Achieving the Dream – Holistic Student Supports Redesign Toolkit

One of the great scholars and thinkers on improvement science, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, once said, “It would be better if everyone worked together as a system, with the aim for everybody to win.” That mindset is exactly how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation approaches our goal of improving education and economic mobility systems in the United States, including in our backyard of Washington State.

As a proud alumna of Howard University, I can attest that attending a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) opened a door of opportunity for me that I would not have otherwise experienced. This Black History Month, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Elsie L. Scott, Director of the Ronald W. Walters Leadership & Public Policy Center at Howard University about the value of HBCUs.

I recently had the pleasure of exploring learning loss and other topics with Shalinee Sharma, the co-founder and CEO of Zearn, a non-profit organization whose learning platform and materials are free for teachers and students and whose highly rated K-5 math curriculum currently serves 1 in 4 children nationwide.