The Education Trust (West)
26
6
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Oakland, CA
Founded: 2001
Mission: The Education Trust—West works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, kindergarten through college, and to forever close the achievement gaps separating low-income students and students of color from other youth. Our basic tenet is this — All children will learn at high levels when they are taught to high levels.
Tags:
bay area, middle-secondary education, education reform, information services, policy, educational partnerships, educational equity
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Arun Ramanathan.
Dr. Arun Ramanathan began his career in education as a Volunteer in Service to America in rural Appalachia. As a child advocate, he has worked in both public and non-public school settings serving children with severe disabilities, emotional disturbance, as well as victims of physical and sexual abuse. Arun has been a teacher and paraprofessional in New England and California…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
n/a
Total Revenue:
$2,200,000
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Website:
E-Mail:
vcuevas AT edtrustwest.org
Phone:
(510) 465-6444, ext. 328
Address:
1814 Franklin Street, Suite 220
Oakland, CA 94612, USA
Twitter:
Story:
Last month, school districts around California issued layoff notices to 30,000 teachers because of the state budget crisis. It is deplorable that our state has forced the education system to take a disproportionate share of our state's budget cuts over the past three years, forcing this annual layoff
process.
But what's just as unfortunate is the way that these layoffs are implemented. Instead of keeping the best teachers and laying off those who are least effective, districts were forced to let the newer teachers go first, regardless of how well they did their jobs.
In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to change the outdated state law that prevents schools from considering anything other than how
long a teacher has worked in the school system in the layoff process. Last week, state Sen. Bob Huff, RGlendora,
proposed legislation, SB 955, that would
allow schools to make staffing decisions based on effectiveness without regard to seniority.
For years, the Education Trust—West has worked to close the gaps in opportunity and achievement that affect our communities of color and students in poverty. Staff stability and teacher quality are critical elements of school success, particularly for the
many high-poverty and high-need schools that serve California's poorest students, English learners and students of color.
(Read more at: www.edtrustwest.org)
Expert Reviews of The Education Trust (West)
Evidence of Impact Summary:
Experts say the The Education Trust—West may be the strongest policy-advocacy organization on closing the achievement gap in CA. They have done breakthrough work on showing how teachers are paid better within districts at white-Asian schools. Further, the Education Trust—West has demonstrated the positive effects of academic rigor and high expectations for low-income and minority students. Finally, they have demonstrated the need for reform in how teachers are paid and trained.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Almost every respondent cited The Education Trust—West leadership as a prominent asset. Their capacity to make the case for change to government through research and data analysis also drew consistent praise.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
The Education Trust—West's ability to advocate drew praise, but many experts suggested changes in its advocacy agenda. Specifically, some recommended ET push more aggressively to change compensation models and learning requirements. Others think ET should move beyond its decades-old agenda and focus on professional development. Some experts believe the Education Trust—West ought to revisit its vision and mission statement to remain relevant and maximize impact.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Impact |
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They are a well respected advocate and a voice for ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity and for closing the achievement gap. Through policy work and deep engagement in districts they are able to provide a steady drum beat about and lens on how we work toward educational equity. | ||
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Probably the strongest policy-advocacy organization on closing the achievement gap in CA. They have done breakthrough work on showing how teachers are paid better within districts at white-Asian schools. Further, the Education Trust[-West] has demonstrated the positive effects of academic rigor and high expectations for low-income and minority students. Finally, they have demonstrated the need for reform in how teachers are paid and trained. | ||
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Their work with Oakland Unified has led to strong community support for demanding "a to z" curriculum for all students. | ||
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Education Trust[-West] provides guidance and support for communities that are mobilizing to make UC/CSU eligibility a requirement for graduation, and/or who wish to address systemic inequities within their system, particularly at the high school level. ET[-West]does both an audit and creates a blueprint with the district for reaching their access and equity goals. ET[-West]also has a high profile as an advocacy organization around state and national policy related to the achievement gap, standards, assessment, and budget in education. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Leadership |
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They have a strong and very capable ED. The team now has a blend of deep policy, on-the-ground practice, and research experience. | ||
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The leadership has always been visionary and courageous. They have challenged the status quo. I believe they have also been effective in communicating the need for change to Bay Area school districts. Education Trust[-West] was instrumental in convincing the administration and teachers union that the curriculum in my high school district needed to be improved. | ||
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They have great researchers and a significant policy voice. | ||
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ETW has a dynamic and thoughtful new leader, Arun Ramanathan. They also have sage guidance from former San Jose superintendent, Linda Murray, and is connected to the national Education Trust office with Kati Haycock. They have strong program staff (although not enough of them), and the organization needs to expand. | ||
Operations |
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The Education Trust[-West] has a strong leadership and staff, commitment to equity, high expectations for all students, and a reliance on data (especially student transcripts) as evidence. | ||
Contribute to Field |
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They provide strong research and data sets that focus on systemic changes. This is a very important contribution to the field. | ||
Strong PR |
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They have been very effective at persuading policy makers to "raise the bar" in terms of expectations regarding high standardized test scores. | ||
Policy Influence |
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Education Trust[-West] has had a huge impact on national policy. | ||
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They have played an important role in state policy conversations about data systems and other issues related to relative achievement of groups of students. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Revise policy agenda |
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I would like to see them be even more aggressive in challenging how teachers are compensated and the work rules that union impose that limit time in the classroom. | ||
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They could pay more attention to professional development and the tools districts and schools need to improve; it's not enough to simply call out the problem. | ||
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I feel that they have been essentially saying the same thing for 15 years and have never acknowledged the unintended negative consequences of their influence in NCLB. My hope is that the Education Trust[-West] can evolve into an effective policy organization in CA and step back and ask themselves what the new message should be ? They could maybe show a little humility and reflectiveness on their failures for a start. | ||
Program Design |
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Their expectations are completely unrealistic and their dogmatic unwillingness to confront these practical challenges is extremely damaging. The organization needs a major mission and leadership overhaul. | ||
Engage schools |
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Research, research, research. There is not enough of their research that is applied in our schools. In order to improve, the Education Trust[-West] leadership team should find ways to involve themselves more deeply with suffering school districts. Their work never gets into the hands of the teachers who is trying but whose principal or district is in chaos. The same can be true for the principals who are unaware how to implement the research. Have ET[-West] do more hands on work with failing schools. | ||
Scalability |
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Education Trust[-West] needs to grow and to add program staff in order to more effectively support their district and community partners. They are in a situation where the demand is outstripping their ability to meet it. ET[-West] can also further clarify its organizational business plan with clear targets for the balance of advocacy and program support/district partnership work, as well as clarity regarding their strategy in engaging community AND the district, when the relationship may not have high trust - how do they broker effectively as the "man in the middle" of it all? | ||
Sustained presence |
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It remains to be seen how effectively they can maintain their presence in the face of leadership changes. | ||
Leadership
Arun Ramanathan
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
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