With the Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative, the NEA Foundation worked with local union, district, and community leaders to improve achievement rates for students in under-resourced communities. Over 12 years, seven union-district-community partnerships participated in the NEA Foundation’s $13.7 million Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative.
Although each district faced different challenges and developed different solutions, one factor was consistent: successful union-district-community collaboration resulted in improved student learning, greater teacher satisfaction, and deeper parent engagement.
Closing Gaps, Sustaining Change: Exploring the Impact of More Than a Decade of Collaboration
Read the full report on our Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative to discover what we learned about improving learning conditions for more than 200,000 students.
Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative Sites
- Lee County, Fla.
- Omaha, Neb.
- Columbus, Ohio
- Springfield, Mass.
- Milwaukee, Wisc.
- Seattle, Wash.
- Hamilton County, Tenn.
Want to learn more about the Gaps initiative? Watch how this program transformed teaching and learning.
Ready to take a deeper dive?
Check out the issue briefs and reports we have published and shared over the years for an engaging snapshot of impactful features of the NEA Foundation’s collaborative partnerships.
Resources
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April, 2016
Education Associations: Organizational Change Driven by Students at the CenterFeb., 2014
Unions Leading Innovation in the Use of TimeJan., 2014
Teachers Unions: Strong Organizations Rising to the Challenge of 21st Century Teaching and LearningMay, 2013
Students Speak: Teachers in Lee County, FL Embrace Student Feedback to Improve InstructionJan., 2013
Unions, Districts and Communities to the Table in the NEA Foundation Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative SitesNov., 2012
High Performing School Systems to Close Achievement Gaps in NEA Foundation-Funded Communities