All4Ed was founded in 2001 by the Leeds family to work alongside other education organizations to improve high school graduation rates, which were then around 72% nationally. The national nonprofit advocacy organization is based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to ensure that all students, particularly those traditionally underserved, graduate from high school ready for success in college, work, and citizenship. All4Ed works on federal, state, and local policies and practices to achieve this goal.

In 2014, All4Ed expanded its programming by creating Future Ready Schools®, a grassroots network of innovative and passionate educators and education leaders in more than 3,500 school districts, in 30 states and the District of Columbia, representing more than 20 million students, and engaged nearly 32,000 educators in its online professional learning communities.

Today, the organization continues its work to improve education through policy analysis and advocacy expertise, including:

• Providing nonpartisan research, data and guidance to assist in developing and implementing policies at every level of government to support effective education strategies and increase student success.
• Supporting school districts directly through the Future Ready Schools® initiative.
• Serving as a partner and convener, to mobilize and bring together like-minded groups, to move education forward with a shared vision of equity and student centeredness.

Examples of Work

• 2014: The Future Ready Framework and planning process. Together, these research-based tools provide a roadmap district and school leaders can follow to conceive, plan, and implement strategies that pair effective technology and quality teaching; personalize student learning; improve student outcomes; and ensure more students graduate from high school prepared for college, work, and life. The FRS approach engages school and district teams across multiple roles—from district superintendent to school librarian—to work toward change collaboratively. Through leadership institutes and workshops, webinars, implementation guides, and other resources, All4Ed builds the skills of district- and school-level educators to lead the process of restructuring and redesigning their schools; provides a community of support for like-minded educators; identifies and promotes innovative instructional strategies; and elevates evidence-based practices for creating rigorous and engaging student-centered learning environments.
• 2008: Secured new federal regulations requiring states to calculate high school graduation rates in a uniform way. This approach provides consistent, accurate data about the percentage of students graduating high school and ensures states do not obscure the performance of certain groups of students. In 2015, this policy was codified into law in the Every Student Succeeds Act(ESSA).
• 2014: Led campaign to expand high-speed internet service in schools. As a result of our work, the Federal Communications Commission approved a $1.5 billion increase in E-rate funding and the number of students with access to high-speed internet service in school nearly doubled between 2015-2019.
• 2015: Secured key provisions in ESSA that require states to identify and support high schools with graduation rate below 67%. This requirement spurred improvement efforts in approximately 2,000 high schools to ensure more students graduate high school prepared for college and the workplace.
• 2020 / 2021:  Advocated with our partners for Congress to provide robust federal funding to support COVID-19 relief efforts in schools. Across three relief packages, including the CARES Act, the December 2020 supplemental appropriations act, and the American Rescue Plan Act, K–12 schools and districts received $190 billion, with funding targeted to the highest-needs communities and dedicated to addressing students’ academic recovery. The relief bills included $3.2 billion to provide low-income households with discounts on home internet and subsidies to purchase a computer and $7.2 billion to close the homework gap.

Resources

Press release (name change in 2021): The Alliance for Excellent Education is Now All4Ed | All4Ed

Website: https://all4ed.org/