Ed Partners Perspectives

A letter from the Executive Director:

As we look ahead to a new school year it is important to take a moment to look back and recognize the thousands of educators across this state who worked so tirelessly over the last two plus years.  At California Education Partners, we sincerely appreciate your commitment to students when they most needed support.  Our commitment is to being your systems improvement partner, working shoulder to shoulder with each of our district teams in service of students. 

As we do every summer, we have been reflecting on how to improve our approach to meet theneeds of our districts and the students they serve.  Just like all of you, we work to get better atgetting better!  If the last two years have taught us anything, it is that districts need new and better structures that are hardwired to support students on their educational journey.  We know that the coming academic year will provide a valuable opportunity to tap into this desire for change and enable it to fuel a deliberate process for long lasting improvement – one informed by teachers, administrators and peers at other districts.

For those25 districts participating in our Preschool to third grade Coherence Collaboration (P3CC), this year marks an historic turning point with the statewide expansion of transitional kindergarten.  In welcoming more four year olds to our campuses and more TK teachers to our teams we have a once in a generation opportunity to change the trajectory for students across the state.  While the logistics of adding a 14th grade can be daunting, we know that it is the coherence as students move from grade to grade that can be game-changing for students and families.  

We are also excited to reconnect with the 23 districts focused on getting and keeping 8th and 9th grade students on track for A-G graduation!  The data tells us that the hard work you have done to create system-wide interventions and improve equitable grading practices have resulted in a significant reduction in D and F grades. This is truly cause for celebration!  Your collective commitment to providing more opportunities to students upon graduation will have tangible impacts on each of your communities for years to come.

Finally to our 11 districts that make up our two Research Practice Partnerships with Stanford University, thank you for your commitment to matching leaders in your districts with researchers who are interested in producing impactful research.  It is critical that these partnerships between districts and academics meet each other’s unique needs.  This work has produced research-based evidence in the field of Education that addresses the pressing needs of local schools and districts, resulting in benefits for all involved.

It is our unique privilege to work closely with teachers, administrators, researchers and policy makers across California. We look forward to supporting each of you in this new school year as students return to your classrooms.

In partnership,

Phil Halperin