Networks for school improvement

The Networks for School Improvement (NSI) portfolio supports organizations that bring groups of middle and high schools together to advance high school graduation and college success rates for their Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty. These organizations serve as intermediaries for the school networks they bring together, each of which decides its own approach.

Successful networks share three hallmarks: unwavering commitment to equity, dedication to continuous improvement, and use of indicators proven to predict students’ learning, progress, and success. 

Networks for School Improvement Year 2 Update

Learn more about our NSI work from this recent webinar, where we hosted a conversation about early lessons learned, best practice in continuous improvement, and key highlights from networks and intermediary organizations supporting schools. 
Watch Webinar

Investment Priorities

Our grantmaking in our Networks for School Improvement portfolio is currently focused on the following priorities.

Building capacity of the current investments

Our priority is to support NSIs to meet the needs of their students and schools, as they work to improve on-track outcomes and build sustainable, networked continuous improvement capacities in their schools and systems. We do this through our NSI Community of Practice, which brings together networks to learn with and from each other.

Continuing to learn

We are dedicated to deep, rigorous learning and sharing about this work. We want to make sure schools are getting the support they need right now, and to learn under what conditions school-based teams successfully work together as a network to apply the tenets of continuous improvement to boost on-track student outcomes for students, how data systems can be reoriented to support rapid-cycle classroom and school level improvement, and what capacities intermediaries need to be successful.

Sharing resources and building the field

The NSI are developing a collection of powerful and useful resources, and we will support them to continue to generate tools and assets to share with the field. We are also deepening partnerships with organizations to develop resources for post-COVID-19 recovery work in schools, along with more equity-focused tools and other supports.