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Alliance for Education 

Description

Our goal is to improve outcomes for every student in the Seattle Public Schools. We are an independent non-profit aligned with the goals and needs of SPS and its students.

We invest in leadership development at all levels of the school system; policies and programs that recruit, train, support and reward effective teachers; and programs that promote academic rigor and set a high bar for student achievement.

We do so by securing and managing private funding for SPS; advocating for evidence-based change to SPS policy and practice; and convening community leaders to take specific action.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Alliance for Education is to ensure that all students in Seattle Public Schools are prepared for college, career and life.
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Alliance for Education
509 Olive Way 
Seattle 
WA
98101-2556 
(206) 343-0449 

Ms. Sara Morris 
President & CEO 

Programs

Alliance for Education Programs

The Alliance's programs and activities include the following:
  • Educational Investments: We help secure funding for strategic projects at Seattle Public Schools that have system-wide impact on academic outcomes. We also monitor the funded projects to assure fidelity with funders’ expectations and project timetables. Since 1995, we’ve raised over $140 million for SPS in areas like information technology and human resources. 
  • The Seattle Teacher Residency: A teacher preparation pipeline based on the medical residency model that blends classroom apprenticeship with aligned graduate-level course work and an intensive resident/mentor partnership, aiming to accelerate student achievement in high-need schools through the training, support and retention of excellent teachers. STR is a partnership between the Alliance, SPS, UW, and the Seattle Education Association (the teachers’ union). 
  • Seattle College Access Network (SCAN): An Alliance-led collaboration of 40+ college access providers whose efforts are aimed at increasing the enrollment of students who are low income, of color, and/or first-in-family in post-secondary education.
  • Our Schools Coalition: An Alliance-led coalition of 35 citywide organizations and civic leaders advocating for changes to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to improve teaching and learning across the district.  
  • Intensive School Partnerships (ISP): A pilot project to improve coordination, alignment and evaluation of community-based providers providing services to students in schools. 
  • School Fiscal Services: Fiscal sponsorship services for more than 200 PTAs, booster clubs and school foundations that support the unique quality and character of individual schools at no cost to them.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

In 2012, Seattle students continued to improve performance. The graduation rate rose to 74% overall, and rose for each racial and income group as well. SPS students continue to perform above the average of other districts on Washington’s annual standardized tests, and more schools than ever are moving into the high performance category per the school district’s School Segmentation Framework.

Other recent successes include:
  •  Led the Seattle College Access Network in enrolling 92% of eligible 8th graders in the state’s College Bound Scholarship program
    • Increased membership in the Our Schools Coalition and prepared a research-based 2013 advocacy platform for the next round of teacher contract negotiations supported by 93% of SPS parents.
  • Launched the design year of the Seattle Teacher Residency and forged a true working partnership with the Seattle Education Association (the teachers’ union) on the program
  • Managed $2.1M in private grant dollars and raised almost $700K in new grants for SPS, including new funding to provide expanded support to principals and to the School Board, and funding to renew the school district’s strategic plan under the leadership of the new superintendent
  • Managed $1.4 million in direct gifts to PTAs, booster clubs and school foundations at no cost to them
Our perennial need is general operating dollars to support retaining the experienced education policy professionals and administrative staff who accomplish this work. The programs and work of the Alliance are a product of this expertise, yet most institutional funders will not help us cover these costs under their funding policies for covering the hard costs of programs. That’s why we need community support!

Evaluation


The Alliance for Education raises funds for and fosters community discussion and support of initiatives aimed at improving academic outcomes for the 48,000 students enrolled in Seattle Public Schools. During the next three years, the Alliance plans to intensify its advocacy and fundraising related to leadership development (at school, district, and school-board levels), effective teaching, and academic rigor—with particular emphasis on schools serving large numbers of low-income students. The Alliance’s grant request to The Seattle Foundation has two components: general operating support for the Alliance (50% of request) plus funding for the Alliance-administered Philanthropic Partnership for Public Education (PPPE)—a local education funders collaborative co-founded by The Seattle Foundation that, since 2008, has made a series of targeted investments to improve district operational effectiveness. As in the past, The Seattle Foundation’s contribution to PPPE would be pooled with funding from other local foundations. Decisions about which initiatives to fund are made collectively as opportunities for private investment arise. In view of leadership transition at the school district, the need for deliberate and strategic investments in SPS Central Office transformation remains critical.

Proven Success
Since 2008, the Alliance has secured more than $9 million in ougside funding to enable SPS to align curricula to rigorous college-ready standards and improve academic outcomes across the District. While there is still more than a year left in the District’s 5-year strategic plan, the district and Alliance’s focus on increasing academic rigor and student achievement is showing results: in 2011, the percentage of SPS students achieving proficiency on the state’s MSP (Measures of Student Progress) exams increased in almost all subjects and grades.

Use of Best Practices
The Alliance leverages private funding to support district and school improvement initiatives that require additional financial (and often political) support to succeed. In addition to securing funds to fuel redesign of the district’s teacher recruitment and hiring system, the Alliance supports leadership development training and coaching for school principals as well as projects that support low-performing schools, e.g., math coaches, middle-to-high-school transition support and increased numbers of Advanced Placement (AP) classes.

Collaboration
Alliance staff and board leadership prioritize effective partnerships as a necessary component of efforts to improve teaching and learning across the district. In 2010, the Alliance’s leadership of the diverse Our Schools Coalition led to historic changes in the 2010-13 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiated between the district and Seattle teachers. Collaboration is also at the core of the Alliance-led Seattle College Access Network (SCAN), a collaboration of 40+ service providers that achieved a 25% in the number of SPS students completing the application for federal student aid last year.

Hosted by the Alliance since 2009, the Philanthropic Partnership for Public Education (PPPE) allows a diverse group of local foundations, including TSF, to have greater access to SPS leadership and collective impact on district operations. By speaking with a unified voice, the Alliance and its foundation partners have positioned PPPE as an important, consistent “critical friend” of the District.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
6/10/2012 $35,000.00support general operating expenses.
6/10/2011 $50,000.00support general operating expenses for the Alliance and a restricted fund in which dollars pooled by members of the Philanthropic Partnership for Public Education (PPPE) are maintained.
3/10/2009 $100,000.00support $50,000 in general operating support, and $50,000 for the Alliance - administered Philanthropic Partnership for Public Education (PPPE).
12/15/2005 $25,000.00support general operating expenses.

Financials

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