard this morning at NewSchools Summit 2017. And, if you don’t know who he is, you should. He is a young man on a mission to design, create — and one day lead – an innovative school. And, not only does he have tremendous dreams, he’s also putting those dreams into action.

“The great education I received changed my life, and helped me think about creating the school of the future,” said Shelton. He is acutely aware of the power of a great education and the role of young people in shaping the educational experience. “If we show up and demand attention, our voices will shake the ground of tradition. Demand, demand, demand.”

Following Jahari, our CEO Stacey Childress took the stage to officially open Summit 2017. She acknowledged that today’s young people are the most diverse and connected generation we’ve ever seen. Thanking Jahari, she added, “Can’t wait to see what he comes up with for his new schools!”

Stacey set the tone for a day of celebration, connection and challenge. She noted that parents from all over the country are going to take to the plenary stage at lunch. And, in our closing session, we will continue an ongoing conversation that began last year at Summit. That conversation will be about areas of disagreement and finding common ground.

“One-third of Summit attendees are Black and Latino. That number was 12 percent five years ago. We are also thrilled to say that 50 percent of today’s speakers are black and Latino. If we’re going to reimagine learning, we’re going to need the best ideas from everybody. We need to repair fissures that are in our current coalition. And, we have to dream big enough to create a broad coalition that can create lasting change,” said Childress.

She continued, “The gap between the aspirations kids have for themselves and the preparation they receive is huge. This something we must all be focused on. Kids need a strong academic preparation, but we know they also need mindsets, problems solving skills, and a sense of belonging. They need agency, perseverance. The truth is most schools aren’t working well enough for students.”

Providing an overview of the day, Stacey offered, “We have 17 or 18 breakout sessions, in addition to the plenaries. There are a mix of veterans and new voices to help us grapple with new challenges like how to ensure rigor in personalized learning environments…or how are state and district chiefs using ESSA to spur innovation. We also have a great session on rural schools. It’s a jam-packed day.” With a laugh, she teased the crowd, “I hope you’ll go to at least a little bit of content, in between meetings in the hallway with your funders!”

She then introduced The Founders session, noting that NewSchools is part of a dynamic network of innovators that set out to create a new kind of school, creating opportunities for low-income students so every one of them makes it to college.

Richard Whitmire, author of the book, “The Founders,” led a conversation with Don Shalvey about the lessons learned when founding the first generation of Charter Management Organizations. Shalvey is founder of Aspire Public Schools, and currently a Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation. Shalvey took us back to 1998 and recalled the collective energy when this CMO movement got started.

“We figured out there was a way for a single board of directors to oversee multiple charter schools, and we knew we’d created an opportunity for a limitless number of charters,” said Shalvey.

Nancy Bernardino, Todd Dickson, Derwin Sisnett and Diane Tavenner then joined Shalvey on the stage to discuss their own journeys as the next generation of innovative school leaders.

When asked what does impact mean, Derwin defined it as “how can we create many cities that are anchored in high-performing schools. We should be thinking about the students and families we serve and paying that forward.”

Todd described it as “empowering all students to live and lead with purpose.”

Nancy said it’s about having the responsibility to prepare this next generation of students to lead. She added, “The idea of opening an all-girls school came from my own opportunity to attend a school like that. I wanted to figure out how to give it to more girls — and more girls who look like me. It’s tremendous to see kids blossom and see the impact they will have on the greater community.”

When Don asked about what innovation means to these school leaders, Diane said it is about innovating around the entire model of the school. “We have to ask how do we look at science and what it tells us about people … and what they can learn and how they can learn. We are committed to new ideas. It’s painful to look at a new idea and say we already tried that. But, we have to be actually moving forward and not just retreading what someone else has already done. We are not going to get further by redoing the same thing someone else has.”

Todd cautioned the audience to beware of the tension between innovation and change fatigue. “How much innovation should you do to make sure it’s effective? Many of us get focused on our big idea and how to execute it. But, you need to be designing an innovative culture. It can be a big mistake to overlook that.”

When asked about what funders should know, Derwin said, “We will fail, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have the opportunity to try and try and try.”

Adding laughter and levity, in the way that only Don Shalvey can, he closed by asking each panelist to select a song title that speaks to their experience. Responses included “It’s Tricky,” “Call Me Maybe” and a crowd favorite, “Leave your Lover,” by Sam Smith. Derwin Sisnett encouraged funders to stop only funding the thing you feel comfortable going home to. Go with the thing you really can’t explain, but it just feels right.”

Today, we are announcing $5.6 million in investments for a new cohort of 29 teams who are either beginning the planning process or getting ready to open new schools in the fall. It’s a phenomenal group, and I am as thrilled about them as I am about the process that brought us together.

When we started Invent in 2015, we were encouraged by our first group of investments. However, the euphoria was short lived. When we reviewed our second and third application rounds, there was a big drop in the number and quality of teams that applied. And, that’s when we realized to achieve the greatest impact for students, we needed to increase our application pool. Until this point our recruitment strategy had largely been based on the idea “if we build it, they will come,” so we took a step back and reexamined our efforts.

This led us to make significant changes to our recruitment and selection process over the next year, and started me on a journey to find these amazing potential school leaders. On the recruitment side, we knew promising teams were out there; they just didn’t know about NewSchools or this program called Invent. So, we became more proactive about promoting Invent, and worked to reach teams outside our echo chamber and beyond social media. We also adjusted our application timeline to better meet the needs of educators.

On the selection side, we had been hesitant to invest in teams considered risky due to gaps in their instruction, leadership or operations. However, some of our riskier investments had become the most prepared to launch new schools with our management assistance. So, we pushed ourselves to take more risks, knowing that we would need to increase our support, but that it could result in better school outcomes.

Finally, we expanded our definition of “reimagining the student experience.” We still help all of our teams design schools that personalize learning and foster student ownership, but we’ve also broadened our frame to recognize that at the application stage, teams might prioritize other ways of supporting an expanded definition of student success.

With these improvements applied to our pipeline process, we launched applications for our 2017 cohort. We were encouraged by the momentum and I am excited to tell you the results.

First, we attracted lots more teams. The number of applications doubled, and the number of teams led by leaders of color jumped from 30 to 50 percent.

We’re also finding schools and leadership teams in new regions and states. It’s great for the field, but more importantly it will impact tens of thousands of students who eventually will be learning in these schools every year.

Congratulations to the 2017 cohort!

Planning teams with the intent to launch schools in 2018: 

• Achievers Academy Early College High School (Trenton, NJ)
• Altura Preparatory School (Albuquerque, NM)
• Boston Big Picture Learning (Boston, MA)
• Bricolage Middle School (New Orleans, LA)
• Chicago Collegiate Charter School (Chicago, IL)
• The CUBE (Denver, CO)
• DC International School (Washington, DC)
• Design School X, Oakland (Oakland, CA)
• Digital Pioneers Academy (Washington, DC)
• Equity Lab Charter Schools (Lynn, MA)
• Future Public School (Boise, ID)
• Impact Public Schools(Seattle, WA)
• Learning by Design (Los Angeles, CA)
• LEEP Academies of Texas (San Antonio, TX)
• Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School (Washington, DC)
• North Star College Preparatory Academy for Boys (Washington, DC)
• PRIME School (Los Angeles, CA)
• Promise Public Schools (San Jose, CA)
• STAR Academy (Birmingham, AL)
• Tulsa Legacy Charter School (Tulsa, OK)
• Urban Assembly School for Computer Science (New York, NY)
• Walkabout Consilient School (Ossining, NY)
• Willow Public School (Walla Walla, WA)

Planning teams with the intent to launch schools in 2017:

• Academy for Advanced Learning (Aurora, CO)
• Accel Day and Evening Academy (Mobile, AL)
• Big Picture Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)
• Ignite Achievement Academy (Indianapolis, IN)
• Purdue Polytechnic High School (Indianapolis, IN)
• Treasure Valley Leadership Academy (Nampa, ID)

Teams interested in receiving support for the design and planning of an innovative school launching in 2019 or beyond can submit their ideas here; the formal application period will open later this summer. Those selected for planning support can later apply for launch investments, which offer select applicants funding to move from planning to implementation. The grants range from $100,000 to $500,000 across both categories.

Every January, it’s customary to make resolutions and predictions for the new year. This year, I want to go all out and make a prediction not just for the next year, but for the next decade. The caveat is that this prediction can only come true if many educators, entrepreneurs and funders work toward a shared vision; happily, this work is already well underway. What we need now is a roadmap for how these efforts might add up to real, meaningful results for young people.

At NewSchools, we’ve been working with partners across the country who are pursuing a shared vision: reimagining learning with a broad set of outcomes in mind so that every student finishes high school with an abundance of choices and the freedom to pursue them.

Most schools weren’t designed with this vision in mind. In fact, the ways we live and work today are dramatically different than they were 100 years ago—but most schools are largely the same. All across the country, teams of educators are now working to change this. They are partnering with families to create schools that speak to their hopes and honor their strengths. These schools prioritize rigorous academics and help students develop critical thinking skills, set important goals and create plans to reach them, and develop the mindsets and habits they need to take charge of their futures.

Late last year, with our CEO Stacey Childress, I co-authored a paper called “Reimagining Learning: A Big Bet on the Future of American Education.”  An overview of the report is posted on EdSurge, in a piece penned by Stacey.

In it, the “Reimagining Learning” paper is framed as a prediction for the future of education in America.  As anyone who has worked with Stacey or taken her class at Harvard Business School can attest, she is often able to spot patterns and emerging trends before they’ve fully taken shape.

This paper is a window into Stacey’s ability to see things unfolding, and is informed by my own experience as a management consultant supporting innovation in multiple industries.  “Reimagining Learning” highlights promising practices and proposes approaches for supporting the adoption of the best ideas, in order to dramatically improve student outcomes.

While writing the paper, we spent months talking to others who have been doing this work for years, and we explored how change has taken place in education and many other sectors.  We synthesized these ideas and landed on a set of ambitious aspirations that many of us believe are bold – yet achievable – over the next decade.

As Stacey says in her EdSurge piece, she made a prediction a few years ago that personalized learning would take off as a concept, and it sure has.  Let’s hope she and I are right again this time, in predicting that many educators, entrepreneurs and philanthropists will join forces over the next 10 years to help millions of students have more personalized, meaningful and valuable learning experiences in innovative schools.

This has been quite a year, and a very memorable one in many ways. Around the country, student voices became more prominent on a range of issues – academic, social and political. States began working on plans under a landmark new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, and the nation saw its highest ever graduation rates.

But even with all these changes, some important things remained constant. The NewSchools team continued to make investments in entrepreneurs whose bold ideas can dramatically impact learning and student achievement — ideas that can help ensure all young people have the freedom to create the lives they want for themselves.

As we reflect on 2016 at NewSchools, we have a great deal to be thankful for, and, we’re proud of what we have accomplished. After launching a refreshed strategy in 2015, we fully implemented it across all our investment areas this year. Our investment teams for Innovative Schools, Tools & Services and Diverse Leaders invested in and supported a total of 78 ventures this year.

In 2016 we supported passionate teams of educators who are launching new innovative schools and redesigning existing ones in districts and charter networks. Since 2015, we’ve supported the launch of 31 new schools that will serve 15,000 students when fully enrolled. We held two ed tech challenges this year – one for middle and high school math, and another for English Language Learners. And, we invested in 11 organizations that are creating stronger pipelines of diverse leaders in education – leaders who truly reflect the communities they serve.

As national thought leaders, during Summit 2016 NewSchools convened more than 1,100 educators, entrepreneurs, and opinion leaders to wrestle with some of the most pressing challenges in the field. And, just this past month, we released Reimagining Learning: A Big Bet on the Future of American Education.  This paper and its interactive web site were produced by the NewSchools team, but the concepts in Reimagining Learning reflect the thinking and hard work of many in education who share this vision.

We are incredibly thankful for the support of our generous donors, without whom none of this work is possible. With that in mind, please take a look at our 2016 highlights video to see what we’ve accomplished this year.

With gratitude and best wishes for the New Year!

Mark