IMPACT REPORT 2015
MISSION & VISION OUR VISION Making Tomorrow Better
OUR MISSION Communities Foundation of Texas stimulates creative solutions to key challenges in our community. We thoughtfully and effectively support our diverse donors and grantees by providing exemplary service and by demonstrating accountability. We improve lives through an unwavering commitment to lasting impact.
OUR VALUES Enhancing the experience and impact of giving through: 1. Exemplary service; 2. Wise stewardship of resources; 3. Trusted partnership for community knowledge and collaboration.
WE FULLFILL OUR MISSION BY: • Making grants to support community issues in North Texas and, through the generosity of our donors, throughout the world. • Encouraging individuals, families and businesses to partner with us to fulfill their charitable goals. Our trustees steward more than $1.4 billion in assets across more than 900 charitable funds. • Educating the community on pressing local and statewide needs and the organizations addressing them. • Convening people to work on community problems.
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FROM THE ORGANIZATION Dear Friends and Colleagues, We are pleased to present the second annual Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) Impact Report. Our board of trustees, staff, and partners are committed to creating lasting positive impact in the lives of Texans by stimulating creative solutions to key challenges in the community. In fiscal year 2014, CFT spent more than $17 million in grants and resources to support trustee-directed, program-related initiatives, via the work of the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation, Educate Texas, and CFT’s Community Impact Funding, which targets efforts to support low-income working families and at-risk middle school students. Our investments in the community and their subsequent impact are varied, but the results have a common thread: passion, dedication, and commitment from nonprofit organizations – our grantees – and those responsible for transforming grant dollars into change. To those toiling on behalf of others, for the benefit of others, and for the future of our entire community, we give you our heartfelt thanks. You are the ingredient that makes it all possible. Here are some of the highlights from 2014: • W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation granted $12 million to the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation to build the Dallas Information Exchange Portal, a revolutionary electronic data integration platform that will transform health care delivery and serve as a model for the state and country. • With the support of Community Impact dollars, Teaching Trust launched the Executive Ed Program for Teams in the summer of 2013, in response to a call by principals for a program to develop and distribute leadership talent and capacity across their teams. • The One Crisis Away partnership with KERA, the North Texas Broadcasting System, raised public awareness about the one in three North Texans who are on the verge of financial disaster. Through KERA’s compelling cross-platform coverage and promotional outreach, the five-month initiative reached an estimated 1.5 million people. • North Texas Giving Day 2014 became the largest single day of giving in the nation, raising more than $26 million for 1,580 nonprofits. • As of last year, Educate Texas – a public-private partnership whose mission is to improve the public education system so that every Texas student is prepared for success in school, the workforce and life – piloted 135 early college high schools and science, technology, engineering and math academies. • In 2014, Entrepreneurs For North Texas (EFNT) organized volunteer and in-kind support for 23 Dallas-Fort Worth area charitable organizations. EFNT member company employees provided more than 10,000 hours of volunteer service valued at more than $226,000. The above are only a sampling of CFT’s special initiatives from 2014. Within this report, we highlight in depth the initiatives underway across these areas, with detailed insight into the activities, hoped-for impact, and subsequent results. Our hope is that these learnings might be of benefit to you and those with whom you share this report. Onward!
Sarah Cotton Nelson Chief Philanthropy Officer
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COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION of TEXAS
“ Between Educate Texas, the Caruth Foundation grants and discretionary funding, Communities Foundation of Texas has donated hundreds of millions of dollars – almost one-third of our spending – to strengthen the community. The reason we do this is stated in our mission. Our aim is to do work that has lasting impact.”
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– Brent Christopher Chief Executive Officer Communities Foundation of Texas
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
Mission and Vision
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From the Organization
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About Communities Foundation of Texas
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About The Impact Report
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Acronyms Used in the Report
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Comparing Grantmaking Approaches
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Community Impact Funding
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Educate Texas
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W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation
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Furthering Impact
Communities Foundation of Texas 2015 Impact Report was written, compiled and published by the Philanthropy Department, with significant assistance from the Relationships Department, Educate Texas and Entrepreneurs For North Texas. Please send thoughts and feedback about this report and the work of CFT to impact@cftexas.org.
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COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION of TEXAS
ABOUT COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS The history of Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) tells an important story about where we’ve been, where we’re headed and the lasting impact we’ve made along the way. CFT was founded in July 1953 with the support and involvement of several well-known Dallas business leaders as Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund, which served as a safety net for social service agencies in Dallas. The first gift to the Trust Fund came as $10,000 worth of stock from Algur H. Meadows, the successful oil and gas businessman, arts patron and philanthropist whose family fortune had been the basis for creating the private Meadows Foundation in 1948. Not long after the Meadows gift, Pearl C. Anderson made the first six-figure gift to the Trust Fund in 1955, when she donated her future interest in a parcel of land in downtown Dallas that was valued at $325,000. Mrs. Anderson, the widow of a prominent African-American physician and civic leader, strengthened the organization’s early commitment to support programs and institutions that help individuals throughout the community. In 1974, W.W. “Will” Caruth, Jr. established the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation as a supporting organization at CFT, adding a new chapter to the Caruth family’s historic legacy of pioneer farming and land acquisition. Through the years, Will Caruth shared much of his fortune with others through CFT and helped the foundation improve the Dallas community. His wife, the late Mabel Peters Caruth, continued this tradition with an inspiring $34 million bequest to build the new CFT headquarters. In 2003, the organization moved from East Dallas into the Mabel Peters Caruth Center at 5500 Caruth Haven, thanks to the generous bequest of Mrs. Caruth. Through the years, CFT has taken on some of this region’s more challenging needs by understanding donors’ charitable intent and connecting them with organizations that are making a positive difference. The name change from Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund to Communities Foundation of Texas in 1981 reflected the broader scope of the foundation’s current impact. We are now one of the top 20 community foundations in the nation in terms of assets, gifts received, and grants awarded. For more than a half century, we have helped donors find ways to give effectively while enjoying significant tax advantages. This approach continues today with grants to provide lifesaving medical equipment, protective gear for Dallas police officers, significant financial support for the AT&T Performing Arts Center, mental health services in West Dallas, and master planning funds for the building of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. While the foundation’s evolution during the last half century has been dramatic, our commitment to knowing our donors and making good grants with lasting impact remains the same.
WHAT IS A COMMUNITY FOUNDATION? A tax-exempt public charity serving those interested in improving the quality of life in their region and beyond. It receives tax-deductible gifts; grants money to nonprofits, individuals and scholarship funds; and commits its foundation-directed funds to the highest and best use in the community.
ABOUT THE IMPACT REPORT Since it was founded in 1953, CFT has become one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Our mission is to stimulate creative solutions to key challenges in the community with an unwavering commitment to lasting impact. Because of this, the foundation’s Board of Trustees and staff choose to invest our resources and grant dollars in initiatives that contribute in a measurable way to the greater good of the community. We rely on multiple approaches to determine targeted areas of impact for which these funds are used: traditional grantmaking, where applications are received from nonprofits and funds are granted to support their work in the community; hands-on 6
participative grantmaking, which involves teaching and learning about an issue along with nonprofits and developing funding opportunities together; and program implementation, through which CFT creates, runs, and sometimes advocates for best practices in a given area. This report demonstrates CFT’s efforts to do as our mission implores us. We evaluate the progress we’re making toward creating lasting impact in different ways, depending on the size, complexity and purpose of the grant. Sometimes grantees provide data they themselves have collected, while other times we use an outside evaluator. Regardless of the method used to collect this information, in all cases we are looking not just for indications of progress toward the stated impact goal, but also – whether the initiative in the end is successful or not – for what can be learned from the effort.
2015 Impact Report
ACRONYMS USED IN THIS REPORT ACT
Advocates for Community Transformation
AMD
Age-related Macular Degeneration
NAPE National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation NCAN
National College Access Network
Early College Academy
PCCI
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
CFED
Corporation for Enterprise Development
RGV
Rio Grande Valley
CFT
Communities Foundation of Texas
RFSW
Retina Foundation of the Southwest
SAT
Scholastic Aptitude Test
SMU
Southern Methodist University
STEM
Science Technology Engineering Math
TEA
Texas Education Agency
TFA
Teach for America
THECB
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
T-STEM
Texas’ Science Technology Engineering
CECA Clint Independent School District
C-SER Center for STEM Education and Research at University of Texas at Dallas D3
Data Driven Decision-Making Institute
ECHS
Early College High School
EdTx
Educate Texas
EFNT
Entrepreneurs For North Texas
EPCC
El Paso Community College
IEP
Information Exchange Portal
and Math
ISD
Independent School District
THSP
Texas High School Project
(now Educate Texas)
KIPP
Knowledge is Power Program
(KIPP Academy)
TxCAN
Texas College Access Network
K-12
Kindergarten through 12th grade
TWC
Texas Workforce Commission
MAP
Measures of Academic Progress
UTD
University of Texas at Dallas
MSPP
Middle School Partnership Plan
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COMPARING
GRANTMAKING APPROACHES
SIZE OF INVESTMENT
NUMBER OF AC TIVE GRANTEES AT A TIME
O&H Brand Design 8
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GEOGRAPHY
GRANTMAKING VS PROGRAMS
LEVEL OF DEFINED FOCUS
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COMMUNITY IMPACT FUNDING
2015 Impact Report
“ Community Impact dollars allow us to concentrate on issues that are relevant to the growth and sustainability of North Texas, with a focus on areas in which we believe we can move the needle in a meaningful way.”
– Sarah Cotton Nelson Chief Philanthropy Officer Communities Foundation of Texas
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COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION of TEXAS
COMMUNIT Y IMPACT FUNDING MAKING MEANINGFUL, POSITIVE CHANGE THAT IS SUSTAINABLE In 2009, the country was in the throes of a recession triggered two years earlier by a housing bubble burst. The wealthy lost money. Consumers stopped spending. Business investments collapsed. People lost jobs. Though the economic storm began to subside in the summer of that year, it left in its wake a proverbial trail of financial destruction and insecurity. Even now, the national economy is still growing slowly, not yet creating enough jobs to keep pace with normal population growth. But a couple of unexpected occurences tied to the recession were happening in Texas – one extremely visible, and the other hidden from most. The first, more evident circumstance was that Texas didn’t suffer as much as other states or the nation during the recession. Local consumers weren’t spending as much, but more than the national average. Investors were unsettled, but merely put projects on hold instead of shutting them down altogether. Real estate remained stable locally and housing prices didn’t plunge as deeply. The cost of living, already
COMMUNITY IMPACT FUNDING AT A GLANCE MISSION To concentrate on issues in which CFT can make meaningful, positive change. KEY STRATEGIC AREAS • At-Risk Middle School Youth: To improve at-risk students’ academic success by building a pipeline of exceptional middle school teachers and leaders in high-need schools, and enhancing the quality of their development throughout their service. • Economic Security for the Working Poor: To improve the economic stability of low-income working families by helping the community better understand the issues and challenges low-income families face, along with convening and aligning nonprofits interested in learning how to best help these families achieve financial security.
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recognized as being fairly low compared to other states, didn’t change much and job loss numbers weren’t as steep as they were nationally. The second event, the one that remained hidden in part because the local economy was relatively rosy, was that the number of working poor – individuals or families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level despite having consistent employment – was growing in North Texas. While things weren’t horrible here, a large number of people were still barely making ends meet and living on borrowed time against a financial crisis. The economy and its affects were top of mind for CFT’s trustees who were looking for new ways to create lasting, positive change in the community. When the discussion came up about how CFT could meet this goal, trustees decided to make one of the organization’s focus areas economic security for low-income working families and tasked foundation staff with finding ways to improve the financial stability of those living at or below the poverty line. Given the juxtaposition of the national and local economies, foundation staff members knew they would need to gather hard evidence to help the community better understand the challenges that the working poor faced. The staff also knew simply putting money toward the problem would not lead to impact. “We started from scratch, with no experience in this area,” said Sarah Cotton Nelson, Chief Philanthropy Officer for CFT. “Few others were officially working to support the working poor either, so we began to build up our expertise to become a partner to help with coaching and capacity building for social service agencies and to develop learning opportunities for peer funders and nonprofit staff across the region.” The other Community Impact Funding focus area – selected by the foundation’s trustees – was at-risk middle school youth. The foundation was already offering financial support and expert assistance in the education arena through Educate Texas (formerly the Texas High School Project, or THSP), but wanted to do more in conjunction with these investments to positively impact the middle school community locally. Research was pointing to the middle school years as critical in determining a student’s success in high school and then at the postsecondary level.
2015 Impact Report
OVERVIEW SHAPING MIDDLE SCHOOL EXCELLENCE THROUGH DEVELOPMENT AND COLLABORATION The consensus among educators and researchers: middle school makes a difference. A student’s middle school experience often determines if the student stays in school, is promoted to future grades, and graduates from high school; or becomes a low performer who skips classes, is disengaged and drops out. Research shows that more students fail ninth grade than any other grade, with most of these students dropping out after repeating the ninth grade, according to information published by the National High School Center in 2012. Middle school years are critical in preparing students for future academic success. Specifically in areas of high poverty, middle school experiences strongly correlate with high school graduation rates. In one study published by the National Middle School Association in 2009, middle school students who experienced any one of the following were found to have less than a 25 percent chance of graduating high school on time: • sixth-graders who failed math or English/reading; • students who attended school less than 80 percent of the time; • students who received an unsatisfactory behavior grade in a core course. Proven middle school interventions that prepare students for high school success, according to a report published by the Southern Regional Education Board, include ensuring outstanding school leadership. CFT turned its attention to at-risk middle school youth in 2009 and focused on efforts that would increase the quantity and quality of teachers and school leaders coming into and staying in the profession as key levers of overall retention and graduation rates. For the 2014-2015 school year, CFT awarded $450,000 to agencies in two avenues: Middle School Teacher and School Leader Pipeline Grants and Middle School Teacher and School Leader Professional Development Grants. 2014 grants support initiatives that create more highly qualified teachers and school leaders for high-need urban middle school campuses. This is done through training and best practice professional development strategies that support new talent coming into the teacher and school leader pipeline, as well as programs that enhance skills of current teachers and leaders. The theory is that doing so will ultimately increase overall student performance and graduation rates. CFT supports programs and agencies that seek to:
IN SUMMARY MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER AND SCHOOL LEADER PIPELINE GRANTS Key Challenge Principals are often ill-prepared to manage staff and create high achieving school cultures, because they do not have structured pathways to prepare for their posts. Middle schools are also in need of excellent educators, those with a special affinitiy for engaging teens, and with subject-matter expertise in key areas. Both are particular challenges for high-need urban middle schools.
Creative Approach Identify educators for future teaching or leadership at urban middle schools. Create opportunities for ongoing development of existing teachers and school leaders to effectively enhance their ability to support the unique academic challenges of high-need middle schools.
Results In 2014, 21 individuals now serving in middle schools participated in Teaching Trust’s Aspiring Principals Program (see page 14). Concurrently, 90 teachers graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas UTeach Dallas program, including 21 who received middle school certification (see page 14).
Lasting Impact Last year, 83 percent of schools led by first-year principals from Teaching Trust’s Aspiring Principals Program had greater reading performance gains than comparable schools in their districts and across the state; 50 percent of the same schools had greater gains in math. All UTeach Dallas graduates who sought teaching employment are teaching in local middle or high schools. The college anticipates graduating 3540 new teachers each year, with 25 percent seeking middle school certification. Nationally, 88 percent of UTeach graduates enter the field of teaching and five years later, 80 percent are still teaching. 13
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Aspiring Principals Program to address these critical needs and to prepare and motivate participating principals to take on the challenges of leading an urban school. Current and up-andcoming school leaders selected to participate in the program complete a two-year master’s level program that includes a clinical “residency” during the second year of the program, in which each aspiring leader is placed in a leadership role on an urban campus and given extensive coaching/feedback from Teaching Trust faculty. Candidates are admitted to the program after a rigorous, highly competitive recruitment and selection process. Once admitted to the program, candidates commit to five years with their partner school districts—two in the program and three while serving in a leadership role on a campus in their district.
A group of educators participate in a professional development session at Teaching Trust. • identify teachers and leaders who have the potential to serve in leadership roles in high-need urban middle schools; • create ongoing development opportunities for teachers so they can become subject-matter experts and improve their pedagogical skills; • implement teacher and principal skills and competency development, such as data-informed teaching and leading, and the integration of research and technology-based methods into the curriculum; • provide ongoing development opportunities for principals, assistant principals and academic leaders to improve and enhance their leadership skills.
To determine the overall impact of the program, Teaching Trust continues to seek improvements in school culture, as measured by staff and student attendance, staff turnover, teacher and parent satisfaction, and reductions in disciplinary issues. Growth and proficiency in teacher effectiveness are also being measured by student achievement gains.
TURNING ASPIRATIONS INTO REALITY FOR PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS
In the 2013-14 school year, 83 percent of all schools, (elementary through secondary) led by first-year principals who completed the Aspiring Principals program had greater reading performance gains than comparable schools across the district and the state. Additionally, 50 percent of schools led by first-year Teaching Trust principals had greater gains in math as well.
Teaching Trust: Aspiring Principals Program
University of Texas at Dallas: UTeach Dallas
Principals don’t have a middle management pathway to the job. They manage a significant number of direct reports, often without receiving relevant preparation for leading and developing effective teachers and establishing a school culture that supports high achievement for all students. Teaching Trust, which prepares educators to lead change, created the
UTeach Dallas at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) is one of 44 replication sites of the highly successful UTeach STEM teacher preparation program at the University of Texas at Austin. Students are actively recruited from the UTD pool of undergraduate STEM majors to consider a career teaching middle and high school math and science. The goal of UTeach
AREA OF ACTION
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In spring 2014, 32 individuals were selected to participate in the program’s fourth cohort (an almost 50 percent increase over the previous year), including 21 currently serving in middle schools. An additional nine middle school leaders from the program’s second cohort are currently serving in middle schools. Participants come from Dallas and Irving school districts, and Uplift Education schools. The organization’s goal is for 90 percent of program participants to achieve an “effective” rating on all critical competencies in their individual development plans at the end of the two-year program, and for 90 percent of program graduates to be placed in leadership positions on campuses that receive federal funding to assist them in serving students who are either at-risk or living at or near the poverty line.
is to build a pipeline of highly qualified, highly prepared middle school STEM teachers for placement in local high-need school districts. The program allows students to complete their STEM degrees and teacher certifications within four years. After graduation, placement and induction support continues through partnerships with local school districts. Partner districts currently include Richardson, Garland, CarrolltonFarmers Branch, and Dallas independent school districts. UTD has more than 350 students enrolled in the UTeach Dallas program. As of November 30, 2014, 90 certified teachers graduated from the program, including 21 who received middle school certification. All UTeach Dallas graduates who have sought teaching employment have been hired and are teaching in local middle or high school classrooms. UTD anticipates graduating 35-40 new teachers each academic year, with approximately 25 percent seeking middle school certification annually. Since the UTeach Dallas program is still relatively young, limited data on placement and retention rates are available. Nationally, however, about 88 percent of UTeach graduates enter the field of teaching, and five years later, more than 80 percent are still teaching. To determine the overall impact of the Dallas program, we will be monitoring the number of UTeach graduates placed in teaching positions, as well as ongoing retention and teacher effectiveness rates (as measured by student performance).
IN SUMMARY MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER AND SCHOOL LEADER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS Key Challenge More students fail ninth grade than any other grade, contributing to future drop outs. Middle school years are critical for preparing students for ninth grade, and beyond to high school graduation. One proven intervention that supports middle school students, high school success is outstanding school leadership and highly effective classroom teachers.
Creative Approach
PREPARING SCHOOL LEADERS AND STUDENTS FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS
Support programs that develop best practice skills and competencies among teachers and school leaders, including data-informed teaching and leading and the integration of research and technology-based methods into the curriculum. Provide opportunities for the ongoing development of school leaders to improve and enhance strong leadership competencies.
Teaching Trust: Executive Education Program For Teams
Results
Teaching Trust has selected the highest leverage aspects of its Aspiring Principals program and created a multiphase professional development Executive Education Program for Teams designed to serve existing principals and their school leadership teams. The goal of the program is to provide highquality professional development to existing school teams in order to improve the culture of learning, teacher effectiveness, and student achievement on their campuses.
Last year, a second cohort of 10 Dallas Independent School District schools, including one middle school team, was selected to participate in the Teaching Trust Executive Education Program for Teams (see page 15). Teach for America provided up to 40 hours of high-quality training, programming, and ongoing support through its Middle School Partnership Plan (see page 16). The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation piloted its program with 50 Dallas ISD middle school math and science teachers last year (see page 16).
CFT provided grant funds to support the planning and design of the program in 2012–2013, as well as funds to support piloting the program with an inaugural cohort of 12 school leadership teams (including five middle school teams) from the Dallas Independent School District during the 2013–2014 school year. In the 2014-2015 school year, a second cohort of 10 Dallas ISD schools were selected, including one middle school team. The program includes a series of workshops over 10 months, based on curriculum and experiences derived from the Aspiring Principals program. The workshops are connected by actionlearning projects to embed the training on school campuses, with
Lasting Impact Data is still being collected in all of the grant programs, and it is yet too early to quantify the grants’ lasting impact.
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accountability through a monthly consultation with Teaching Trust staff. Content topics include Building a High Aspirations Culture, Using Data to Drive Performance, and Supervising and Evaluating Effective Instruction. Program effectiveness and outcomes will be measured through student achievement gains and culture surveys. Teaching Trust’s goal is for 90 percent of participating teams to demonstrate year-over-year positive gains that exceed those of comparable schools in reading and math, and for 90 percent of participating teams to achieve top-quartile results on culture surveys administered at the end of each program year.
Teach for America: Middle School Partnership Plan In response to CFT’s middle school funding opportunity, Teach for America (TFA) proposed an innovative Middle School Partnership Plan (MSPP) at Dallas ISD’s Ann Richards Middle School, a school that opened in Pleasant Grove in fall 2012. As part of the MSPP pilot, TFA placed a high concentration of its corps members at the school—about one quarter of the school’s teaching positions—in addition to providing extensive professional development to school leadership and non-TFA teachers using the organization’s proven practices and tools. With CFT’s funding, TFA provided up to 40 hours of highquality training, programming, and ongoing support to the entire school leadership/administrative team and teaching staff throughout the school year. This included access to TFA’s Student Academic Achievement Tracker software and online resource bank of curriculum materials, along with its video library of teaching tools. The pilot program is continuing to have a direct impact on all 50 teachers and approximately 1,000 students at Ann Richards Middle School. By June 2014, TFA’s goal was for this school to be recognized in the top half or higher among Dallas district schools, as measured by the School Effectiveness Index. The school actually exceeded this goal by being ranked in the 26th percentile, or 8th out of the 31 Dallas district middle schools. In the 2013-2014 school year, the school’s scores were slightly above the district average, demonstrating gains even as scores across the district fell below the average in the previous school year. If the model ultimately proves successful, the program can be scaled to other Dallas ISD schools, as well as other school districts across North Texas and the country. Following the first year of implementation, TFA reported several key learnings that helped the organization adjust and improve the program going into the pilot’s second year. TFA told us that this model has provided rich opportunities for collaboration and experimentation that have helped them identify best practices for collaborating with principals at all TFA schools—not just those in the MSPP pilot. The program also helped TFA staff work through challenges related to already existing demands on non16
TFA teachers’ time and attention. To this end, TFA determined that objectives for professional development in year two of the pilot should hinge less on the quantity of hours offered and more on offering the content and best practices that are most relevant to the needs of the schools and teachers they are serving.
National Alliance For Partnerships In Equity Education Foundation Funding from CFT allowed National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation (NAPE) to convene a team of Dallas-based middle school teachers and an instructional designer to revise and enhance the organization’s existing professional development program for high school teachers to serve the unique needs of middle school teachers. NAPE’s curriculum—Micromessaging to Reach and Teach Every Student—is based on the highly successful gender equity STEM program developed by the Women of Texas Instruments. Offered in Dallas ISD and Plano ISD for the last eight years, NAPE’s high school professional development program has achieved statistically significant results in STEM classes in the areas of recruiting and retaining students, and improving the performance of girls and minorities , as well as boys. With the updates to the curriculum complete, NAPE piloted the program with 50 Dallas ISD middle school math and science teachers during the 2013-2014 school year. NAPE is partnering with the University of Texas at Dallas Center for STEM Education and Research to provide observation and coaching support to schools and teachers during this pilot year. The impact of the pilot on student achievement is being measured through improvements in course selection behavior, standardized test scores, and AP test-taking and pass rates.
Uplift and Big Thought Partnership In the summer of 2014, CFT funded a partnership between Big Thought and Uplift, two nonprofits leading the way in the effort to prevent summer learning loss. Uplift Education has 15 charter schools that work to prevent summer learning loss by keeping a school calendar that has fewer breaks, longer school days and contining education throughout the summer. Big Thought provides creative, artistic and cultural after-school and summer learning opportunities for Dallas students. Funding from CFT allowed these two organizations to partner in an innovative summer learning program in two Uplift Schools: Uplift Heights and Uplift Williams Preparatory. The programming reached roughly 325 middle school students. For 19 days, students received core instruction for a portion of the day, with the remainder of the day filled with arts enrichment courses.
2015 Impact Report
Uplift Education’s middle schools showed significant improvement in the 2013-14 school year. According to the Measurement of Academic Performance (MAP) test, which is taken by all sixth-eighth grade scholars and measures growth as it compares to the national average. Uplift scholars had an 8 percent Fall to Spring gain of scholars, above the national average and an 11 percent gain in math. This is significant when you consider that approximately 70 percent of the new sixth graders who enter Uplift schools are, on average, two to three years below grade level. Uplift’s partnership with Big Thought in the Summer of 2014 showed promising first-year results. Scholars who were in the Big Thought program showed significant gains in math and some gains in reading.
Momentous Institute (formerly Salesmanship Club) During the last three years, CFT has made a series of small, but increasing, grants to allow our middle school grant recipients to attend Momentous Institute’s Changing the Odds Social Emotional Learning Conference: • $2,500 in 2012 • $5,000 in 2013 • $10,000 in 2014
The Institute founded the J. Erik Jonsson Community School (now the Momentous School) in 1997 to improve its students’ academic success by improving the students’ social and emotional health. The school has seen the following success by implementing this unique model: • 97 percent of students graduate on time • 86 percent enroll in post-secondary education • 88 percent of college freshman persist to their sophomore year The Changing the Odds conference allows other educators to learn what those at the Institute now know—social and emotional skills matter and have real impact on learning and success in life. Through CFT funding, middle school educators associated with our grants attended the annual conferences and were consequently exposed to the expertise of nationally known speakers such as Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink; Dr. Carol Dweck, co-author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character; and Tina Payne Bryson, author of The Whole-Brain Child. As a result of attending these conferences, a number of our nonprofit middle school partners have invited Momentous Institute to share and implement practices on their campuses
A teacher chats with students at Momentous Institute. In addition to therapeutic services, Momentous Institute provides a rigorous academic curriculum woven with rich experiences on social emotional health for children at its Momentous School. In 2014, CFT made a grant to allow its middle school grantees to attend Momentous Institute’s Changing the Odds Social Emotional Learning Conference. 17
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and in their programming, further expanding the impact of emotional learning on student academic and life success.
Results, Learning and Refinement Most of CFT’s middle school grantees completed their first year of program implementation in the summer of 2013. Data are still being collected and analyzed, so it is still too early to draw any definite conclusions from our initial grants. We can report that nearly all our grantees have made some modifications to their programs based on their learnings over the last 24 months. Although we do expect to see incremental gains in student achievement year over year, we also know that ours is a long-term investment strategy and that significant progress does not happen in a single year. One outcome we didn’t anticipate from our middle school grantmaking was the opportunity to facilitate collaboration among our grantees. Most of the organizations we were supporting knew of each other, but somewhat surprisingly, relatively few of them had worked together – and even fewer had formed meaningful partnerships. In early 2013, CFT staff invited all middle school
grantees to join us for a conversational lunch at the foundation to enhance connectivity and expose grantees to opportunities for collaboration. All organizations were asked to share with the group about their CFT-funded middle school programs. Following each presentation, their peers asked questions about their work. At the end of the luncheon, grantees were encouraged to continue the conversations initiated that day and were offered a special opportunity to seek additional funding from CFT for collaborative projects related to training, preparation, and professional development for middle school teachers and leaders. In our spring 2013 middle school grant application cycle, two collaborative proposals were received from organizations that had never partnered before. Big Thought and KIPP DFW received collaborative funding to create and implement a yearlong professional development program designed to support the delivery of in-school arts integration and after-school creative learning enrichment opportunities. In a separate grant, UTD’s UTeach program began working with NAPE to provide gender equity training to pre-service teachers, something NAPE has never done. CFT looks forward to hearing about these programs experimental results at the end of the grant period.
COMMUNITY IMPACT FUNDING SUPPORTING AT-RISK MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTH In the 2014-2015 school year, CFT awarded $450,000 to agencies supporting efforts to improve the quantity and quality of teachers and school leaders in high-need urban middle schools as a key lever of increasing overall student achievement and retention rates. The table below lists the grant categories and a description of the grantees. GRANT RECIPIENT
USE OF THE GRANT
Momentous Institute Changing the Odds Conference
To allow educators from CFT’s middle school grantees to attend the Changing the Odds Social Emotional Learning Conference
National Alliance for Partnerships Funding the creation and pilot of middle school curriculum for Dallas Independent School District math and science teachers Teach for America Middle School Partnership Plan
Implementation of the Middle School Partnership Plan at Dallas Independent School District’s Ann Richards Middle School
Teaching Trust Executive Education Program for Teams
Intensive professional development for existing principals and their school leadership teams
Teaching Trust Aspiring Principals Program
Preparation of principals to lead and develop effective teachers and to establish a school culture supporting high achievement for all students
University of Texas at Dallas Funding of the UTeach STEM teacher preparation program that UTeach Dallas originated at The University of Texas at Austin to include more focus on middle schools Uplift and Big Thought Summer Learning A four-week summer program in two Uplift schools for middle school students to receive core subject instruction enhanced byarts enrichment
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COMPONENTS OF THE FOCUS ON ECONOMIC STABILITY FOR WORKING FAMILIES Following the release of the Dallas 2012 Asset & Opportunity Profile, CFT began to convene and align nonprofit and foundation partners to help better serve low-income working families. Below is a diagram of how CFT’s strategies and approaches are intended to support the forward movement of these families and the agencies that serve them.
O&H Brand Design
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OVERVIEW
AREA OF ACTION
IMPROVING THE ECONOMIC STABILITY OF WORKING FAMILIES
DATA DRIVEN DECISIONS DRIVE AGENCIES TO RETHINK SERVICE OFFERINGS
The picture of Dallas that emerged from a study of the city released in February 2012 was both illuminating and staggering. Until that point, the prevailing thought in the community about the city and its surrounding region was that both were filled with people earning decent to high incomes. But the Dallas Assets & Opportunity Profile produced by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) revealed that 39 percent of the city’s households were living in asset poverty, with even more at-risk. The study, which examined Dallas and its surrounding 12-county North Texas region, helped CFT learn more about the area’s economic landscape and helped the community understand wealth, poverty and opportunity. CFT co-funded the study with the Thomson Foundation. Additional findings of the study illuminated the tenuous economic state of North Texas residents. As of 2012, 68 percent of Dallas residents had subprime credit scores, and more than half of low-income residents did not have health insurance – placing them at financial risk in the event of a medical crisis. The data painted an even more disheartening picture for households of color in Dallas, with black households seven times more likely to live in income and asset poverty than white households, and white adults nearly eight times more likely to have a bachelor’s degree than Hispanic or Latino adults. Financial insecurity destabilizes families and jeopardizes the longterm vitality of cities and local economies. CFT’s goal: to improve the financial stability of working families living at and above the poverty line. Following the study, CFT laid out a plan to convene and align social service agencies, focusing on those on the frontlines of service to low-income families. CFT’s strategy included providing training and capacity-building support for organizations serving low-income working households, with the goal of teaching agencies to use data to make strategic decisions about the services they offer. CFT also convened other stakeholders to review the CFED data, discuss new insights and opportunities to serve low-income families, and identify best practices that could be brought to the local community through CFT grantmaking. In the coming years, CFT plans to fund an update to the CFED profile and support other research to inform the community’s understanding of the issue.
Once CFT learned that a large swath of its immediate community was living in asset poverty, its leaders knew that the best stakeholders to assist in addressing the issue were agencies and foundations involved in the provision of social services. CFT also hypothesized that some of the work the providers offered might need to be recast. According to CFED, traditional efforts to address community asset challenges center on jobs, housing and the supply of basic goods. These efforts are worthy, but they are often not enough to help an individual or family achieve longterm financial stability. CFT assembled social service agencies and foundations around the issue of asset building with the Data Driven DecisionMaking Institute, known among participants as the D3. The objectives for D3 participants: • develop a shared understanding of the current issues and areas of need for low-income families, based on currently available data; • implement and/or expand the use of data in strategic decision-making and as a part of program development; • expand participants’ and CFT’s network of resources and support, including sharing best practices through participation in a learning community. The D3 Institute consists of targeted learning opportunities for personnel at all levels of participating organizations, including leadership and program staff. Participants are selected through a competitive grant process, with each asked to make a 12-month commitment to program participation. The selected agencies participate in a series of workshops focused on using and applying data, and are provided with up to 40 hours of one-on-one coaching outside of Institute class time on the use of data and evaluation to inform decision-making. Monthly workshops also provide time for networking and relationship-building between agencies. Grantees are given an initial general operating grant of $10,000 in appreciation of the time and effort involved their participation. Since 2012, 46 nonprofits have participated in the D3, and leaders of many of the organizations have called it a game-changing experience. “The ultimate impact is for our clients,” said Katie Patterson of the Richardson Adult Literacy Center, which participated in the 2013-2014 D3 cohort. “Because of D3, we’re now keenly focused on helping clients reach important outcomes that not only have a personal effect but will also have lasting positive effects for our community, too.” 21
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IN SUMMARY
Finally, all agencies participated in at least one collaborative group project and were given the opportunity to apply for additional program grants based on the output of their project work.
DATA DRIVEN DECISION MAKING INSTITUTE (D3)
Results, Learning and Refinement Results and observations of the D3 Institute are as follows:
Key Challenge Nonprofit organizations in North Texas serving lowincome working families were looking for support in using data to better inform decisions regarding programming and effectiveness of services.
• 100 percent of executive directors reported the D3 curriculum not only impacted their participants, but also served to inform their organizations as a whole, as participants returned with best practices and information to enhance the use of data.
Creative Approach
• The 2013-2014 cohort reported greater implementation of D3 curriculum within their agencies, either through D3 coaching hours or participant led trainings.
Improve the financial stability of working poor in North Texas by teaching social service agencies to use data to inform strategic programming decisions. Convene stakeholders to review data and develop better ways to support the working poor.
Results The Data Driven Decision-Making Institute, also called the D3, provides training, coaching and grants to organizations serving low-income working families to maximize their use of data to further their strategic aims.
Lasting Impact 46 nonprofits have participated in the D3 since 2012 and leaders of many of the organizations have called it a game changing experience. “The ultimate impact is for our clients,” said Katie Patterson of Richardson Adult Literacy Center, which participated in the Institute. “Because of D3, we’re now keenly focused on helping clients reach important outcomes that not only have a personal effect, but will also have lasting positive effects for our community, too.”
ASSET POVERTY: The state of being without enough assets to live for three months at the federal poverty level should a loss of income occur.
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Source: Corporation for Enterprise Development
• The D3 Institute’s first external learning cohort was convened as a result of the D3 project lead by the nonprofits Irving Cares, Volunteers of America Texas and GRACE. • Baseline results reported that 2013-2014 agencies were more aware than previous cohorts of which areas of data-driven decision making they needed to improve. Final survey results showed a greater progression of agencies utilizing data regularly. Agencies also reported a heightened awareness of the need to share information more frequently with frontline staff, as opposed to just sharing with executive leadership and their board members. • Program participants reported a shift in behavior away from collecting large amounts of insignificant data, translating into decreased expenses and increased funding from grant makers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I n 2013, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas reported their grantees came to them talking about the effectiveness of the D3 Institute. United Way then convened a voluntary focus group of agencies serving the working poor in Dallas. This focus group’s primary purpose was to assist the sector in moving toward shared long-term indicators related to the working poor. Eight of the thirteen participating agencies were current and/or past D3 Institute agencies. The agencies wanted to continue the work they had done during the D3 Institute while collaborating with other United Way grantees. United Way is now moving forward with implementation of the Shared Metrics Learning Community in 2015. United Way attributed the enthusiasm and commitment to sharing metrics amongst the participating agencies to the D3 Institute. CFT learned the following lessons through the execution of the D3 Institute: • Agencies desire ongoing sector-wide education on developing outcome measures that inform program services being developed or provided to serve the region’s working
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poor. The D3 Institute has seen a shift in behavior from 2012-2013 agencies, in that agencies are now proactively pursuing stronger, more effective collaborations to serve the working poor with a more holistic approach. • Agencies remain committed to gaining a broader understanding of the working poor. Similar to the 2012-2013 cohort, 20132014 agencies came to the D3 with a basic framework of the characteristics of the working poor population they serve. Their primary goal in better understanding their clientele was to understand them outside of their agencies’ normal service delivery framework. • Agencies participating in the D3 are most successful in their data driven decision-making if they (1) have strong leadership; (2) commit to invest in technology to support data gathering and analysis; (3) employ data focused personnel; and (4) foster an organizational commitment to using data to inform and drive strategic direction. This is supported by the key findings from the 2013-2014 cohort.
• Increased the number of opportunities to engage participants in small group breakouts/discussions • Allowed agencies to present models to receive feedback • Evaluated agencies’ programs • Extended session based on participant evaluations and participant interviews. Storytelling, Logic Models and Theory of Change are now longer sessions with more opportunity for small group discussion, application exercises and report out on improvements to agency models • Moved initial culture evaluation from mid-course to kickoff session to provide further opportunities to expand assessment to the entire organization The final cohort of 14 agencies for 2014-2015 was selected in Summer 2014. The D3 will be discontinued for this focus area after 2015, with most major service providers now trained.
s a result of what CFT has learned, the following changes A were made to the initiative for the 2014-2015 cohort: • Included time on the agenda for each session to do a homework debrief and/or application of theory from previous session
Staff members from local nonprofits discuss ideas to offer services that sustain the economic stability of those they serve during a session of the D3 Institute. The D3 was created to help social service providers make data-driven decisions about their service offerings. 23
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IN SUMMARY WORKING FAMILIES SUCCESS NETWORK Key Challenge Programming to address the economic stability of low-income working families is often siloed and focused on short-term, emergency assistance. To support clients in achieving lasting economic outcomes, services need to be integrated to provide opportunities for long-term financial growth and sustainability.
Creative Approach Support nonprofits with knowledge and information needed to transform their venues into Working Families Success Centers that offer bundled services for employment services, income support and financial coaching, leading to increased economic well-being over the long-term.
Results CFT designed a program for social service agencies to learn how to create integrated service models with the three core services listed above. The program had two tracks: one for agencies that are already using the three main focus areas to some degree, and another for agencies that have strength in at least one of the three focus areas, and wish to do more.
Lasting Impact Eighteen agencies were selected to participate in the two training modules. Agencies in both tracks received technical assistance training and coaching to support their plans for implementing an integrated model. Training opportunities on financial services and in-depth coaching were provided to front-line staff, as well as training in organizational change for leadership. Each agency produced a prototype of the integrated model that provided learning and insight to support full implementation in the future.
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AREA OF ACTION LOCAL AGENCIES BUNDLE APPROACH TO SERVICES One of the critical objectives in creating awareness and developing solutions surrounding low-income working families has been to directly fund programs and activities that support families and help them move toward financial stability. Beginning in 2012, CFT staff engaged in reviewing research and data from other communities, including attending conferences and seminars in order to find programs based on evidence and data that were achieving their intended impact. One of the best practices that emerged out of work developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation was the model for integrated service delivery called the Center for Working Families model that began in early 2000. This model has since been implemented in more than 70 locations and in 30 cities across the nation. Today, the model for integrated service delivery, known as the Working Families Success Network model, provides a framework for delivering key services and financial supports to low-income families using an integrated approach specifically designed to make it easier for low-income families to obtain critically needed work support services. The model is built on the concept that offering integrated services in an intentional and thoughtful way helps clients overcome barriers and advance economically. The model includes a “bundled” set of three core elements: employment services, income support and financial coaching. The Working Families Success model is not a stand alone program. Rather, it is an approach that is overlaid into a nonprofit’s existing programs, staffing structure and client base. Services are bundled and sequenced together, rather than offering one component in isolation, and require providers to intentionally integrate the three key areas in a seamless way for the client, which depends on the staff developing strong, long-term relationships with clients over time. One-on-one financial coaching is provided as an integral component, and is used to help clients set goals, develop plans and change behavior. Data on the clients and their outcomes are routinely collected and analyzed, and used regularly to make decisions to improve program effectiveness and adjust operations to further support client’s long-term success. CFT’s goal is to support nonprofits with knowledge and information to become a working family success center—a family-friendly venue that provides bundled services leading to increased economic well-being. In early 2014, when CFT began this effort, staff envisioned a single cohort of a handful of agencies that would go through a learning program to help them prepare to launch a Working Families Success
Center. However, as the application and interview process progressed in Spring 2014, the idea as originally conceived evolved. A larger tent of learning for more agencies was created. Staff eventually designed a learning program with two tracks: • Green cohort—for those agencies already operating all three main focus areas (employment, income support and financial coaching) to some degree, and who well-positioned to become a Working Families Success Center within the next 10 - 12 months. • Blue cohort—for those agencies with strength in at least one of the three focus areas, and positioned to become a Working Families Success Center in one to three years. Ten agencies were selected for the initial Green cohort and attended monthly technical assistance training and coaching to support their plans for implementing the model. Participating agencies included: Catholic Charities Dallas, Catholic Charities Fort Worth, CitySquare, Interfaith Housing Coalition, International Rescue Committee, Housing Crisis Center, Jewish Family Service, Metrocrest Services, Tarrant County Reentry Coalition (led by Cornerstone Assistance Network), and the Women’s Center of Tarrant County. As a part of the technical assistance provided to the cohort, training opportunities on financial services and in-depth coaching were provided to front-line staff, as well as training in organizational change for leadership, to support the agencies in planning their implementation approach. Each agency then conducted a prototype on pieces of the WFS model to provide learning and insight that will support largescale implementation.
Results, Learning and Refinement Results and observations are as follows: • Agency executives communicated the cohort training as effective in providing key information and training to prepare their agencies for implementation of the Working Families Success Model. Training provided staff with tools and language to move agencies toward implementation, and/ or to improve their current integrated service delivery. • Prototyping was key to the development of strong and well-informed program planning for use in their future implementation plans. • Grantees formed a learning cohort to not only support each others, but to share best practices and key learnings to be used to further expand the implementation of this model within the North Texas community. Currently, Green cohort members are able to apply for a multi-year grant to support their agency’s growth into a family-friendly venue that provides bundled services leading to increased economic well-being. The Green cohort continues to meet on a regular basis, creating the foundation of a networked community of agencies. All focused on the same economic outcomes for clients, and supporting each other as they continue to move forward. The Blue cohort members are able to also apply for smaller, single-year grants to support their progress towards expanding financial capacity-building services for clients and laying the groundwork for these agencies to eventually move towards greater integration of services with enhanced financial outcomes for clients.
Eight agencies were selected for the Blue cohort, and also met during Fall 2014. The goal was to support them to advance their own capacity to offer financial services to clients. The Blue cohort also received technical assistance training and support for front-line staff. Each of these agencies also conducted a prototype that allowed them to pilot and experiment with enhancing financial capacity within their agencies.
INTEGRATED SERVICE DELIVERY: Modeled after the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Center for Working Families efforts, integrated service delivery “bundles” three core services: employment assistance, income support and financial coaching. The model equips social service agencies with tools to help low-income families reach financial stability.
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CASE STUDY CITYSQUARE TRANSFORMS A BIG IDEA FOR BIGGER IMPACT The 2012 Asset & Opportunity Profile was a wake-up call for CitySquare, a poverty-fighting agency with programs in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Denver that started as a food pantry in 1988. Like many other nonprofits at the time, CitySquare was in the trenches offering social services such as foster care and workforce development, among others. But the report made it clear that the nonprofits were losing the battle. Despite all that was being done, for example, Dallas had the sobering distinction of ranking first among cities in Texas and the U.S. with the largest number of children living in poverty. Furthermore, one in three North Texans would be unable to live at the poverty level for three months should they experience a loss their primary source of income. CitySquare had grown into one of the city’s leading povertyfighting agencies. Over the years, it had expanded its services and changed its name (from Dallas Central Ministries) to support its evolving identity. When CFT kicked off the D3 Institute, a capacity-building program aimed at nonprofits who serve low-income families, CitySquare was just starting plans for building the Opportunity Center. Funded in partnership with PepsiCo Inc., the center would include a food distribution center, a state of the art wellness center, a comprehensive employment training center, AmeriCorps offices, and staging areas for CitySquare’s growing Food on the Move program.
The Opportunity Center was originally conceived as a “mall of nonprofits,” where agencies could be co-located to support neighbors. Through their involvement in the D3, CitySquare began to see the Opportunity Center as a way to deliver more integrated and connected services, based on data. CitySquare moved from seeing themselves as being a landlord who would merely house nonprofits together, to being the quarterback of a team of service providers who would help clients navigate an integrated system of economic services and supports, aligned around a shared vision. Suzanne Smith, founder of Social Impact Architects and a D3 faciliator was assigned to work with CitySquare as its D3 coach. Smith is a local social entrepreneur and consultant for North Texas nonprofits, but also works in other communities, including Cincinnati. While in Cincinnati, Smith discovered the city had established a series of service models through its United Wayled Place Matters Project that aligned with CitySquare’s new vision for the Opportunity Center. In 2013, CitySquare staff, along with Smith and CFT, toured many of the programs to learn what could be possible. John Siburt, CitySquare’s president and COO, credits the D3 Institute for assisting with greater collaboration and datadriven decision-making internally. “We had grown so fast and we became narrow in our thinking internally. In addition to helping the agency better externally and developing a unique model for Dallas, we needed a vision and language to drive us to the next level, and both D3 and Working Families got us there,” John said. “Thanks to the leadership of CFT, CitySquare was able to complete the vision of the Opportunity Center,” said Larry James, CEO of CitySquare.
Lessons Learned When the CFED report was released, it lit a fuse within the community that transformed not only CitySquare’s understanding of the problem, but their desire to make a real and lasting difference in what the community offered to the working poor. The work at CitySquare is still in progress, but they reflected on their key lessons learned:
Suzanne Smith, a D3 facilitator, talks to social service agency participants about using meaningful data to measure goals, objectives and outcomes. The D3 Institute was created by CFT to teach social service organizations to use data to better inform programs for low-income families. 26
• Co-creation was always important to CitySquare ethos, but the Working Families Success Network took the idea and made it tangible, especially through the financial coaching philosophy of the integrated service model. • Implementing best practices allowed CitySquare to leapfrog existing practices and dream bigger for its work. CFT, through its funding and support, brought in local and national experts, which made the process more impactful and efficient. • Data was collected at CitySquare, but now they are intentional about using it to evaluate programs and understand how they can improve all internal and external work. It has created a reinforcing loop of continuous improvement, transparency, and shared language.
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AREA OF ACTION LOCAL PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATION ELEVATES ASSET POVERTY CONVERSATION In Fall 2013, CFT approached KERA, the North Texas public broadcasting system, with an idea to highlight stories of North Texans who are facing asset poverty – individuals who can’t weather a significant financial change that lasts 90 days or longer. The goal of the stories would be to communicate the impact of negative financial events and solutions for families in the local community who struggle to make ends meet, but do not have the economic resources to address a significant financial crisis. In February 2014, CFT and KERA, along with the Allstate Foundation, Dallas Women’s Foundation, The Fort Worth Foundation, Thomson Family Foundation, and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas funded and presented One Crisis Away, a free public forum discussing asset poverty in North Texas at Dallas City Performance Hall. The forum was the culmination of the ongoing news series of the same name that KERA launched in November 2013. The five-month series followed four families bravely telling their stories of living on the financial edge. The news series, which has continued since then with a close look at a Dallas neighborhood called Jubilee Park (see more in Results and Take-aways), includes radio and video stories, conversations on KERA FM’s Think, and a television program of the public forum broadcast on KERA TV. Moderated by KERA’s Krys Boyd, the forum featured an indepth discussion on asset poverty with three leading experts: Andrea Levere, president of the Corporation for Enterprise Development; Alfreda Norman, senior vice president for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; and Larry James, president and CEO of CitySquare. “KERA partnered with CFT to build awareness around the growing issue of asset poverty,” said Mary Anne Alhadeff, KERA president and CEO. “Almost one-third of all North Texans are a step away from financial ruin, which means it could be your friends, neighbors or family members. Or, it could be you. One Crisis Away explores what living in ‘asset poverty’ means and elevates public dialogue about this increasing reality.” “Asset poverty extends far beyond those living below the federal poverty line,” said Alfreda Norman. “Between 2007 and 2010, the asset-poverty rate increased nearly fourfold for top-income U.S. families. Many middle- and higher-income households became asset poor because of job loss and value declines in home, business and investments.”
IN SUMMARY ONE CRISIS AWAY Key Challenge A profile of the region revealed that one in three North Texans lives in asset poverty, meaning they would be unable to live above the poverty level should they experience a loss of income or other disaster. However, local awareness of this reality and the people affected was low.
Creative Approach Partner with and provide funding to KERA, the local public broadcasting network, to produce stories featuring North Texans facing asset poverty.
Results CFT and KERA, along with the Allstate Foundation, Dallas Women’s Foundation, The Fort Worth Foundation, Thomson Family Foundation, and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas presented One Crisis Away, a news series that followed four families living on the financial edge. The series included cross-platform storytelling, events and concentrated conversations on KERA’s local midday talk show Think.
Lasting Impact One Crisis Away raised public awareness of asset poverty and humanized the issue by demonstrating that people from all walks of life and socio-economic backgrounds are dealing with the issue. The original series aired for five months and reached an estimated 1.5 million people. KERA recently launched Part II of the series, which focuses on one neighborhood in south Dallas, and examines specific challenges associated with asset poverty, (such as the state of being “un-banked” and living in a food desert).
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Results and Take-aways Based on the response from the North Texas community to the content and stories in One Crisis Away, KERA approached CFT about continuing with a Part II, which was funded in partnership with the Dallas Women’s Foundation in Spring 2015. In Part II of the series, KERA is examining the costs of living poor through the lens of the Jubilee Neighborhood in Dallas, located between Fair Park and R.L. Thornton Freeway. Stories in the radio series and online news project are examining the costs of being “un-banked” (those who do not have bank accounts, and rely on alternative financial services), life in a “food desert” (lack of access to quality and affordable neighborhood food options), wage inequalities, payday lending issues, and the experiences of the working poor. This installment of the series aired from February through midMarch 2015 on KERA FM, as well as online at kera.org/ onecrisisaway.
“ Almost one-third of all North Texans are a step away from financial ruin, which means it could be your friends, or it could be you. One Crisis Away explores what living in ‘asset poverty’ means and elevates public dialogue about the increasing reality.” – Mary Anne Alhadeff, President and CEO of KERA
Elizabeth Madrid plays with her son, Isac, at their suburban home. Elizabeth, her son and her husband, whose name is also Isac, were one of the families whose story was chronicled in One Crisis Away, when a health crisis changed their financial outlook. Father Isac died in February 2014. — Lara Solt, KERA News Special Contributor
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CASE STUDY A CONVERSATION WITH KERA, THE NORTH TEXAS BROADCASTING SYSTEM In August 2013, a year and a half after the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) released a data-driven profile that revealed one in three North Texans were living on the edge of financial disaster, the North Texas Broadcasting System known as KERA began airing a five-month series called One Crisis Away. The series followed four families on the financial edge and included radio stories, videos, blogging, spotlights on the midday talk show called Think, and a public forum presented by KERA and CFT at Dallas City Performance Hall last February. CFT spoke about the series and the process of sharing the stories behind asset poverty with North Texas with Jeff Whittington, executive producer for special projects and Think, and Sylvia Komatsu, executive vice president and chief content officer for KERA.
CFT: How did KERA get involved with CFT’s efforts to make the public aware of the issues of economic insecurity in North Texas? Jeff Whittington: CFT approached us after the 2012 Asset & Opportunity Survey was published and showed the data for North Texas. We used that as the foundational data for starting this reporting project. Sylvia Komatsu: CFT identified this very important issue and realized the need to get more concrete information. That became a useful resource not only for us but, of course, for other organizations to get a clear and accurate picture of what the situation was like here in North Texas. After we learned of the information, we met with agencies and direct providers in Dallas and Fort Worth who are working with this issue every single day and we listened. We wanted to hear from them about how this issue plays out in the daily lives of the people that they serve. Based on what we heard from them, we formed our plan. Whittington: We had about 30 organizations representing Dallas and about 25 from Fort Worth, from United Way organizations of both Dallas and Tarrant counties to organizations like Catholic Charities and small nonprofits that literally have one or two employees and work directly with people in serious need. The response we got from the organizations was strong. Once they realized we actually wanted to listen to what they thought the major issues were, we had a really great conversation.
CFT: What did you hear in those conversations? Komatsu: Every organization had a different story to tell, depending on their particular focus of services and the people they work with. For some, the emphasis was on the health crisis that families face. For another organization, it had to do with housing or legal issues. The great thing about having everyone in the room was that they could also hear each other. Out of that came some other connections among them, which was terrific to see. So, we used the sessions not only for basic information and to learn more, but later on when we were doing our stories, they helped us to identify individuals to feature in the series.
CFT: What surprised you about the data? Whittington: The fact that so many people couldn’t live at the federal poverty level for three months. When I heard the numbers, I remember telling Sylvia, I can’t believe this many people are in this position. This is a huge portion of the population. We wanted to turn that into a storytelling project, because when you say ‘let’s do a series on asset poverty,’ the problem is the word ‘poverty.’ Our challenge was to make a series of stories that people would listen to and not tune out. We wanted people to realize that this is their neighbor. This is a coworker. This is a family member, or it might even be themselves. That’s why we approached it from the point of view of these four families, because we really wanted to tell their stories. It wasn’t really an investigative series. It was more of a compelling narrative of what life is like for a family that’s working very hard and is practically like any other middle class family, but was homeless, or could be homeless again. Komatsu: As journalists, we cover these kinds of issues a great deal and you frequently hear stories about the poverty level. But when you look at asset poverty, you realize that it’s a much greater number. So, taking the storytelling approach was really eye-opening for us and our listeners. You can hear some of these same statistics over and over again, but a really important way to approach the issue was through these families.
CFT: Did the numbers surprise you because of where we are, here in North Texas? Whittington: We know that North Texas was not hit as hard by the economic downtown, and I think we all live in sort of this world where we think we know what the world is. Then, you start to examine the issue and talk to people and begin to unpack the story behind the numbers. You start to realize there are a lot of people who are having a tough time and would really have a tougher time if they lost their income, had a health crisis, a family member got sick, or if they couldn’t 29
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Shirley Martin, 72, is a retiree who works at a local grocery store to make ends meet, despite being beyond the traditional retirement age. Martin was profiled in the One Crisis Away series. Photo by Dane Walters, KERA News
complete their education or anyone of those things that could kind of knock them down for a period of time. The asset poverty filter, while that’s kind of a chewy word to use on the radio, once we explain what it is and how one in three families in North Texas couldn’t weather a financial storm for 90 days, then that really starts to make sense to people. Komatsu: It underscored the importance of looking at something in a local way, because you could hear this as a national number and then it would be easy to say, ‘oh that’s that city or this city.’ It was a wake up call, given that you hear so much of the news coverage about the job situation here being better than it is in other places or how well the economy is doing here relative to other areas.
CFT: What was the challenge in unpacking the term asset poverty? Whittington: When you’re talking to people in the community and you say ‘we would really like to do a series of stories on you and we’re going to come in with video cameras and everything, because you are asset poor,’ that’s a lot to ask. You have to be really respectful and sensitive. It’s that compelling story, that human voice, that shared experience that we’re trying to get after. So, on both sides of the story, we asked: how do we convey it to our listeners so they understand this is about real people? Then, we had to find the real people who were also willing to share their stories with us. Those were the primary challenges. A lot of credit goes to Courtney Collins, who has been the lead reporter on the series. She really engages with people. She is a fearless reporter, but she is also a detailed reporter and she was able to get in there and get people to tell us their stories. 30
Komatsu: An example would be to think of the term ‘unbanked.’ What does that mean? So again, it’s a perfect example of where you’re able to really show what that means through someone’s individual stories and these real life situations, and to follow them and see what they are struggling with and explain what it’s like. In all of these, what we’re trying to do also is not just show what the problem is and what the challenges are. We are really into what we call solutions-based reporting. What are some of the alternatives? What are some of the best practices? What are some of the other solutions that those who are working on this issue on a daily basis are saying? We tried to incorporate that into our reporting.
CFT: Do you feel that you elevated the conversation about asset poverty? Whittington: We know we’ve had an extensive reach. We know that the first series reached about 1.5 million people across all of our platforms over five months.
CFT: What lasting impact did you have on the families and the community overall? Whittington: It’s hard to quantify. We did hear from people who wanted to help the families we profiled directly. We did about nine Think shows as part of the series, and we were getting comments from people that called in to say ‘thank you so much,’ or ‘you’re telling my story.’ We know that the stories touched people. Komatsu: We hope we have been able to offer a broader public understanding of this issue and help others better understand the struggle these families are going through, along with giving people an understanding that there are things that can be done to help.
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CASE STUDY
would it be if we got everybody to think about this as a common challenge?’”
NORTH TEXAS ASSET FUNDERS NETWORK CREATES IMPACT THROUGH COLLABORATION
Still, members of the initial group that became the steering committee for North Texas AFN knew the network’s formation involved some risk. They agreed to try the collaborative approach for a year, experiment with some ideas and see what would happen. After a year, the group made the official move to become one of three regional affiliates of the national Asset Funders Network. The group had to clear a few hurdles along the way.
In 2012, a group of local funders knew North Texans living in asset poverty needed life-changing help. A study completed that year, the Dallas Asset & Opportunity Profile, revealed that asset poverty was a way of life for one in three North Texans, which meant they did not have enough assets to last 90 days should they experience a loss of income or costly emergency. But who needed to do what for low-income working families? To whom does this issue belong, the funders asked? Is it a funder problem or a nonprofit problem? The answer: both. “Funders made the decision that we had to bring the nonprofits along,” said Annika Little, project coordinator for the funders. “The thinking was that we have too much ground to cover and too far to go to catch nonprofits up later.” And so, the North Texas Asset Funders Network (AFN) was born. It is a regional cluster of private, family, community and corporate foundations, public sector funders and financial institutions that focuses on asset building and increasing the financial capability of low-income working families. The North Texas AFN brings area funders together to share and learn how they might work with and invest in social service agencies and nonprofits to help low-income households save and build wealth. What that looks like can take many forms, from helping families build credit and invest in a home, small business or a family member’s education, to integrating income support, employment services and financial coaching across sectors. The group formed because in one of those early pivotal, question-laden conversations, Alfreda B. Norman, senior vice president for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, had an another inquiry: What would happen if the group formed a learning community? “Philanthropy in Dallas leads the way,” said Norman, who brought the Federal Reserve Bank to the group and played a key role in its formation. “Unlike in other cities, it’s the philanthropists and the foundations here putting huge bets down. They do the [research and development] until everybody else catches up. I thought, ‘how powerful
First, the idea of using philanthropy to collaborate for lasting impact was not the norm. Members of philanthropic communities tend to work on their own institutional strategies instead of working together to dive deep into issues and address systemic challenges. “Often funders promote funding for new ideas or programs to nonprofits, who then build programming to get the money, but when the funding is gone, then the programming stops,” said Wende Burton, Community Philanthropy Director for Communities Foundation of Texas. “This process is not built to address or sustain solutions to large, complex issues like asset poverty.” Funders and nonprofits frequently fear collaboration, said Dena L. Jackson, vice president of grants and research for the Dallas Women’s Foundation and a member the network. Community organizations don’t share with each other, because they’re afraid to compete for the same dollars, and foundations don’t share with other because they are afraid of failure, she added. “Then, funders don’t share with community organizations, which means [the community organizations] have to guess at we want,” Jackson said. The learning curve and interest level of nonprofits also posed a challenge. Despite working on the frontlines with low-income working families, many nonprofits didn’t think of asset poverty as tying to their missions, purposes and services. For example, one of the first initiatives the North Texas AFN brought to non-profits was a pilot expansion of lending circles in the Dallas-Fort Worth. A lending circle is a small group of people who chip money in each month to lend to a member of the group at no interest. The loans provide needed cash to members and are recognized by mainstream financial institutions, helping members build credit. Lending circles were previously successful in the Bay Area of California, home to another regional AFN chapter, where they were used to wean low-income earners off of payday loans and help them build credit. Poor credit and a high use of payday loans frequently present major barriers to income security. Building on national funding from the Citi Foundation and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, the United Way of Tarrant 31
COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION of TEXAS
Alfreda B. Norman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (left) and Megan McTiernan of the Thomson Family Foundation attend an AFN convening, one of several meetings held regularly to support funder relationship building.
County and the Thomson Family Foundation collaborated to request funding proposals from local nonprofits interested in using lending circles in their service models, but interest was extremely modest. “The nonprofits we presented it to thought it was interesting, but couldn’t visualize how it could fit into their service offerings,” Burton said. “We had assumed there would be more interest, but the response showed us that we needed to take more time and provide more information to help them think through the possibilities.” After more educating and coaching, members of the North Texas AFN were able to lay the groundwork to launch the program in Fort Worth. The Thomson Family Foundation and the United Way of Tarrant County are funding three Fort Worth area agencies that are in the process of setting up and piloting lending circles. Jackson recalled similar resistance from some funders, and described the Dallas Women’s Foundation as an example of how any organization working to serve the needs of people should be examining the issue. “We are probably the most limited foundation in the network, so our participation shows other foundations that they can still 32
do what they’ve always done and can still support the agencies they want to, but carve out some amount of money to take a deep dive into something that impacts the entire community,” Jackson said. “Some have said, ‘It’s not our thing, so we’re not going to go there,’ but it is your thing if you care about health, if you care about violence in the home, if you care about education, because you can’t get to the heart of these matters without creating some sort of wealth in the home.” Lastly, the network needed to unpack the issue of asset poverty for the general public. “You say poverty and it’s like ‘Oh, yeah, uh-huh’ and then you say asset poverty and nobody understands or realizes that you’re not talking about some person sitting under a bridge with a sign asking for money,” Norman said. “It’s the kindergarten teacher, the lab technician, the caregiver that’s taking care of your parents, the person that does your hair. It’s a lot of people that are barely making it because their income just barely covers their expenses and there’s nothing there for them to save or keep.” Using education to eliminate the fear and resistance has been a key strategy for the North Texas AFN. In addition, education was also pivotal in creating an empathetic bridge for key opinion leaders to better understand not only the challenges
2015 Impact Report
of the working poor but also the impact of the working poor on the broader economy. For example, joint funding and promotion by members of the North Texas AFN led to the development of One Crisis Away, a five-month digital storytelling project produced by KERA, the public radio affiliate for North Texas. Part I of the project, which followed the release of the 2012 Dallas Asset & Opportunity Profile, focused on four local families living on the financial edge and raised the community’s awareness of the issue. The multi-media platform project reached 1.5 million people and, as a result, led to the production of Part II that aired this year. One Crisis Away was funded by CFT, the Allstate Foundation, the Dallas Women’s Foundation, The Fort Worth Foundation, the Thomson Family Foundation and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. “Our funding has become much more prescriptive and based on best practices,” Jackson said. “We are partnering to fund programs that are bigger than what any of us could have done or thought of individually.”
LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY OF FORMING THE NORTH TEXAS ASSET FUNDERS NETWORK The connection between asset building and other service offerings and funding areas isn’t always obvious to everyone. Multiple opportunities for learning and exposure, as well as time to reflect, is often needed for both funders and practitioners to see the relationships. Finding opportunities for funders and practitioners to learn side-by-side speeds up the process of adoption. Integrating asset building into service structures can require a change in thinking and prioritization. It’s more than just adding a new program. Agencies need time to make this shift. Funders can support organizations in pivoting toward asset building by providing multi-year funding for planning and capacity building training, and supporting other learning opportunities and exposure to best practices. Funders can act as a partner in an agency’s continuing education. Funders can accelerate change by agreeing on outcomes or a set of shared metrics that can be applied across service offerings. This provides continuity for
As a result, the North Texas AFN is now in a unique position. “AFN brings program ideas to the community that are best practices from other parts of the country,” Jackson said. The process doesn’t stop at contribution, contemplation and conversation, Jackson added. “It’s a number of us in a room together looking at these ideas and practices and saying, ‘Ok, can we bring this to town? Who can do the pilot? I can fund 50 percent of that. Can you fund the other 50? Ok, let’s do it,’” Jackson said describing how one of the group’s discussions might sound. “We’ve not only brought best practices to town theoretically, but we are bringing them and putting them into motion.” Since its launch, the North Texas AFN has used big-picture cooperation to produce sustainable, scalable results. “There is really a great story happening in North Texas around collaboration,” Little said. “There is a recognition that the issues facing struggling families cannot be solved by one foundation or by philanthropy alone.”
service providers across the community or region, versus requiring practitioners to have to respond to each funder’s unique reporting requirements. This also creates a standard for economic and performance outcomes, as well as common language that the community can work to achieve. North Texas is beginning to move toward this goal of shared outcomes through the leadership of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. Building coalitions takes time and a commitment to the process. Time is needed for funders to build relationships and trust, as well as a safe space for them to compare funding interests and concerns, and to probe options with their peers. The North Texas AFN intentionally sets aside several meetings a year for a funder-only convenings that allow funders to be open with each other without any nonprofits in attendance. Commitment to the process means that resources need to be dedicated to help support and organize the network. By creating the network infrastructure, the work is shared across the participating partners who hold each each accountable.
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EDUCATE TEXAS
2015 Impact Report
“ Educate Texas’ public-private model accelerates student success across the state. Collaboration and thoughtleadership among a broad stakeholder base is what makes this possible. Together, we are excited to move the needle forward.”
– John Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer Educate Texas
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EDUCATE TEXAS TILLING THE EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR SUCCESS Educate Texas uses philanthropic resources and ideas to fuel innovation within the educational system; evaluates the efficacy and outcomes of those investments; and works with local practitioners, state leaders, policymakers, and national partners to ensure effective practices and policies achieve broader adoption and scale. It is through this unique public-private partnership that Educate Texas pursues its vision and mission. During its 10 years of existence, Educate Texas has established a remarkable track record working in collaboration with a broad stakeholder base of the following public and private leaders: Texas Education Agency (TEA), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), Texas Legislature, Governor’s Office, The Meadows Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Greater Texas Foundation, Helmsley Charitable Trust, Houston Endowment, National Instruments Foundation, and Texas Instruments Foundation. The organization’s publicprivate partnership has directed more than $400 million towards piloting, proving, and replicating innovative strategies. Within our college ready portfolio alone, the estimated economic impact of
EDUCATE TEXAS AT A GLANCE VISION Strengthen the public and higher education systems so that every Texas student is prepared for educational and workforce success. MISSION Increase postsecondary readiness, access, and success for all students by building partnerships, leading innovation, and scaling practices and policies. KEY STRATEGIC AREAS College and Career Readiness Effective Teaching Higher Education Regional Collaboration
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this investment is $5.8 billion, generated by the increased lifetime earnings potential of more than 20,000 high school graduates. With each initiative, our organization begins by working with the partners listed above to identify high potential innovations, pilot these efforts, and determine the necessary strategies that may benefit the entire education system. After evaluating the outcomes and efficacy of these innovations, Educate Texas continues to work with our partners to ensure these effective strategies achieve broader adoption and scale. Through this robust portfolio of work, Educate Texas continues to garner strong engagement from both state and national partners to explore new ways to enhance the education system, develop powerful alliances, and frame key issues for advancing student success.
OVERVIEW MOVING THE NEEDLE OF COLLEGE READINESS, ACCESS AND SUCCESS FOR TEXAS STUDENTS Educate Texas’ work is about the future. Consider the data: In the next 20 years, 95 percent of the state’s student growth will come from Central Texas, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, El Paso, the Gulf Coast, and the Rio Grande Valley. Each of the five regions has a high concentration of low-income and underserved K-12 student populations. Furthermore, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board data shows that 20 percent of the state’s students earn a degree 11 years after beginning the eighth grade. The number drops to less than 10 percent for low-income and underserved students who make up a large number of the state’s student population, as 60 percent of Texas students are considered economically disadvantaged. Yet, the growth and development of our nation indicates that a postsecondary education won’t be optional for students who reach adulthood in the 21st century. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce projects that 65 percent of the nation’s workforce will need a postsecondary credential to be gainfully employed in 2020. Texas faces an urgent need for districts to employ high-impact strategies that accelerate the number of students who will earn postsecondary credentials, such as a two-year, four-year, or technical degree or workforce certificate, so that students are ready for high demand, regional, and global workforce opportunities.
2015 Impact Report
EDUCATE TEXAS’ FOUR STRATEGIC AREAS OF AC TION Five regions of Texas - Central Texas, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, El Paso, the Gulf Coast, and the Rio Grande Valley— will represent 95 percent of student growth over the next 20 years. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce projects 65 percent adults will require a postsecondary credential to be gainfully employed. With this in mind, Educate Texas sees a sense of urgency to establishing high-impact strategies that will enable all Texas students to successfully move from high school to postsecondary degree attainment, and ultimately, to the workforce.
trategic Plan - Four Priorities
Create rigorous educational pathways to help students successfully transition from high school into the workforce or some form of postsecondary education Create regional collaboration that leverages datadriven outcomes to define investment and programmatic engagement
Ensure all high school students have the tools and resources necessary to apply to, enter, and succeed in college, and promote proven practices that will increase the number of students who complete a technical, two-year, or four-year degree
Advance effective teaching by promoting recruitment, evaluation support, and retention of high performing teachers; and ensure there is a pipeline of high quality superintendents and principals to lead our districts and schools
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for our K-12, higher education, and workforce sectors that leverages data-driven outcomes to define investment and programmatic engagement.
With this sense of urgency in mind, Educate Texas’ focus has been to improve opportunities for every Texas student by increasing each one’s postsecondary readiness, access and success. The organization is targeting the following four key strategic areas to fulfill its vision, mission and strategy:
AREA OF ACTION
• College Readiness: Create rigorous educational pathways to help students successfully transition from high school into postsecondary education and/or the workforce.
FOCUS ON COLLEGE READINESS BLAZES PATHWAYS TO A 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE
• Effective Teaching: Promote recruitment, evaluation, support, and retention of high performing teachers and ensure there is a pipeline of high-quality superintendents and principals.
Educate Texas believes all students deserve and need a quality education to prepare them for the opportunities and challenges that are ahead of them. That means each student must build a solid foundation at the elementary and secondary levels of their educational experience, so that the idea of attending college or attaining a postsecondary credential is a sought-after dream that can be realized with success.
• Higher Education: Ensure that all high school students have the resources necessary to enter and succeed in technical, two-year, or four-year colleges and universities. • Regional Collaboration: Create collaborative opportunities
GROWING THE NETWORK OF SCHOOLS IN TEXAS 191
Growth of College Ready Portfolio Over Time
200 180
47% average annual growth rate over 10 year period
160 140
124
120
95
100
108
82
80
68
60
41
40
19
20 0
135
4
4
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
EDUCATE TEXAS COLLEGE READY STUDENTS ARE MORE DIVERSE THAN THE REST OF THE STATE Ethnic Distribution of Students - 2013
■ Texas ■ Educate Texas
80%
60%
80%
67%
60%
51%
40%
15%
Hispanic
70% 60%
40%
30%
20%
0%
Economically Disadvantaged Students - 2013
White
13% 13%
African American
20%
0%
• 82% are from historically underrepresented ethnicities • 67% are Hispanic • 70% are considered economically disadvantaged
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Before this can happen, there are hurdles to clear. Millions of the nation’s students graduate from high school unprepared for the rigors of college and the demands of careers in a global economy. Jobs for the Future, a nonprofit that supports economic mobility initiatives for lowincome youth, reports that a third of students who enter postsecondary education require remedial education before they earn college credit and less than half of all college students graduate within six years.
IN SUMMARY COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS Key Challenge
For the last decade, Educate Texas has partnered with state practitioners to create rigorous educational pathways to help students transition from high school to postsecondary education or the workforce. Educate Texas works closely with districts, community colleges, technical schools and regional universities to align its goals with those of the state that are aimed at postsecondary access and success.
Classrooms and schools must adapt to the needs of 21st century students, specifically those who are low-income and underserved, so that the students are prepared to seek, learn and succeed in a postsecondary environment.
Educate Texas applies this public-private teamwork approach by supporting the creation of Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (T-STEM) Academies and early college high schools throughout the state. Educate Texas also promotes the district-wide adoption of key instructional strategies used in these highly successful, specialized schools to provide more students with the advantages of being exposed to postsecondary experiences.
Partner with state agencies and school districts to replicate strategies that demonstrate strong outcomes in the area of postsecondary readiness, such as early college high schools and science, technology, engineering and math academies. Steer innovations to improve personalized learning and dual credit career technical education.
Last year, Educate Texas turned its attention to finishing and evaluating the second year of an early college high school expansion program in El Paso County. While Educate Texas has piloted or supported 191 early college high schools and T-STEM academies, the Clint ISD project marked the first time the organization took a district-wide approach.
Results
In 2010, Educate Texas partnered with the Clint Independent School District and El Paso Community College (EPCC) to develop an innovative, systemic early college high school program with funding from the Greater Texas Foundation and The Meadows Foundation. The goals of the initiative were to launch the Clint ISD Early College Academy (CECA); to implement comprehensive professional development that focused on deepening student learning; and to enable the district to sustain the early college high school and collegereadiness practices. Building off of the larger goals described above, Clint ISD officials wanted to provide more dual credit opportunities for students, increase student scholarships and financial aid, hire teachers with graduate degrees so they could be credentialed at EPCC, instill early college professional development strategies district-wide and expand career and technical offerings for students.
Creative Approach
With Educate Texas leading the charge for the last decade, the Texas network of early college high schools and T-STEM academies has grown to 191 schools and four district-wide initiatives, serving more than 100,000 students.
Lasting Impact Early college high school and T-STEM academy students outperform the average Texas student on key metrics of advanced placement/dual credit completion, high school graduation, college enrollment and postsecondary degree attainment. Twice as many of the students complete dual credit or advanced placement courses than the Texas average. Early college high schools and T-STEM academies graduate eight percentage points more high school students than the state average. This leads to an estimated increase of $250,000 in lifetime earnings for each high school graduate.
“You get to save a lot of money and yes, you get to go to college, but it’s not just that. For me, it’s that my personal life has changed. I’ve learned to mature, to grow, to become more responsible. I’ve learned things that are going to prepare me for my future life.” — Sthefania Gallegos-Perez, speaking about her experiences as a student at Clint ISD Early College Academy, a school supported by Educate Texas college and career readiness efforts. 39
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CASE STUDY
schools since 2005. Students who are targeted for the early college programs are typically economically disadvantaged students, first-generation college-goers, English language learners and other students who are underrepresented in colleges.
COLLABORATION STEERS COLLEGE-FOR-ALL CULTURE Hector Belmontes fondly remembers his first day of college, even though he hasn’t graduated from high school yet. “I remember most the smile of our professor when she asked, ‘I’m sorry to be rude, but what is your age?’” said Belmontes, 16 and a high school junior in the Clint Independent School District, 25 miles east of El Paso. His age at the time: 14. Now, a year before he finishes high school, Hector has earned 66 credits and is on track to receive an associate’s degree from El Paso Community College. He is one of 294 students enrolled in Clint ISD Early College Academy (CECA). He is a member of the inaugural cohort of 99 students that launched the program in 2012. And, he is one of 28 students in the program that will earn a college degree in May. Texas is home to 108 early college high schools and eight blended early college high schools that focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which offer students a chance to save two years of college costs and earn credits that are transferable to a four-year college as they work towards a bachelor’s degree. Educate Texas has piloted and led 65 of the
ECHS/T-STEM GRADUATES PROJECTED TO EARN $250,000 MORE IN LIFETIME EARNINGS THAN AVERAGE TEXAS STUDENT Educate Texas Student Compared to Average Texas Student Life%me
Earnings
Persist from 1st to 2nd Year
Enroll in Higher Educa%on
Graduate High School
$250K More In Life9me Earnings +21% points
+16% points
+8% points
+41% points Earn Dual Credit/Advanced Course
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA) and National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data using a weighted average based on number of students in the 2008 – 2012 cohort of students. Does not include SWS or schools with less than two years of continuous operation.
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With Educate Texas as a thought-partner, Clint ISD and El Paso Community College set out to create a “college for all” culture, beginning with the formation of CECA. As the school district worked to make college the norm for all students, it began to transform. Now, teachers’ college degrees hang on every classroom wall. Faculty and staff wear t-shirts from their alma maters each Friday. And all students, even kindergartners, talk about going to college – not as an “if,” but a “when” in the rural district 25 miles east of El Paso. “All of the campuses have college readiness activities. The elementary schools. The middle schools. Everyone,” said James Littlejohn, Chief Academic Officer for the district. “It’s standard operating procedure.” CECA is also an incubator of college readiness strategies that will empower all district students to graduate college and career ready. “We set out to answer the question of how can we make this a lab that can be a place for the dissemination of ideas to the rest of the district,” said Tonie Badillo, Instructional Dean at EPCC. Although CECA is one of seven early college high schools supported by EPCC in El Paso County, the initiative is unique for two reasons: the district’s rural location and distance from the community college, and the plan to open the school while also implementing early college practices, instruction and professional development across the district. The district serves a stretch of nearly 380 square miles that includes the town of Clint, Horizon City and the unincorporated area of Montana Vista. It is one of the fastest growing areas in El Paso County. Due to its geography, Clint ISD buses students more than a million miles annually to and from school. CECA is not co-located with EPCC. It is 18 miles from the Valley Verde campus where its students take some classes. This required the school district to manage transportation to EPCC and develop course scheduling that served the students’ needs. It also meant students barely in their teens who are usually within an arm’s reach of district teachers and staff were spending time in an environment more conducive to older, experienced learners. To cope with the circumstance, the district created the position of college transition officer. This staffer made sure the students attended classes, learned how to navigate the college campus and helped them adjust to college culture.
2015 Impact Report
MILESTONES A new path to college for students in Clint ISD started in 2010, when Educate Texas partnered with the district and El Paso Community College (EPCC) to develop an innovative, systemic early college high school program with funding provided by the Greater Texas Foundation and The Meadows Foundation. 2010 • Signed the Clint ISD grant agreement • Launched Steering Committee • Selected early college high school site • Hired college readiness facilitators for each campus • Implemented the Super Scholars Program
2011 • Hired early college high school Principal • Developed professional development plan with Educate Texas • Recruited first cohort of students • Hired curriculum coaches • Developed districtwide College/Career for All Plan
2012 • Opened Clint ISD Early College Academy • Implemented the Clint ISD Early College Academy Common Instructional Framework professional development districtwide with coaches • Implemented districtwide College/Career for All Plan • Trained 60 percent of district’s teachers to use the Common Instructional Framework • Aligned district advanced placement/career and technical education/dual credit offerings
2013 • Designed a transportation plan for students to travel to college campus • Implemented community awareness events • Evaluated Year 1 • Implemented districtwide standardized college preparatory exam process for all students
2014-15 • Evaluated Year 2 • Ended grant, with the following outcomes: more than a third of the juniors on target to graduate with an associate’s degree in 2015; one junior will graduate with both an associate’s degree and high school diploma; Clint high school designated as T-STEM Academy.
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IN SUMMARY TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS Key Challenge Teacher quality is the most important schoolbased variable in student achievement, but school systems lack the models and research to guide the development of support for educators to help students achieve.
Creative Approach Define and implement a common understanding of the full spectrum for strengthening the teacher pipeline. Improve data use and management. Provide quality professional development and teacher feedback; share innovative human capital best practices; disseminate promising practices to state agencies and policy makers.
Results Developed case studies in order to provide a tool that offers practical examples of high quality teacher effectiveness and human capital efforts already underway across the state the Texas Teaching Commission, which spent a year examining the teacher continuum and made legislative, state agency and district level recommendations for the next generation of teachers.
Lasting Impact The case studies examining the Austin, Dallas and Houston school districts and the Texas Teaching Commission have provided research and lessons learned from Texas and across the country that continue to inform Educate Texas’ efforts to support teachers and students. These findings have been shared with Educate Texas’ Urban Council of Superintendents, a forum for 10 urban school district leaders whose districts served nearly 60 percent of all Texas students and with a cohort freshman Texas legislators.
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“These innovative adaptations serve as a model for how to successfully implement a rural early college high school,” said Kristin Kuhne, Director of Insights and Analytics with Educate Texas. The partnership of Educate Texas, Clint ISD and EPCC drove the initiative beyond its challenges. Here’s how it worked: • Educate Texas provided professional development support, technical assistance and evaluation while also serving as an agent of thought, information and networking. • EPCC waived tuition and fees for students, shared data with the triad and offered support for college placement exams, facilities and student support services. • Clint ISD pushed college and career readiness districtwide. It introduced more rigor in classes at every grade level, invested in additional staff and coaches and allocated resources through a commitment from the school board and superintendent. “Strong partnerships accelerate districtwide change, even when there are obstacles to move out of the way in the process,” said Denise Davis, Associate Program Officer at Educate Texas. The partnership worked because everyone put the student first, the stakeholders agreed. “We came across challenges, but we were able to work through them, because we all want the best solution for the students,” said Edmond Martinez, CECA principal.
AREA OF ACTION STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP, CAPACITY BUILDING AND TEACHER VOICES LEAD TO EFFECTIVE TEACHING Nationally, and in Texas, there is a robust discussion about teacher effectiveness. While there are many interpretations of teacher effectiveness, the different definitions share common elements: they highlight the connection between the science and art of teaching and the reciprocal act of learning, and express a desire for all teachers to educate students to the highest level possible. The Texas Teaching Commission report, a 2011 study that draws on national expertise and models, provided recommendations for the legislature, state education agencies, and local districts. The Teaching Commission not only demonstrated how critical teachers are to education, but also reinforced the value of highlighting promising ideas for improving teacher quality. National research tells us what we know from experience: teacher quality is the most important school-based variable in
2015 Impact Report
student achievement. While we know that teachers are critically important to student learning, we do not have the models and research to guide us in developing the appropriate support for educators to help their students meet an ever more complex and interconnected world. Creating strategic systems that support educators is a challenge across schools, districts, and states. In Texas, there are more than 327,000 teachers working in over 1,200 school districts. As the national and state-level conversation about teacher effectiveness continues to develop, Educate Texas believes it is important to highlight promising models. Three of our districts – Austin, Dallas, and Houston – have taken bold steps to develop innovative, new systems of support and training for teachers and principals, with the goal of improving instructional practice. The remainder of this section will be dedicated to looking at the work done in Dallas ISD. The following is an excerpt from the case study on the Dallas district that provides a practical example of high-quality teacher effectiveness and human capital efforts being undertaken and, thus, demonstrates tremendous impact. To read the full case study, visit www.edtx.org and read “Innovations to Increase Teacher Effectiveness in Texas” under Research and Reports in the navigation bar. As you read about the work in the Dallas district, you will learn that the key takeaways were that engaging educators in efforts to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement is critical, and, to ensure that teacher effectiveness practices are used regularly in the classroom, districts should also provide incentives, feedback, and support. Through the Dallas, Austin and Houston case studies, Educate Texas learned the following are needed to develop a comprehensive system of support for teachers: • Strategic Leadership is Integral – Research and experience demonstrate that the largest portion of a school’s budget is allocated to salaries and benefits; in fact, recent data indicates that is often as high as 89 percent of the budget. While we know that the majority of a school’s budget is allocated to staffing, we often do not coordinate our organizational infrastructure in a way that reflects the value and importance of human capital. Leaders (including superintendents, administrators, and principals) can take actions that not only send a clear message about the value of human capital, but also lead to increased organizational effectiveness and efficiency. • Capacity Building is Critical – There is not one agreed upon starting point for developing a comprehensive system of support for teachers. As evidenced by the case studies, there are many strategic decisions that differ based on the context of each individual district and school. For example, districts may start their work with teachers, principals, or both. Similarly, a district may include or exclude incentive pay from its system. From the very beginning of developing a system of teacher effectiveness system, the following question must remain central: “what
supports need to be put in place in order to incentivize and facilitate our desired outcomes?” • Teacher Voice is the Foundation of Teacher Effectiveness – A major lesson from the study is the importance of engaging educators in the discussion and development of systems to support them. To ensure that the programs and policies that we create positively influence teachers, we emphasize that decision-makers approach the development of teacher effectiveness systems in a way that is collaborative, collegial, and inclusive. All three districts in this case study demonstrate both the opportunities and the challenges associated with this work. By making teacher voice the foundation of this work we not only ensure that we are positively influencing their work, we also give teachers a vested interest in their teacher effectiveness systems. Education cannot happen without teachers. Therefore, as we develop teacher effectiveness systems, it is in everyone’s best interest to align the practices that help teachers build their repertoire of practice. We continue to share the findings of this report with school districts, legislators and the state education agency. Our goal is provide a resource that informs conversations and promotes knowledge-sharing among educators and policymakers.
CASE STUDY DALLAS ISD: THE ROLE OF A PRINCIPAL EVALUATION SYSTEM IN TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS The The Dallas Independent School District has identified the position of principal as a critical role that will help schools become more focused on instructional improvement and teacher effectiveness, with the ultimate goal being the improvement of student achievement. Since 2012, the district has invested substantially in a longterm action plan to help transform Dallas ISD into a more instructionally-focused district. The plan features making principals the key to reform, placing an effective teacher before every child, and expanding “leadership density,” a term that refers to the development of strong, accountable leaders throughout the system. To bring these priorities to fruition, Dallas ISD developed and implemented its principal evaluation system as part of an overall effort to develop a culture centered on instructional improvement, and to build leadership capacity toward that end. Interviewees at the district and in Dallas schools said that the district’s overall approach is based on having principals in every school who are effective instructional leaders. “Having leadership focused on instructional quality and academic achievement needs 43
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to permeate the entire organization,” said Charles Glover, former chief of human capital management at Dallas ISD from 2012 to 2013, when the evaluation system was developed. “We believe that the most impactful manager is the school principal.”
important, in terms of points, are leadership and the instructional program, but the rubric is comprehensive and complex. All five categories include multiple sub-categories, so that there are 31 areas of assessment.
Glover also said that Dallas ISD has used its evaluation system to identify the professional performance and student achievement that the district expects from principals, and then to align all principal recruitment, professional development, retention, and compensation systems to support those priorities. Many districts, he said, hire principals based on one set of criteria, train them based on a second set of criteria, and compensate them based a third set. The district’s goal is to accurately and fairly assess principal effectiveness in order to do the following:
In each of the 31 sub-categories, principals are scored either as unsatisfactory, progressing, proficient, or exemplary. Also in each sub-category, the rubric identifies the criteria used, offers sources of evidence for assessment, and provides specific examples of principal behaviors.
• Send clear signals to principals about what the district values. • Provide feedback and professional development to support their leadership capacity for instructional improvement. • Assist the district in making decisions related to who will lead schools.
Key Components of Principal Evaluation
In addition to the performance evaluation rubric, the district also scores principal performance based on five other measures: 1) systems review, 2) improvement in teacher effectiveness, 3) congruence between teacher performance and student achievement, 4) student attendance and 5) parent climate survey.
The district’s principal evaluation system consists of two sets of measures that total 100 possible points:
Component Two: Student Achievement
• Raise student achievement.
• Principal performance (60 points) is based on the principal’s scores in areas such as leadership, teacher effectiveness, and staff development. • Student achievement (40 points) is based on student results on state and district assessments. Principals receive evaluation results twice. They receive an interim evaluation that includes principal-performance scores (item 1 above) near the end of the school year. They receive their final evaluation during the fall of the next year, after student achievement results (item 2 above) are available. In addition, the district provides principals with progress monitoring during the year. The progress-monitoring component is aligned with measures in the principal performance and student achievement categories. Progress-monitoring serves as a feedback tool for principals to gauge their growth during the school year.
Component One: Principal Performance The principal performance component is comprised of six overall measures that add to 60 points. The first measure, the performance evaluation rubric, accounts for 30 points. This rubric provides a detailed description of the district’s standards for principals in five categories: (a) leadership, (b) the instructional program, (c) staff development, (d) effective management, and (e) professional responsibilities. Of these areas, the most 44
Silvia Reyna, former chief of school leadership for the district, said that the high level of detail in the performance evaluation rubric has been essential in identifying what the district values for principals. “It provides the detailed behaviors,” she said, “the descriptions of what we’re looking for exactly, so that principals know what’s involved. It’s fully described and modeled, so there are clear expectations.”
The student achievement component is based primarily on student results on state and district assessments. It includes six measures that together account for 40 points for the principal evaluation. The measures include state assessment, such as STAAR test results overall and for feeder groups; district common assessments in reading, writing, math and science; achievement gap data; college- and career-ready rates for high schools; and other achievement measures. Most achievement data are available after the end of the year, except for the district common assessments, which provide results after the first semester. A principal in Dallas emphasized the importance of the STAAR results associated with the feeder group of schools in the district. The district organizes its coaching support for principals through feeder groups, which are comprised of elementary and middle schools that feed into a single high school. The principal said that even though the three points allotted to STAAR results for each feeder group are “minimal,” they provide each principal with “stock in the game, to say ‘If I’m doing some things that are working on my campus, I need to share those things with my colleagues…’ It has made us all share our best practices with each other…If one campus fails, that impacts your evaluation, too.”
Progress Monitoring The district provides mid-year feedback to help principals assess their performance and improvement, based on progress
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monitoring metrics and mid-year reviews. During the mid-year reviews, for example, each principal discusses with district leaders (executive directors assigned to their school) the results of their curriculum alignment rubric, their instructional feedback rubric, their spot observation patterns in classrooms, and data about teacher effectiveness. Other examples of progress-monitoring metrics include: a school action plan rubric, systems reviews, data reviews, climate surveys, quality-of-instruction coaching sessions and metrics (including progress on the principal’s goals), and student achievement results to date.
How the District Gets There: Professional Development and Coaching Support After Superintendent Mike Miles joined the district in 2012, the eliminated the centralized professional development department and replaced it with (1) a department of school leadership, with new priorities to support principal leadership; and (2) a revamped and decentralized instructional support services department, to facilitate teacher needs in schools, as determined by the school sites. In effect, the district shifted existing resources to enhance support for principals as instructional leaders and to provide school sites with more control of professional development. For principals, the district focused its professional development and training in two main areas, through the creation of the following, both of which are aligned explicitly with the district’s principal evaluation system: • Leadership Development Fellows Academy: Created in Fall 2012 to develop a pipeline of potential principal leaders. Distinguished teachers, assistant principals, or other aspiring leaders with at least three years of teaching experience, at Dallas ISD or elsewhere, can apply each spring to participate in the Fellows Academy during the following year. The district prefers candidates with a master’s degree, at least two years’ administrative experience, a desire to change the world, fearless of a challenge, and a belief that they can make a huge difference for our students.” The academy begins each fall with intensive professional development. By late fall, fellows are assigned to school campuses to work with an existing principal leader. During the academy’s inaugural school year (2012-13), 57 fellows participated in the program and 56 completed it or withdrew early to take principal or other leadership positions in the district. As of July 2013, 86 percent were placed in principal or assistant principal positions, with another 10 percent in other positions such as coordinator, instructional coach, or program specialist. Two fellows (4 percent) left the district. • Robust coaching and training network for principals: The district’s 223 campuses are organized under five divisions, each headed by an assistant superintendent. Within each division, the schools are further organized into four or five feeder patterns, each headed by an executive director who works for
the district’s school leadership department. Each feeder pattern includes one high school and the middle and elementary schools that lead into it. The executive directors work full-time as leadership and instructional coaches for the principals in their feeder pattern. For these positions, the district seeks to hire high-level administrators who understand quality instruction, have excellent communications and management skills, and have experience with practical issues that principals manage daily. Since each executive director works with only 10 to 14 principals, they get to know them well. They are on campus often—from weekly for principals and schools with high needs to every two or three weeks otherwise. They observe principal visits to classrooms and other duties regularly, so they can provide principals with direct and immediate feedback about their instructional coaching of teachers. Typically, executive directors start the year by helping principals examine campus data, develop an action plan for the campus, and set their own goals as principal. After that, the role focuses on coaching principals one-on-one to improve instructional excellence. During the year, executive directors use the evaluation rubrics for progress monitoring, ensuring that principals receive consistent coaching and feedback, so that they are not surprised by their evaluation at year end. In turn, principals have multiple opportunities provide input about their evaluation.
The Role of Principal Evaluation in Teacher Effectiveness: Spot Observations and Coaching Practice Interviewees provided a range of examples that suggest links between the district’s principal evaluation and support on the one hand, and teacher effectiveness on the other. For example, Dallas
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performance. When using rubrics to describe standards of performance: provide clear examples of principal behaviors ranging from unsatisfactory to exemplary, and identify sources of evidence for evaluation. • Professional development and training are integral to an effective evaluation system. Realign the district’s professional development infrastructure, if needed, to provide the coaching and support that will enable principals to reach the desired standards of achievement.
ISD emphasizes four key elements of instructional delivery. For every lesson, each teacher must: • Post a clearly stated learning objective; • Include a “demonstration of learning” (DOL)—an activity or product through which students demonstrate that they have learned the objective; • Use “multiple response strategies” (MRSs) for engaging students; and • Be purposeful in connecting activities to the objective and adjusting instruction based on classroom responses. Executive directors coach principals in how to identify and discuss these elements, while principals work with teachers on expanding and deepening their use. The tool that executive directors, principals, and teachers employ to examine these issues is the spot observation, also known as classroom walkthroughs. Principles perform spot observations of each teacher six times each semester—and provide feedback to the teachers within 48 hours. The observations last about 10 minutes and are based on a form that identifies various aspects of the four elements above.35 According to Deputy Superintendent Ann Smisko, the spot observation system clarifies for teachers and principals “what the district is looking for in instructional quality, so that everyone is on the same page.”
Conclusion: Why Consider a Principal Evaluation System? For other districts interested in developing a principal evaluation system, district administrators and principals emphasized the importance of identifying the district’s overall values for principal leadership and creating an aligned system of recruitment, training, evaluation, retention, and compensation that puts those values into effect. The evaluation metrics help identify the district’s priorities for principals, but it’s the alignment of all the components that builds capacity over time. Interviewees also had the following recommendation for other districts: • Be transparent in the metrics used to gauge principal 46
• Use the tools of the evaluation—the rubrics, observation forms, etc.—frequently in coaching and professional development, to demonstrate how the expectations on paper are connected to the work on the ground. This can also expose areas where the rubrics and other evaluation tools need to be improved. • Emphasize data use and self-reflection frequently and consistently. For coaches working with principals, and for principals working with teachers: point to evidence for your own statements and ask for evidence for others’ statements constantly. • Consider developing new templates (spot observation forms) that principals can use to provide feedback about classroom instruction by teachers. The forms clarify district priorities for instructional quality. In developing new systems for principal evaluation, interviewees said that districts need to be proactive in providing information to and getting feedback from principals, teachers, and other key stakeholders, such as parents and families. In addition, communities should be involved integrally—through community forums, business networks, and other means—to assure broad support for the district’s vision and direction.
AREA OF ACTION POSTSECONDARY ACCESS EFFORTS LEAD TO INCREASED ENROLLMENT AND PERSISTANCE After reviewing longitudinal research of our Texas students, Educate Texas found that only 20 percent of Texas students earn a postsecondary degree 11 years after beginning 8th grade, with this number dropping to less than 10 percent of our state’s lowincome and underserved students. Educate Texas partners with state agencies and higher education institutions to design and implement high-impact programs that increase the number of students who enroll in, persist in, and complete two-year, four-year or technical degrees. Educate Texas also builds networks of key stakeholders that can inform policies that improve postsecondary completion rates. The highlights in Educate Texas’ work in higher education access and success are as follows:
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The Texas College Access Network: TxCAN is part of the National College Access Network (NCAN) and operates as a sustainable network of agencies and organizations working collaboratively to increase student access and success in postsecondary education. Through TxCAN, organizations such as the institutions of higher education, school districts, school counselors, non-profit and forprofit college access service providers, and state agencies will have greater opportunities to work together in furthering a common mission of greater student postsecondary access and success. Key initiatives will focus on building awareness of existing college access activities and resources; aligning the strategic efforts of various stakeholders; and providing tools to measure the impact of college support efforts. To accomplish these goals, Educate Texas, in partnership with regional organizations, launched a concerted plan of action to bring together multiple stakeholders in six areas in Texas – El Paso, Houston, Dallas, Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Tyler - to address the most critical local and regional college access and success needs. TxCAN is working to build a network that will empower students, their parents and other school community stakeholders to navigate the college going process and provide the resources that counselors, advisors, and schools need to more comprehensively support their students. Persistence and Completion Strategies: To improve college success rates, Educate Texas has been working to identify additional opportunities for programmatic investments. One example is a new project that allows colleges to use predictive analytics in higher education to better understand the needs of their student populations. Student Segmentation: Institutions have collected vast amounts of student-level data, but few have effectively used data systems to target and personalize support and resources. Over the past year, Educate Texas has worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on an actionable research initiative that allows a college to segment its student population based on their underlying needs, motivations, and behaviors. This practice of segmenting a population has proven to be highly effective in improving customer retention in the private sector and it has been adapted for students in higher education. Given his previous experience in this work, Educate Texas’ Chief Operating Officer George Tang was invited to serve on a national advisory council to shape the development of the segmentation structure and to provide ideas for developing programs and more student-centric interventions. After completing this research, Educate Texas has worked with the Gates Foundation, El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso to use these insights to better support students during their postsecondary experience.
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IN SUMMARY HIGHER EDUCATION Key Challenge Research projects that 65 percent adults will require a postsecondary credential to be gainfully employed in the next 20 years. In Texas, only 20 percent of all 8th graders will go on to earn some postsecondary credential. For economically disadvantaged students, the rate drops to 10 percent.
Creative Approach Partner with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and higher education institutions to design and implement high-impact strategies that increase the number of students who enroll in, persist in, and complete two-year, four-year or technical degrees. Build networks of key stakeholders that can inform policies that improve postsecondary access and completion rates.
Results Educate Texas has launched and developed efforts to increase postsecondary access; cultivate a receptive environment for postsecondary success policy reform; and improve college success rates.
Lasting Impact Educate Texas’ efforts to ensure all high school students have the tools and resources necessary to apply to, enter and succeed in college have the potential reach 320,000 students. The Texas Student Success Council convened 32 cross-sector leaders to address key postsecondary policy issues; the Texas College Access Network expanded their reach by supporting students in the Rio Grande Valley.
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Texas Student Success Council: The Texas Student Success Council has become a crucial part of a statewide effort to increase postsecondary completion and serves to cultivate a receptive environment for postsecondary success policy reform. With community colleges serving an increasing percentage of Texas students—particularly those who are low-income and firstgeneration—the council’s focus is on policies affecting studentsuccess efforts at these institutions. To assess the opportunities for improvement, members include national experts on student success, statewide leaders representing K-12, higher education, philanthropy, and community leaders representing a variety of organizations and businesses. The Chairs of the House and Senate Higher Education committees, Commissioner Raymund Paredes of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Commissioner Andres Alcantar of the Texas Workforce Commission have also served as ex-officio members. Over the last three years, the Council has built consensus and adopted recommendations that have informed policy around four priority areas: workforce, transfer and articulation, outcomes based funding and other barriers identified as a hindrance to student success. Through working closely and collaboratively with a diverse group of stakeholders, the Council has contributed to the dialogue surrounding these critical issues for Texas students and institutions and is positively affecting student success. It has been highlighted by Jobs for the Future as a national best practice for this work.
graduation, Educate Texas seeks to create greater levels of alignment between K-12, higher education and workforce pipelines to improve students’ college and career success.
AREA OF ACTION
The Rio Grande Valley was selected for this initiative because the area trails the state and nation in educational attainment. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2008-2012 American Community Survey, 25 percent of the region’s residents who are 25 or older have less than a ninth grade education, compared to 10 percent of the state’s residents and 6 percent of the country’s residents in this same age range.
REGIONAL COLLABORATION DEMONSTRATES COLLECTIVE IMPACT With research of Texas showing nearly 65 to 80 percent of K-12 students staying within their local communities after high school
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As a result, Educate Texas works with communities across the state to measure progress against key milestones to postsecondary readiness and success, identify effective strategies for improving student outcomes, and ensure resources are directed toward scaling evidence-based practices or developing new innovations to address key community needs. Through this continued focus on improving regional outcomes, Education Texas will accelerate student success and drive systemic change. In 2012, Educate Texas launched the Rio Grande Valley Collective Impact initiative, now RGV FOCUS. The goal was to transform college readiness, access, and success across the fourcounty region made up of Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy. Initially founded by a group of district superintendents and higher education presidents, the collaborative has grown to include a cross-sector group made up of educators, nonprofits, community groups, funders, and business and civic leaders dedicated to making major, systemic improvements to educational and career attainment in the Rio Grande Valley. The group meets regularly to identify assets and needs in the region, adopt a common vision, and identify shared goals, strategies, and metrics to help drive the following vision: All Rio Grande Valley learners will achieve a degree or credential that leads to a meaningful career.
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While some might see the demographics of the area as bleak, Educate Texas sees opportunities for cultivating a brighter educational future. The Rio Grande Valley is located in the southernmost part of Texas and shares a border with Mexico. The expansive region covers 43,000 square miles and is home to a growing population of 1.3 million people with a median age of 30 across the four counties. Despite its vast size, the Rio Grande Valley is also a close-knit community. Many of its residents have similar backgrounds, with about 90 percent of them having Mexican or other Latino heritage. The region is largely rural, and agriculture and manufacturing have historically been its top industries. Many of the region’s families are economically disadvantaged: 33 percent live in poverty, compared to 14 percent of Texas as a whole. The region’s median income is $40,000, trailing the state by $12,000. The Rio Grande Valley’s economy, which has also been a growing one, is changing. A new medical school opening this year as part of The University of Texas system will bring more jobs in education and health services. California-based SpaceX wants to build a space port in Brownsville, a city in Cameron County, and is predicted to create 500 jobs over the next 10 years and generate $51 million in annual salaries, according to the Brownsville Economic Development Council. With these types of positive changes, the Rio Grande Valley has to close its educational gap and produce more postsecondary credentialed residents who will continue to live and work in the area. Despite the area’s growth, it continues to lag in many areas. Recent unemployment data shows a rate of 9.3 percent, higher than the national average. RGV FOCUS works to strengthen each step of the educational pipeline and align community resources to provide the support learners need to succeed throughout high school and postsecondary in order to pursue a meaningful career in the RGV and beyond. Last year, a big accomplishment of RGV Focus was the development of a regional college prep course in response to Texas House Bill 5. The bill required school districts to partner with at least one institution of higher education. RGV Focus took this mandate a step further and created a Memorandum of Understanding with all of the school public school districts in the four-county region and five higher education institutions to collaboratively develop and provide one math and one English college preparatory course that will be accepted as evidence of college readiness by all five of the higher education institutions. Two thirds of all school districts in the four-county area have already executed this MOU. As a result, eligible high school seniors will be exposed to the same learning outcomes, textbooks and final exam to ensure they are prepared to enroll in college credit courses upon graduation. The courses were added to the schools districts’ curriculums this school year.
IN SUMMARY REGIONAL COLLABORATION Key Challenge Nearly 80 percent of K-12 students stay within their local communities after high school graduation.
Creative Approach Create greater levels of alignment between K-12, higher education and workforce pipelines to improve students’ college and career attendance and success, by working with communities to measure postsecondary success, identifying strategies for improving student outcomes, and ensuring resources are directed toward scaling evidencebased practices of addressing community needs.
Results Educate Texas launched the Rio Grande Valley Collective Impact initiative, now RGV FOCUS, to transform college readiness, access, and success across the four-county region made up of Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy. Our efforts have the potential to reach more than 343,000 K-12 students in 39 school districts and 67,900 college students enrolled in two universities, two community colleges and one technical college.
Lasting Impact The RGV Focus initiative led to a regional college prep course in response to Texas House Bill 5, which requires school districts to partner with at least one institution of higher education. RGV Focus created a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with all of the school public school districts in the fourcounty region and five higher education institutions to develop college preparatory courses that will be accepted as evidence of college readiness by all five of the higher education institutions. Twenty six school districts, representing two thirds of all districts in the four county area, have already executed this MOU. 49
W.W. CARUTH, JR. FOUNDATION
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“ The Caruth Foundation provides a unique opportunity for grantees to take big, bold approaches to solving some of the most difficult challenges of our time. We are not interested in creating incremental change, but rather in pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the fields of education, public safety, and medical and scientific research.”
– Monica Egert Smith Community Philanthropy Director W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation
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W.W. CARUTH, JR. FOUNDATION FUNDING BOLD PROJECTS TO TRANSFORM COMMUNITIES It took a certain boldness for William Barr Caruth to leave Kentucky on horseback with little money and few possessions and head to the banks of the Trinity River in 1848. He arrived, summoned his brother Walter, who joined him a year later, and the two took a confident leap to start a business and open a general store. This marked the beginning of the family’s historical, and grand, relationship with Dallas. The family of pioneers, planters, community planners, real estate entrepreneurs and, most importantly, generous philanthropists helped shape the city into the place it is now. For example, it was William Walter Caruth, Sr. – son of the aforementioned William Barr Caruth - who donated the family’s most valuable land to build Southern Methodist University.
W.W. CARUTH, JR. FOUNDATION AT A GLANCE GOAL To encourage nonprofits to be bold in pushing boundaries as they work to solve complex community issues. CHARACTERISTICS OF CARUTH FUNDING • Grants are of significant size, often multimillion dollar awards • Aims to be “first money in” and to take bigger funding risks • Encourages collaborative approaches to transformational projects • Funds impact assessments with grants that encourage scaling and sustainability efforts • Supports the idea that evaluation is a powerful, necessary tool for demonstrating impact and areas for improvement KEY STRATEGIC AREAS Education Public Safety Scientific and Medical Research Public Safety Scientific and Medical Research 52
Later, under the oversight of William Walter Caruth, Jr., the family owned more than 30,000 acres of Dallas property, stretching from downtown to the north and including such developments as Inwood Village and the Caruth Hills neighborhood. W.W. Caruth, Jr. was also a legendary giver with a big philanthropic vision. He pumped millions of dollars into charity, but not to what some might consider the usual beneficiaries of the wealthy, such as music, art or museums. Mr. Caruth gave to his personal passions, and he was deeply interested in public safety and science. In 1951, he established the first Caruth Family Foundation to benefit educational and scientific research. Later, in 1974, Mr. Caruth established the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund to support new and innovative approaches to public safety, education and scientific and medical research. He gave generously to support these causes, because he wanted to see frontier-advancing work that would transform the community. By the time of his death in 1990, he and his family had made an estimated $300 million in philanthropic contributions. He left the bulk of his estate to CFT. The Caruth family’s impact and legacy continues today with what is now the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation, an organization housed at CFT that still focuses on education, public safety and scientific and medical research. It is the largest single fund in the organization’s portfolio and is managed by CFT’s trustees. The foundation’s defining characteristics include an ability and desire to use grantmaking to encourage nonprofits to be bold in their pursuit of solving complex community issues. Throughout the last 20 years, the Caruth Foundation has awarded more than $110 million in grants. The Caruth Foundation deploys several unique grantmaking strategies toward its goal of creating transformative change in our community. These strategies include: • A willingness and ability to make grants of significant size (often multi-million dollar awards); • A willingness to be “first money in” and to take bigger risks in funding grant proposals; • Active efforts to encourage collaborative approaches to transformational projects; • A willingness to fund impact assessments and to use, when appropriate, the results to encourage scaling and sustainability efforts; and a belief that evaluation is to be used as a powerful, necessary tool for inspiration and collaborative improvement, not for punishment.
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NEW GRANTS TO WATCH: EDUCATION CITY YEAR PILOTS PROGRAM TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN TWO HIGH-NEED DALLAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS A forecast of the future: two-thirds of the nation’s jobs will require some form of postsecondary education by 2018, but the nation will be three million college graduates short. A look at now: more than two million American students attend low-performing high schools where the odds of graduating are less than 60 percent. Twenty-five percent of all young people and approximately 40 percent of African American and Hispanic youth do not graduate from high school. And, finally, a look closer to home: Dallas ISD serves approximately 156,500 students, and although its graduation rate of 80 percent is slightly above the national average of 78.2 percent, only 40 percent of Dallas district students graduate college-ready based on standardized test scores, compared to 52 percent of students statewide. In an effort to improve these statistics in the future, the Caruth Foundation has awarded a $750,000 grant to City Year, an education-focused non-profit that partners with public schools to help keep students in school and on-track to graduate. City Year’s goal is to bring its Whole School Whole Child model to Dallas, helping to accelerate student achievement and ensure students graduate from high school on a path toward college, career and a lifetime of engaged citizenship. The purpose of the Caruth grant is to support the launch of City Year Dallas in Dallas Independent School District, beginning in five high-need DISD schools in 2015-2016. City Year’s activities are grouped into three main areas of focus: academic support, student engagement and school culture. Services include: One-to-one and small group tutoring in English and math; classroom instructional support in collaboration with teachers; homework help; family engagement and phone calls regarding absent students; start-of-day and end-of-day greetings; support for school positive reinforcement systems; and structured positive reinforcement and intervention (general instruction, near-peer coaching and incentive programs and after school and service opportunities). City Year’s strategy is designed to significantly increase the number of students who reach the 10th grade, on-track and ontime, in order to increase the likelihood of graduating high school. City Year’s long term impact strategy is a 10-year plan to serve in each of the cities that account for two-thirds of the nation’s urban dropouts by 2023. It aims to reach 50 percent of off-
track students in City Year communities, and to nearly double the number of students who reach the 10th grade on-track and on-time. At full scale, City Year will reach nearly one million students every day in more than 1,200 schools.
PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM LOOKS TO THE PAST TO BUILD LEADERS FOR THE FUTURE The Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center is leading the development of a Presidential Leadership Scholars Program, a prestigious educational initiative for emerging civic leaders. The program is designed to cultivate a new generation of principled leaders who are capable of drawing from the past and putting forward a vision for the future that inspires and unites people around solutions that address complex, pressing issues. The program will be administered in partnership with three other Presidential centers, including those of President William Jefferson Clinton, President George H.W. Bush, and President Lyndon Baines Johnson. The Bush Center leads the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program and acts as fiscal agent. The Caurth Foundation has awarded $1.5 million to the Bush Center to support development of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program curriculum. This program will be distinguished from existing leadership initiatives by the active engagement of President George W. Bush and President Clinton; a unique curriculum that uses case studies from presidents representing different political parties; and by targeting mid-career, proven civic leaders with potential to strengthen their leadership abilities. The program teaches promising mid-career leaders in the public, private, military, and non-profit sectors the skills required to be a leader of leaders, to inspire and unite people, and to resolve complex issues facing communities across the nation. Classes will be taught by former administration officials and leading academics and will draw from scholarly resources available through universities affiliated with the four presidential centers: Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, the University of Arkansas, and other leading institutions. The long-term goal of the program is to influence the civic environment in communities across the country by fostering close working relationships among participants who will be selected from a variety of backgrounds and ideologies. These relationships, coupled with a leadership approach that emphasizes achieving results, will prepare these scholars with the skills necessary to resolve difficult issues.
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NEW GRANTS TO WATCH: PUBLIC SAFET Y BLIGHT TAKES A BACK SEAT TO COMMUNITY ACTION Blighted properties are more than just an eyesore. Such properties deplete the quality of life for those who live near the sites. The properties attract illegal drug use, prostitution, vandalism and arson, which perpetuates neighborhood deterioration. They extract power from nearby residents by perpetuating low property values and stifling opportunities for revitalization. Advocates for Community Transformation (ACT) attempts to reverse urban blight by empowering inner-city residents through legal advocacy to seek resolution of crime-ridden and hazardous properties in their neighborhoods. ACT works alongside the community to hold the owners of drug houses and hazardous properties accountable through community organizing, ministry outreach and legal action, thereby promoting safer neighborhoods, sustainable systemic change, and long-term prosperity for people living in its targeted neighborhoods. ACT works on behalf of inner-city residents by enforcing their rights in legal advocacy provided by volunteer legal teams. ACT has strong relationships with several Dallas law firms that provide pro bono legal services to residents in targeted neighborhoods. Legal service partners include Baker Botts, Vinson & Elkins, Haynes & Boone, Locke Lord, Winstead, Baker McKenzie and Gibson Dunn. ACT has demonstrated a track record of success. It is currently focused on the West Dallas neighborhoods of Westmoreland Park, Ledbetter Gardens, Westmoreland Heights and Cross Hampton. Two of these neighborhoods have seen reported crime reduced by nearly 50 percent since the organization’s founding in 2009. One of the greatest impacts has been on non-violent residential crimes, which have declined by more than 60 percent. In the past five years, ACT has shut down 40 drug houses in four target neighborhoods, grown its client base from 20 residents to more than 100 residents, and has provided more than 200 wills to residents to prevent current homes from becoming future magnets for crime. In 2014, the Caruth Foundation awarded ACT a $200,000 planning grant so to expand its efforts. The grant supports a
feasibility study, a program expansion plan, and the launching of an outcomes measurement study needed to expand the Legal Advocacy Program to Eliminate Crime and Urban Blight into South Dallas. ACT plans to do the following with the grant: •C omplete a feasibility study of target properties, needs indicators, resources, and attitudes towards assistance. •C reate a detailed program expansion plan, including timeline for expansion and detail of the steps necessary to expand into new neighborhoods in South Dallas. The plan will cover steps for expansion through 2019. ACT will partner with an academic institution to develop outcome goals and measurements to be used in preparation of its expansion, and to collect data over a five-year period.
CONFERENCE WORKS TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN The case for supporting the Conference on Crimes Against Women is startling. Consider these statistics gathered by the organization: • One in three women experience violence in their lifetime •M ore than three women are murdered by their intimate partners every day •M ore than three million children witness violence in their homes each year • A forcible rape occurs every 5.7 minutes in the United States The Conference on Crimes Against Women was established in 2006 as a national clearinghouse for training on best practices regarding the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women. The annual conference is presented by Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support and the Dallas Police Department in association with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. Conference participants are made up of first-line responders to violence against women, including FBI agents, state and local law enforcement officers, state and federal prosecutors, representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, forensic nurses, employees of domestic violence shelters, and victim advocates from across the U.S. and Canada. They come to the two-and-ahalf day conference to hear national experts present training and techniques for addressing such crimes as domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.
The Presidential Leadership Scholars Program will offer a non-credit bearing course to promising mid-career leaders in the public, private, military, and nonprofit sectors. 55
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In 2014, the Caruth Foundation awarded $530,000 to the Conference on Crimes Against Women to support the planning of an Institute for Coordinated Community Response to train law enforcement, criminal justice officials and victims’ advocates to effectively respond to crimes of violence against women. The proposed institute will train and foster county-based collaborative and multi-disciplinary commissions comprised of working professionals in law enforcement, criminal justice and victims advocacy, serving in communities across Texas that have the highest crime rates, the fewest resources and that lack specialized training in domestic and family-related violence. The goal is to develop a comprehensive training platform that will support more than 300 fellows who apply to the program annually. The fellows will receive learning and networking opportunities to increase their knowledge base, professional development support, and develop feasible and sustainable community responses to domestic violence in their communities via a combination of live and distance learning, conference training in best practices, and strategic planning support through academic retreats, networking, and roundtable discussions. The Conference on Crimes Against Women aims to leverage existing resources within Genesis Women’s Shelter, the conference, and the research team at UT Dallas to create a dynamic, current, interactive and connected community of criminal justice and social service professionals who share a common goal of increasing the efficacy and response to victims of domestic violence.
NEW GRANTS TO WATCH: MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH EXCHANGING INFORMATION TO REVOLUTIONIZE HEALTHCARE DELIVERY An article in The Dallas Morning News opened with an example of a nearly comatose homeless patient who showed up at Parkland Memorial Hospital in 2008 with a condition that could have been prevented with an inexpensive daily pill and some basic communication. Yet, health care providers who treated the man had nothing to go on. Did he have a previous diagnosis? Had he ever had a prescription for the pills he needed? Was there someone who could help the man keep track of his illness, thus preventing him from returning time and time again to the hospital? At the time, there were no answers. The Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) is building a system to answer the types of questions presented 56
by incidents like these, particularly those involving people with high social service needs who appear at Parkland with no medical records. The Caruth Foundation awarded PCCI a $12 million grant over five years to establish the Dallas Information Exchange Portal (IEP), a real-time electronic platform that will integrate information between Parkland and the social service agencies that are most often the ones that help highneed individuals get medical care. The platform will connect organizations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, enabling a two-way exchange of clinical and social information to facilitate care coordination across medical and social service sectors. More than two decades of research have shown that unmet social needs contribute to adverse health events such as early mortality, hospital readmission, low birth weight, and chronic disease complications. Preventing these complications is a difficult challenge with vulnerable populations, which often require services from non-medical community-based organizations, such as homeless shelters, food pantries, and social assistance agencies. Technologies with advanced analytics that connect, aggregate, find, filter, extract, and utilize clinical and social data across hospitals, clinics and community-based organizations can prevent these problems before they occur. The hoped-for impact of this project includes: •A t least 30 hospitals and 50 community-based organizations connected across Dallas. • At least $15 million in healthcare savings in Dallas. • T echnologies and approaches developed that can be used nationally and around the world. • T en million lives touched across the United States over 10 years.
EYE INSTITUTE AND ENGINEERING SCHOOL PARTNER TO TACKLE MACULAR DEGENERATION Age-related macular degeneration, a progressive disease of the retina, is the most common cause of vision loss for people age 50 and older. Today, 18 million Americans have some form of age-related macular degeneration. It is projected that the population of people older than 60 will double by 2030, predicting a significant increase in the numbers affected by the disease over the next 15 years. Retina Foundation of the Southwest (RFSW), one of two nonprofit eye research institutes in the country, is partnering with Southern Methodist University’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering to create the Clinical Center of Innovation for Age-related Macular Degeneration. The partnership pairs clinical and technical expertise and research with the innovative practices of engineering.
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“ The Dallas IEP is an exciting advancement for health care and social service organizations. The Caruth Foundation at CFT is dedicated to supporting gamechanging innovation, and we are proud to be a part of this historic development.” – Brent Christopher, president and chief executive officer, Communities Foundation of Texas The Caruth Foundation has awarded a $2.5 million grant to support this partnership to focus on finding innovative solutions for treatment and a potential cure of the disease using a unique patient-first medical research model called the Medici. This approach allows for individualized treatment and technology creation, and will enable RFSW and SMU to combine their knowledge bases in a collaborative environment so they can identify disease problems and work toward solutions together at a much lower cost and with a more expedient approach.This model has the potential to improve upon the expensive and inefficient current model of medical research.
The project will work like this: following identification of a diseasespecific clinical challenge in a cohort of patients, clinicians, researchers and engineers will work together to develop solutions that can further define the clinical challenges and enhance the understanding of the disease. As there are no treatments for many sufferers of age-related macular degeneration, progress in technologies and treatments developed through this new partnership could then be tested through clinical trials. The Patient-First Medici Model takes cues from the so-called “Medici effect,” which supports the idea that breakthrough insight and invention often happen when two or more disparate fields collaborate. What is particularly unique in this case is the presence of engineers as collaborators. The medical research model draws on challenges from clinicians and communicates those challenges to a wide group of researchers with varied backgrounds who will then use their skills in a technology-based innovation program to rapidly bring technological solutions from the laboratory to the clinic. The primary focus will be on understanding the intricacies of the disease in patients and then developing technologies and drugs to combat the disease. If successful, the approach could transform the process of medical research for incurable diseases in a way that accelerates innovation and discovery of new technologies, treatments, and even cures.
PARKLAND FOUNDATION IMPAC T AND OUTCOMES
AIM
Aim
5-YEAR IMPACT
5 Year Impact
10-YEAR IMPACT
10 Year Impact
• 500,000 Dallas lives touched, of • 2 million Dallas lives touched, of Aim 1: which 2.5% are lives saved which 2.5% are lives saved Opera,onalize IEP as a na,onal model • At least 2 large health organiza,ons • At least 30 health organiza,ons and and 10 community organiza,ons 50 community organiza,ons connected across Dallas connected across Dallas • Dallas is established as the na,onal • IEP and enabling technologies are leader in social-‐health informa,on transforming health care in at least 3 exchange, demonstrated by related other ci,es publica,ons, patents, and thought • 10 million lives touched across U.S. leadership engagements • Dallas is established as most advanced innovator in healthcare worldwide Aim 2: Incorporate Pieces™ for the IEP Aim 3: Implement iCCD across IEP
• $2 million in healthcare savings
• $15 million in healthcare savings
• Sustain improved pa,ent health outcomes across at least 3 leading health condi,ons
• Sustain improved pa,ent health outcomes across at least 15 leading health condi,ons
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IN SUMMARY IN SUMMARY: CARUTH FOUNDATION GRANTS CITY YEAR
Hoped-for Impact
The City Year Whole School Whole Child student intervention and support model features AmeriCorps members who serve full-time in elementary schools through high schools to help improve student attendance, behavior and course performance, all indicators of a student’s likelihood to graduate from high school. This model provides research-based and data-informed academic interventions, extended learning programs, and activities that foster a schoolwide climate of achievement.
Train law enforcement, criminal justice officials and victims’ advocates to effectively respond to crimes of violence against women and foster county-based collaborative and multi-disciplinary commissions made up of working professionals in law enforcement, criminal justice and victims advocacy, serving in communities across Texas that have the highest crime rates, the fewest resources and that lack specialized training in domestic and family-related violence.
PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP SCHOLARS PROGRAM
Hoped-for Impact
The nation is in need of a new generation of civic leaders who can inspire and unite people around solutions to issues. The George W. Bush Foundation Presidential Leadership Scholars Program created a curriculum in 2014 that developed case studies from the fundamental elements of leadership using Presidents Lyndon Johnson, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, so that students in the program can draw from the past to cast a new vision for the future.
ADVOCATES FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION Blighted properties attract illegal drug use, prostitution, vandalism, and arson, and perpetuate neighborhood deterioration. In addition, they extract power from nearby residents by causing low property values and stifling opportunities for revitalization. Advocated for Community Transformation (ACT) began conducting a feasibility study with the goal of gaining data to expand its Legal Advocacy Program to Eliminate Crime and Urban Blight into South Dallas.
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Key to the success of this program is the powerful collaboration of four presidential libraries of varying political perspectives. A program advisory board is comprised of three representatives from each participating presidential institution. Each institution will host the students at its campus during the year. By forming a partnership among institutions closely tied to four former presidents and drawing on the active involvement of two former presidents, as well as important officials from each administration, the program will attract national attention and promote the concept of principled leadership.
Impact to Date Two targeted neighborhoods in West Dallas have seen reported crime reduced by nearly 50 percent since 2009. Non-violent residential crimes have declined by more than 60 percent. In the past five years, ACT has shut down 40 drug houses in four neighborhoods, grown its client base to more than 100, and has provided more than 200 wills to residents to prevent current homes from becoming future magnets for crime.
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IN SUMMARY: CARUTH FOUNDATION GRANTS CONFERENCE ON CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN One in three women experience violence in their lifetime. More than three women are murdered by their intimate partners every day. More than three million children witness violence in their homes each year. A forcible rape occurs every 5.7 minutes in the United States. Conference on Crimes Against Women trains law enforcement, criminal justice officials and victims’ advocates to effectively respond to crimes of violence against women, and fosters collaboration between law enforcement, criminal justice, and victims advocacy groups serving communities across Texas.
DALLAS INFORMATION EXCHANGE PORTAL Research shows unmet social needs contribute to adverse health events such as early mortality, hospital readmission, low birth weight, and chronic disease complications. Preventing these events is difficult, because vulnerable populations often require services from non-medical community-based social assistance agencies. The Dallas Information Exchange Portal (IEP) is an electronic data integration platform that links hospitals to community-based organizations, such as homeless shelters and food pantries, to facilitate health care delivery across medical and social service sectors.
RETINA FOUNDATION OF THE SOUTHWEST Age-related macular degeneration, a disease of the retina, is the most common cause of vision loss for people age 50 and older; 18 million Americans have some form of age-related macular degeneration. Retina Foundation of the Southwest and Southern Methodist University’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering have established the Clinical Center of Innovation for Agerelated Macular Degeneration. This partnership pairs disciplines to unite clinical and technical expertise with the practices of engineering.
Hoped-for Impact Organizers hope to build a comprehensive training platform that will support more than 300 fellows who apply to the program annually. The fellows will receive learning and social networking opportunities to increase their knowledge base, professional development support, and develop feasible and sustainable community responses to domestic violence in their communities via a combination of live and distancebased learning, conference training in best practices, and strategic planning support through academic retreats, networking, and roundtable discussions.
Hoped-for Impact The portal will enable care providers to improve negative social behaviors that lead to poorer clinical outcomes, with the aim of providing better care to vulnerable patients. Solutions to this particular problem could also have an impact on the way healthcare is delivered nationwide.
Hoped-for Impact The goal is for the center to develop prototypes for effective new treatments that focus on specific patient needs, with a broader goal of addressing the vision needs of those 60 and older, a population that is expected to double by 2030, so that age-related macular degeneration is no longer a threat. In addition, the center will leverage the relevant expertise of two institutions to develop a novel process for conducting medical research, in particular, research on chronic macular degenerative diseases.
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FURTHERING IMPACT
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“ From North Texas Giving Day’s 98,000 donations to the thousands of volunteer hours given by the corporate citizens of the Entrepreneurs For North Texas, CFT is proud to make it easy for more people to do good.”
– Susan Swan Smith Chief Relationship Officer Communities Foundation of Texas
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IN SUMMARY NORTH TEXAS GIVING DAY Key Challenge After two national record-breaking years, battling public and nonprofit malaise was key to the success of the sixth annual North Texas Giving Day. We needed to find new ways to maintain interest and engagement in the one-day event so that we could build and reinforce it as an important annual tradition in our region.
Creative Approach Building from what was originally a Dallas-only focus, we expanded the day of events from the CFT headquarters to four other locations across the area. In addition, more nonprofits registered and actively promoted the event from across the region. Messages got the word out about the new website NorthTexasGivingDay.com, the extra hour of giving (“18 hours on the 18th!) and the multitude of Donation Station events that took place across North Texas.
Results In 2014, the day brought in more than 98,000 gifts totaling $26.3 million, benefiting 1,580 nonprofits.
Lasting Impact North Texas Giving Day has pumped more than $86 million into the North Texas community in the last six years. It also continues to attract new givers, as each year a significant number of those who contribute are first-time donors. That portion was 26 percent in 2014.
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NORTH TEXAS GIVING DAY BREAKS RECORDS, EXTENDS GENEROSITY BEYOND EXPECTATIONS On a cool and windy day in Dallas last fall, people from the 50 states, six territories and more than 28 countries added giving to their daily agendas. Of course, it’s nice to imagine that all of them followed the edict of the day— CFT’s North Texas Giving Day—to “get up and give” first thing that morning, but we have no way of knowing if that’s the case. What we do know, however, is that community-wide events, nonprofit performances and a groundswell of support led to record-breaking giving. The sixth annual event exceeded its own national giving day record by raising more than $26.3 million in 18 hours, surpassing 2013 results by more than $1 million. The staggering number of more than 98,000 donations exceeded 2013’s total of 75,000 and benefitted 1,580 nonprofits. Each year, CFT awards prizes to participating nonprofits that reach certain milestones, ranging from most donors for a firsttime participating agency to the largest increase in donors to the best integrated marketing campaign. More than 70 prizes were awarded totaling $212,500. Each gift earned an 8.4 percent bonus, totaling $2 million in bonus funds. The buzz and excitement of the day reached far and wide. Costume-clad nonprofit representatives were spotted across the community drumming up grassroots support for their causes. Donors of all ages participated in the day’s festivities. Kids gave their time and loose change at the inaugural Kids Give. A young girl named Zoe set up a lemonade stand to raise $100 for carrots to feed her therapy horse Crunchie, inspiring Equest’s Giving Day campaign #MatchZoe. “Donors showed unbridled enthusiasm for this community they clearly care so much about,” said Brent Christopher, president and CEO of CFT. “From Keller to Kenya, Arlington to Australia, Dallas to Denmark, generous people from all over the world are supporting North Texas.” Since its launch in 2009, North Texas Giving Day has raised $86 million for area nonprofits in six annual one-day events. CFT, in partnership with the Center for Nonprofit Management and The Dallas Foundation, established the event to increase giving to the region’s nonprofits by motivating people to give to one or more vetted charities using a particular website on a single day. Each year, CFT incentivizes both the nonprofits and the potential donors by offering bonus funds for
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gifts made as part of the event. Charities eligible to receive the funds are those who are 501c3 organizations in good standing that provide at least 50 percent of their program services in North Texas. CFT staff members then review the information and approve most, but not all, charities. Each year, CFT seeks feedback from the nonprofits participating in North Texas Giving Day. In 2014, nonprofits reportedly liked the ease of use of the software, availability of reports, real time tracking via the leaderboard, activities at CFT, length of the day, speedy follow-up with checks, workshops for nonprofits, hourly prizes, sense that the entire community was in it together, visibility the day afforded the nonprofits in the press and that the day attracted new donors. Statistically we found that: • Fifty-nine percent of respondents were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with the operation and results on Giving Day, with only 10 percent rating themselves between neutral and not satisfied • Seventy-two percent were very likely or extremely likely to recommend participating in Giving Day to another nonprofit – with only nine percent saying they were somewhat or very
unlikely to recommend participation • Ten percent of organizations secured their own matching funds to supplement the day’s prizes and bonus funds, and 15 percent held special events.
A young girl named Zoe set up a lemonade stand to raise $100 for carrots to feed her therapy horse Crunchie (above), Inspiring Equest’s Giving Day campaign #MatchZoe. 63
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IN SUMMARY ENTREPRENEURS FOR NORTH TEXAS Key Challenge Many small and midsize companies do not have the resources to employ dedicated staff to organize community engagement and philanthropy.
Creative Approach Entrepreneurs For North Texas provides, plans, and organizes opportunities for engagement and networking for small and midsize companies that want to maximize their volunteer and philanthropic giving efforts. EFNT offers the following opportunities: Plug ‘N Play volunteer activities with area charitable organizations; customized volunteer opportunities with charitable organizations within a company’s area of interest; learning opportunities with industry experts and networking opportunities for C-level executives to share best practices on creating strong organizational cultures that support the community; and Freedom Day, a day of service to honor the lives tragically lost and changed on September 11, 2001.
Results In 2014, EFNT organized volunteer and in-kind support for 23 DFW area charitable organizations. EFNT member company employees provided more than 10,000 hours of volunteer service valued at over $226,000.
Lasting Impact EFNT’s programs assist in developing a culture of giving and community service within the business community.
BIG HEARTS AT SMALL TO MEDIUMSIZED BUSINESSES LEAD TO GRAND COMMUNITY SUPPORT Large companies with deep pockets often have partially- or fully-staffed community affairs departments that secure volunteer opportunities for employees. But smaller companies with fewer resources usually can’t spare teammates or work time to plan community outreach activities. Yet, such small companies have hearts to serve that are just as big as those of their larger counterparts. That’s where Entrepreneurs For North Texas comes in. The CFT program known as EFNT facilitates community involvement and philanthropy for small and mid-size companies who want to make a beneficial impact on their communities. Operating as an outsourced community affairs department, EFNT serves the North Texas business community and provides it’s a network of 100 companies with the resources to assist them in developing a company culture of good corporate citizenship. The network of what the program calls member companies includes early stage, small and mid-size businesses, private equity investors, venture capitalists and a wide range of professional service providers who have a commitment to give back to the communities in which they live and work. Established in the summer of 2000, EFNT is a member of a national affiliation of similar organizations across the United States and in Tel Aviv, Israel. Each has its own governing body and unique business models, yet share a common mission. EFNT’s business model includes assisting companies as they harness the power of their corporate assets through philanthropy and community programs to serve social needs and meet corporate objectives. EFNT identifies the most strategic alliances with nonprofit organizations for member companies so that maximum impact on both the company and the community can be achieved. Additionally, EFNT hosts networking events that celebrate corporate philanthropy, tap into the wisdom of accomplished business leaders and provide an exclusive environment for a community of like-minded good corporate citizens. EFNT’s programs include: • Plug ‘N Plays: Off the shelf, first-come, first-serve community service projects available to member companies throughout the year to benefit nonprofit organizations such as the North Texas Food Bank and Texas Trees Foundation. • Freedom Day: EFNT’s largest Plug ‘N Play day of community service that honors the lives lost and changed on Septemeber 11, 2001. • Good Corporate Citizenship Conference: A half-day of speakers and workshops to help companies develop and strengthen their community involvement plans.
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Hugh Carspecken, Chief Executive Officer for Dallas data recovery company Dartpoints, gardens at a Veterans Administration treatment center on Freedom Day 2014. “One of my co-founders is a veteran, so the opportunity to bring the company out to support the event, as well as his experience, was invaluable. It brought my executive team closer together, sharing in this cause. “ Dartpoints is a member organization of EFNT.
• Engagement Captain Roundtables: Gatherings of engagement captains, the point persons at member companies, to learn about issues, generate ideas, and share best practices of community involvement. • Supply Drives (part of Plug ‘N Play series): Collection of goods or basic needs for a specific agency and or/purpose. • Spirit of Entrepreneurship: An annual awards ceremony that highlights world class entrepreneurs who have made outstanding contributions to communities locally and nationally. • Women Quarterly Dinners: Evening with C-level women of member companies to discuss “hot topics” and share ideas. • Leaders & Legends: A unique semi-annual series that provides an exclusive group of invited guests, chief executive officers of our member companies, the rare opportunity to meet with our guest “Legend” and hear his or her stories of challenges and successes.
“ Entreprenuers For North Texas has been invaluable to our commitment to service, business and our ability to impact the North Texas region.” – Derek K. Hubbard of DHD Films 65
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CASE STUDY AN INTERVIEW WITH DHD FILMS DHD Films, an Emmy-nominated, full service video production and motion graphics studio, joined Entrepreneurs For North Texas in 2013 in never looked back. “The organization’s leadership, staff and fellow member companies were welcoming and our membership gave us a platform to explore new avenues for our team and talents to make an impact in North Texas,” said Derek K. Hubbard, DHD Films Communications and Public Relations Manager. Read on to learn more about how EFNT is creating lasting impact for DHD Films.
CFT: How and why did DHD Films become a member of Entrepreneurs For North Texas? DHD Films: Service to our community and fellow man has always been a priority within our organization. That is why it was an easy decision to become a member of EFNT. The organization brings an unparalleled, entrepreneurial mindset to service. EFNT equips its member companies to use their team and talents in a way that other service organizations do not. Being a part of the organization meant that we would join a group of like-minded individuals who wanted to give back and be good corporate stewards. What is more, we would have the chance to learn from other entrepreneurial companies who value service. Some of our clients, including Klemchuk Kubasta LLP, Shields Legal Group and UT Dallas, are members, and it provides a unique opportunity to work alongside them for good. All in all, our EFNT membership is an extension of our company’s beliefs, values and commitment to service within the North Texas region and beyond.
CFT: Since joining EFNT, what activities has DHD Films participated in? DHD Films: We have been active in a variety of their initiatives. Freedom Day 2013 was our first opportunity to volunteer with the organization. It was a special day for our team, because we had one crew working hard to beautify the William H. Atwell Middle School, while another crew documented the day’s activities, which would later be packaged as an Event Highlights Film. Additionally, we have participated in North Texas Giving Day, Freedom Day 2014 and a Plug ‘N Play. For the Plug ‘N Play, our team spent the day teaching students from the Dallas Independent School District about video production as they filmed their own music video to the song, “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.
CFT: You mentioned your participation in 2014 Freedom Day. What was that experience like? DHD Films: Our experience with Freedom Day 2014 was unlike the previous year for several reasons. First, our Executive 66
Producer Liza Dunsmore was a member of the steering committee. In this capacity, she was our voice in the planning and execution of Freedom Day, which gave us an opportunity to be instrumental from the beginning. Next, during the event, our team volunteered alongside veterans from Honor Courage Commitment to renovate a transitional home for veterans. Serving alongside the men and women who sacrificed so much for our freedom was not only rewarding, but also humbling. Last, this year was different because we were involved in creating the marketing collateral and a 20-minute video campaign to promote the event. Ultimately, the campaign was a success and resulted in record volunteer turnout, various media impressions and a considerable amount of sponsorships and inkind donations. Freedom Day 2014 was a great opportunity for our team to work with EFNT throughout the strategy, planning and execution phases of the event. CFT: What do you remember most about Freedom Day? DHD Films: What I remember most is standing during opening ceremony and experiencing an indescribable feeling. On one hand, I couldn’t help but to think about the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and the lives that were lost and transformed. The sorrow and pain filled my heart as if the event just happened. But, as I looked around and saw the 500plus volunteers present, I instantly felt a sense of joy and pride. We all were there to turn something evil into a force of good. Together, we were honoring the memory of that fateful day 13 years ago, but were also paying it forward for the greater good.
CFT: How is DHD Films better off because of its EFNT membership and participation in such events as Freedom Day? DHD Films: Fifteen years ago, our company was founded in Dallas. More than a decade later, we are still thriving and operating in the city that we know and love. It is our duty to do everything we can to give back to the city that has given us so much. Because of our EFNT membership, we have been introduced to a host of organizations, executive leaders, civic activists and volunteers who all want to use their platforms to make a difference within the greater Dallas community. EFNT has provided our company the necessary tools and resources for us to continue strengthening our company culture of good corporate citizenship. Participating in programs such as Freedom Day gives our team a chance to use their talents in fun, creative ways that help those in need. Additionally, it allows all of us to volunteer alongside our clients and friends, while meeting new people every step of the way. All in all, our membership and involvement with EFNT has been invaluable to our commitment to service, business practices and our ability to impact the North Texas region.
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ENHANCING THE EXPERIENCE AND IMPACT OF GIVING THROUGH EXEMPLARY SERVICE; WISE STEWARDSHIP OF RESOURCES; AND BEING A TRUSTED PARTNER FOR COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE AND COLLABORATION.