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A Message from the Executive Director
A Message from the Executive Director
Better Schools, Stronger Communities:
An Introduction to the Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Not long after I arrived at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, we took on a new direction and adopted a new mission: to develop, share, and act on knowledge that improves the conditions and outcomes of schooling in America, especially in urban communities and in schools serving disadvantaged children. We did so because our abiding concern for equity demanded a focus on urban schools and communities, where inequities in opportunities and results remained unacceptable.
That mission is now, if anything, even more urgent. In the past decade, urban education has become a larger part of the landscape: urban schools now enroll some 29 percent of all U.S. students and 40 percent of the nation's low-income students. Immigration and other demographic changes have made urban schools more diverse, adding to the severe educational challenges already facing these schools. And the standards and sanctions set by the No Child Left Behind Act have made it imperative for them to improve achievement rapidly.
We are encouraged in our work by a growing recognition that the intellectual and social resources of urban communities are valuable assets that can support the development of thriving systems of schools. Foundations and other organizations are showing an increased interest in focusing on urban education and tapping these assets, and the Institute is pleased to be part of a number of their initiatives. Our own host institution, Brown University, under the leadership of President Ruth Simmons, has reaffirmed its commitment to public education and to supporting the Providence Public Schools.
The Legacy of the Annenberg Challenge
In carrying out its mission, the Institute builds upon the lessons learned from the Annenberg Challenge. A portion of Ambassador Walter Annenberg's unprecedented gift to improve the nation's schools enlarged the scope of the Institute, and we provided coordination and support to the eighteen sites that received Challenge funds and developed local reform programs.
This work convinced us that creating good schools — and good systems to support them — depends greatly on communitywide partnerships involving families, community organizations, and civic agencies, as well as reform support organizations like the Institute. As a result, in our work we enlist both local and national agencies and organizations to play significant roles in improving educational opportunities and outcomes for children and youth and in supporting districts' reform efforts.
One legacy of the Annenberg Challenge stands out: Ambassador Annenberg's faith in, and commitment to, public education. He believed in public schools as the cornerstone in the edifice of democracy. At the Institute, we honor that principle in our work with civic and community leaders to place excellent public schools at the center of strong urban communities.
A Commitment to “Practical Idealism”
In all of its work, the Annenberg Institute is committed to “practical idealism.” We are idealistic in that we believe that creating high-quality and equitable opportunities for young people in urban communities is a worthwhile and, ultimately, achievable goal. We are practical in that we work toward that goal with a wide range of partners and we are willing to try approaches — whatever their source — that are supported by research or practitioner evidence and consistent with the Institute's values.
Core Principles
Those values are embodied in four core principles, which stem from our understanding of what makes both organizations and education reform function effectively. These interrelated principles underlie all our work as well as how we function as an organization.
Results matter.
In education reform, the ultimate goal is improved student achievement, especially in our nation's cities, where large numbers of students, particularly young people of color, are not reaching the levels of achievement they need in order to live successful lives as adults.
This principle carries several implications for our work. First, it implies results at scale: all young people deserve to be successful. For that to happen, improvements need to occur across entire school systems, not just in a few schools. Second, it implies responsibility: to ensure success, we must measure our progress and hold ourselves and our partners accountable for our roles in the results. Third, it implies opportunity: both students and educators must have appropriate and high-quality opportunities to learn if they are to perform at high levels; young people's opportunities for healthy development are the collective responsibility of all civic institutions in a community.
In our work with school communities and their partners, we co-design and support efforts to raise achievement for all students, and we gather and analyze evidence about how those efforts are influencing achievement.
Equity matters.
Our commitment to improved results for all young people underscores our belief that equity is paramount. Public education today — fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education — remains highly inequitable; some children have far more opportunities and resources than others. And those with the fewest opportunities and resources tend to be children of color.
A focus on equity can mean distributing resources unequally, because those with the fewest resources often have the greatest need. It also means paying attention to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class in opportunities as well as results. Individual backgrounds, as well as past and current patterns of expectation and discrimination, affect how both children and adults learn and how they get along with one another.
In our work, we and our partners intentionally take the backgrounds and circumstances of students, educators, and the community into account. We endeavor to keep issues of race and ethnicity on the table. The diversity of backgrounds of the Institute staff directly informs our approach to issues of equity,
Communities matter.
Because no single institution has a monopoly on expertise and resources, it is clear that the responsibility for improving educational opportunities and results goes well beyond schools and districts. Effective and lasting improvement requires the breadth and depth of support and resources that entire communities can provide.
The role of communities implies the importance of partnerships between schools and districts and a variety of community groups, including parents, taxpayers, municipal officials, community-based organizations, youth-serving agencies, philanthropic institutions, and local reform support organizations. Managing partnerships, particularly those involving multiple stakeholders, is hard work, but making the effort to forge good working relationships pays dividends for student achievement.
In our work we encourage districts to partner with a range of community organizations that support their vision and goals. Our own work relies heavily on partnerships with organizations that share our principles; through these partnerships, we are able to offer resources and support for school reform beyond the scope of our small staff. The Institute is an active partner in school improvement efforts in Providence and in Rhode Island.
Learning matters.
Education is, of course, about learning, and adults as well as children need to learn continually. Research has shown that student achievement increases when educators participate in ongoing, significant professional learning.
This principle implies that all adults and children deserve the opportunity to learn what they need to know to succeed. Currently, the amount and quality of learning opportunities vary widely — and, hence, inequitably — from school to school and district to district. Especially for teachers and school leaders, sustained opportunities for high-quality professional learning are scarce.
Helping schools and districts become true "learning communities" has been part of the Institute's work since its inception. As an external partner, the Institute helps school communities build the capacity of all the adults who support students' learning. Our role is to "co-design" with a district and its local partners the knowledge and tools that will enable them to sustain a learning community on their own. The Institute also provides significant learning opportunities for its staff and its partners — we strive to be, as one observer put it, "the place where school reformers go to school."
--Warren Simmons, Executive Director
A Message from the Executive Director
Better Schools, Stronger Communities:
An Introduction to the Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Not long after I arrived at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, we took on a new direction and adopted a new mission: to develop, share, and act on knowledge that improves the conditions and outcomes of schooling in America, especially in urban communities and in schools serving disadvantaged children. We did so because our abiding concern for equity demanded a focus on urban schools and communities, where inequities in opportunities and results remained unacceptable.
That mission is now, if anything, even more urgent. In the past decade, urban education has become a larger part of the landscape: urban schools now enroll some 29 percent of all U.S. students and 40 percent of the nation's low-income students. Immigration and other demographic changes have made urban schools more diverse, adding to the severe educational challenges already facing these schools. And the standards and sanctions set by the No Child Left Behind Act have made it imperative for them to improve achievement rapidly.
We are encouraged in our work by a growing recognition that the intellectual and social resources of urban communities are valuable assets that can support the development of thriving systems of schools. Foundations and other organizations are showing an increased interest in focusing on urban education and tapping these assets, and the Institute is pleased to be part of a number of their initiatives. Our own host institution, Brown University, under the leadership of President Ruth Simmons, has reaffirmed its commitment to public education and to supporting the Providence Public Schools.
The Legacy of the Annenberg Challenge
In carrying out its mission, the Institute builds upon the lessons learned from the Annenberg Challenge. A portion of Ambassador Walter Annenberg's unprecedented gift to improve the nation's schools enlarged the scope of the Institute, and we provided coordination and support to the eighteen sites that received Challenge funds and developed local reform programs.
This work convinced us that creating good schools — and good systems to support them — depends greatly on communitywide partnerships involving families, community organizations, and civic agencies, as well as reform support organizations like the Institute. As a result, in our work we enlist both local and national agencies and organizations to play significant roles in improving educational opportunities and outcomes for children and youth and in supporting districts' reform efforts.
One legacy of the Annenberg Challenge stands out: Ambassador Annenberg's faith in, and commitment to, public education. He believed in public schools as the cornerstone in the edifice of democracy. At the Institute, we honor that principle in our work with civic and community leaders to place excellent public schools at the center of strong urban communities.
A Commitment to “Practical Idealism”
In all of its work, the Annenberg Institute is committed to “practical idealism.” We are idealistic in that we believe that creating high-quality and equitable opportunities for young people in urban communities is a worthwhile and, ultimately, achievable goal. We are practical in that we work toward that goal with a wide range of partners and we are willing to try approaches — whatever their source — that are supported by research or practitioner evidence and consistent with the Institute's values.
Core Principles
Those values are embodied in four core principles, which stem from our understanding of what makes both organizations and education reform function effectively. These interrelated principles underlie all our work as well as how we function as an organization.
Results matter.
In education reform, the ultimate goal is improved student achievement, especially in our nation's cities, where large numbers of students, particularly young people of color, are not reaching the levels of achievement they need in order to live successful lives as adults.
This principle carries several implications for our work. First, it implies results at scale: all young people deserve to be successful. For that to happen, improvements need to occur across entire school systems, not just in a few schools. Second, it implies responsibility: to ensure success, we must measure our progress and hold ourselves and our partners accountable for our roles in the results. Third, it implies opportunity: both students and educators must have appropriate and high-quality opportunities to learn if they are to perform at high levels; young people's opportunities for healthy development are the collective responsibility of all civic institutions in a community.
In our work with school communities and their partners, we co-design and support efforts to raise achievement for all students, and we gather and analyze evidence about how those efforts are influencing achievement.
Equity matters.
Our commitment to improved results for all young people underscores our belief that equity is paramount. Public education today — fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education — remains highly inequitable; some children have far more opportunities and resources than others. And those with the fewest opportunities and resources tend to be children of color.
A focus on equity can mean distributing resources unequally, because those with the fewest resources often have the greatest need. It also means paying attention to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class in opportunities as well as results. Individual backgrounds, as well as past and current patterns of expectation and discrimination, affect how both children and adults learn and how they get along with one another.
In our work, we and our partners intentionally take the backgrounds and circumstances of students, educators, and the community into account. We endeavor to keep issues of race and ethnicity on the table. The diversity of backgrounds of the Institute staff directly informs our approach to issues of equity,
Communities matter.
Because no single institution has a monopoly on expertise and resources, it is clear that the responsibility for improving educational opportunities and results goes well beyond schools and districts. Effective and lasting improvement requires the breadth and depth of support and resources that entire communities can provide.
The role of communities implies the importance of partnerships between schools and districts and a variety of community groups, including parents, taxpayers, municipal officials, community-based organizations, youth-serving agencies, philanthropic institutions, and local reform support organizations. Managing partnerships, particularly those involving multiple stakeholders, is hard work, but making the effort to forge good working relationships pays dividends for student achievement.
In our work we encourage districts to partner with a range of community organizations that support their vision and goals. Our own work relies heavily on partnerships with organizations that share our principles; through these partnerships, we are able to offer resources and support for school reform beyond the scope of our small staff. The Institute is an active partner in school improvement efforts in Providence and in Rhode Island.
Learning matters.
Education is, of course, about learning, and adults as well as children need to learn continually. Research has shown that student achievement increases when educators participate in ongoing, significant professional learning.
This principle implies that all adults and children deserve the opportunity to learn what they need to know to succeed. Currently, the amount and quality of learning opportunities vary widely — and, hence, inequitably — from school to school and district to district. Especially for teachers and school leaders, sustained opportunities for high-quality professional learning are scarce.
Helping schools and districts become true "learning communities" has been part of the Institute's work since its inception. As an external partner, the Institute helps school communities build the capacity of all the adults who support students' learning. Our role is to "co-design" with a district and its local partners the knowledge and tools that will enable them to sustain a learning community on their own. The Institute also provides significant learning opportunities for its staff and its partners — we strive to be, as one observer put it, "the place where school reformers go to school."
--Warren Simmons, Executive Director
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