2019

Annual Report

Celebrating the EdReports tradition of elevating educator voices and by educator, for educator reviews

Letter

Eric Hirsch

Executive Director

Dear Friends,

When EdReports launched its very first reviews in 2015, we were driven by the belief that reports developed by educators, for educators would lead to independent information that could empower local districts to pick the best curriculum for teachers and kids. Fast forward five years and that belief has only grown stronger.

Educators are at the heart of our mission and the work we do every day: they sit on our board, help design our rubrics and evidence guides, and conduct our reviews. Our 2019 annual report celebrates the leadership of accomplished educators at EdReports and recognizes the collective impact we have had on the quality of instructional materials reaching teachers and students.

Core to our mission is the need to empower educators with information so they can advocate for better materials in their own states and districts. To make this priority even more explicit, we launched the Klawe Fellowship, a program that trains and supports educator reviewers to develop leadership skills to make a lasting impact in their communities.

In 2019, we continued our expansion into new content areas releasing inaugural reviews of middle school science materials and English language arts foundational skills supplemental programs. We also committed to learning more about the instructional materials market and gained insights into how information about standards alignment can shape the curriculum that reaches classrooms.

Our work is reaching local decision makers whose choices impact a generation of students. An increasing number of school leaders report having heard of EdReports and are using our reviews to identify, select, and implement instructional materials. In fact, districts representing more than 11 million students have been documented using EdReports to choose curriculum. We’re honored to be partnering with many of these districts, such as Baltimore City Public Schools, and states, such as Wisconsin, as they devote time and resources to supporting smart adoption practices.

As we look forward to 2020 and beyond, we’d like to thank all those who made this work possible – from the eight Klawe Fellows and over 600 educator reviewers to the more than one million educators who have explored our reviews to support informed choices about instructional materials. Working together, we are improving K-12 education by ensuring teachers and students have the quality content they need to succeed today and for years to come.

Eric Hirsch

New in 2019

New in 2019

Middle School
Science Reviews

In February 2019, we were proud to release our first round of middle school science reviews. With 19 states (including Washington, D.C.) adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and 21 other states adopting standards informed by the NGSS and A Framework for K-12 Science Education, we have seen a clear need from the field for materials that are designed for the innovations of the NGSS.

Our content review teams, comprised of expert science educators from across the country, analyzed programs over the course of several months. Hundreds of hours were spent on each program identifying evidence and scores for the five characteristics of NGSS innovations: Making Sense of Phenomena and Designing Solutions to Problems, Three-Dimensional Learning, Building K-12 Progressions, Alignment with English Language Arts and Mathematics, and All Standards, All Students.

Ultimately, we hope our reviews help ensure teachers have the resources they need to foster student success. We plan to release additional middle school and K-5 science reviews in 2020.

Middle School
Science Reviews

“Materials are integral to ensuring students have the opportunities for curiosity and wonder balanced with structure and guidance so they ultimately understand the science behind the questions they are exploring.”
Morgan Martin
Educator,
Science Reviewer

Middle School
Science Reviews

“Materials are integral to ensuring students have the opportunities for curiosity and wonder balanced with structure and guidance so they ultimately understand the science behind the questions they are exploring.”

New in 2019

ELA Foundational Skills Reviews

In November 2019, EdReports broke new ground when it released its first reviews of supplemental English language arts foundational skills programs.

Through market research and our work with educators across the country, we know that many school districts supplement ELA instruction with a foundational skills program. Independent analyses of these programs have largely been absent, leaving teachers without reliable information on the quality of their curriculum. These new reports serve to fill this information gap.

Our content review teams include early learning and literacy educators who evaluate materials over the course of several months. These reviews can empower educators with the evidence they need to select materials that will support students as they grow into increasingly sophisticated readers. Reviews for foundational skills supplements will be released on a rolling basis.

New in 2019

Inaugural Klawe
Fellowship

In the fall of 2019, we welcomed the inaugural cohort of Klawe (Kla-vay) Fellows comprised of eight dedicated, innovative educators.

The Klawe Fellowship, named after founding EdReports Board President, Dr. Maria Klawe, was launched as an opportunity for current and former EdReports reviewers to build their leadership skills as they advocate for high-quality instructional materials at the local, state, and national levels.

The Fellowship cohort will continue until summer 2020 when Fellows will have the opportunity to reflect on and present the impact that they have had in their own communities.

Inaugural Klawe
Fellowship

“There are a lot of factors we can't control in education, but one factor we can control is what we put in front of our students. If we want our students to be the best they can be, then we have to give them the best curriculum and the best resources we have to offer. Our future depends on it.”
Jenni Aberli,
Educator,
ELA Reviewer, KY

Inaugural Klawe
Fellowship

“There are a lot of factors we can't control in education, but one factor we can control is what we put in front of our students. If we want our students to be the best they can be, then we have to give them the best curriculum and the best resources we have to offer. Our future depends on it.”

2020 & Beyond

The launch of EdReports inaugural math reviews made EdWeek’s 2019 top stories of the decade. It’s exciting to think how far we’ve come since those first reports. We are inspired by all the changes we have seen and continue to see in the instructional materials market as materials become more aligned and districts commit to smart adoption practices as they select new curriculum.

But we know there is still more work to do to ensure quality content actually gets into the hands of all students. In 2020, we will release our initial K-5 science reports and continue to review foundational skills programs, K-12 English and mathematics, and middle school science materials.

We are also dedicated to expanding our partnerships with states and districts to support them in identifying high-quality instructional materials that will meet local needs and to ensure these materials are being implemented in classrooms. We can’t wait to share more voices and stories of the dedicated educators we meet as we work together to fulfil the promise that all students receive an education that prepares them for college, careers, and beyond.

Additional Information

Funders

Our efforts in 2019 were made possible by the generous support of the following funders:

Bill &* Melinda Gates Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation
Oak Foundation
Overdeck Family Foundation
William + Flora Hewlett Foundation

We remain grateful to all of the foundations that have supported EdReports over the past five years:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Broadcom Corporation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation
The Helmsley Charitable Trust
Oak Foundation
Overdeck Family Foundation
The Samueli Foundation
The Stuart Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Board of Directors

Darren Burris

Math Teacher, YSC Academy

Kisha Davis-Caldwell

Senior Policy & Program Specialist and Analyst for the Leadership Development Team, National Education Association

Michael Hyde

Board Treasurer | Managing Director,
Accenture Finance

Dr. Maria Klawe

Board Chair | President,
Harvey Mudd College

Kathleen McGee

Counsel,
Lowenstein Sandler

Audra McPhillips

Mathematics Specialist and Coach,
West Warwick Public School

Dana Nerenberg

Principal,
Sitton Elementary School

K. Sue Redman

President of Redman Advisors LLC and Executive Professor in the Mays Business School Accounting Department at Texas A&M University

Dr. Sonja Santelises

Vice Chair | Chief Executive Officer
of Baltimore City Public Schools

Liz Simon

General Counsel and Vice President of External Affairs, General Assembly

Lauren Stuart

English Language Arts Teacher,
El Rodeo School

Peter Tang

Board Secretary | SCORE Senior
Policy and Research Analyst

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