Strengthening Collaborations to Build Social Movements: Ten Lessons from the Communities for Public Education Reform Fund (CPER)

This report explores how grantmakers can help strengthen collaborations among supported groups to advance ambitious social change goals. As noted by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations in Many Hands, More Impact, grantmakers can play a number of critically important roles in supporting social movement building: investing in a broad range of organizations, change strategies, and issues; brokering relationships among groups and their allies; connecting grantees to one another in impactful ways; fostering learning to grow a field; and influencing peers and policy through these supports. We focus on grantmakers' "connector" role because we see it as a crucial -- and often underexamined -- strategyfor expanding impact. But how, specifically, can grantmakers nurture connections -- and productive collaborations that may eventually arise from them -- while remaining attuned to the strategic intentions of supported groups and the relationships they themselves want to cultivate? And how can the enhanced capacity that genuine collaboration requires be reflected and resourced in ways that meet funders' expectations of collaborative impact? Our perspective on these questions is grounded in the experience of Communities for Public Education Reform (also referred to here on as "CPER" or the "Fund"). CPER is a national funders' collaborative committed to improving educational opportunities and outcomes for students -- in particular students of color from low-income families -- by supporting community-driven reforms led by grassroots education organizing groups. Maximizing collaborative potential has always been central to CPER's DNA, and is encoded in the Fund's vision, strategy, and operational structure. In sharing lessons learned by CPER funders, staff, and grantees over the Fund's eight-year lifespan, we hope to contribute to the conversation about how grantmakers can nurture collaborations that advance building social movements for opportunity and justice

Building Capacity to Sustain Social Movements: Ten Lessons from the Communities for Public Education Reform Fund (CPER)

Most funders agree that effective grantmaking requires pursuing a range of complementary approaches.Direct grants are the lifeblood of organizations and the cornerstone of funder practice, but grantmakers also provide critical value when they help grantees develop organizational leadership and governance, strengthen strategic collaborations with peers, network with new allies, and expand field knowledge, among other things.This report explores how grantmakers can leverage their investments by coupling direct grants with strategically delivered capacity building supports. It focuses on building capacity for community organizing and advocacy groups, though many of its lessons are more broadly applicable

Education Policy Impacts: 2007-2014

Communities for Public Education Reform (CPER) is a national funders' collaborative committed to improving educational opportunities and outcomes for students -- in particular students of color from low-income families -- by supporting community-driven reforms led by grassroots education organizing groups. A project of NEO Philanthropy, CPER has engaged 76 local and national fund members, investing $34 million in 140 community groups, advocacy allies, and national coalitions over the Fund's eight year lifespan.Powered by multi-year campaigns that involved organizing, advocacy, research, communications, and alliance building, CPER grantees played a key role in securing more than 9 policy wins at the school, district, state and federal level between 2007 and 2014. This summary of selected wins begins with those achieved at the federal level and follows with district- and state-level reforms grouped by CPER's six investment sites across the country. Organizations must remain united to defend these wins, monitor their implementation, and ensure that policies will stick

Greater Power, Lasting Impact: Effective Grantmaker Strategies from the Communities for Public Education Reform Fund (CPER)

CPER (also referred to here on as the "Fund") is a national funders' collaborative committed to improving educational opportunities and outcomes for students -- in particular students of color from low-income families -- by supporting community-driven reforms led by grassroots education organizing groups. CPER originated in discussions among funders active in Grantmakers for Education's Working Group on Education Organizing.They launched the collaborative in 2007, in partnership with NEO Philanthropy (then Public Interest Projects), the 501 (c)(3) public charity engaged to direct the Fund. CPER's founding funders saw that, in the education debates of the day, the perspectives of those closest to the ground were often left out. These funders recognized that students and families have a crucial role to play in identifying, embracing, and sustaining meaningful school reform. Students and families know their own needs and see first-hand the inequities in schools. Organizing groups help them get a seat at the decision-making table and develop workable solutions, building on community assets that are vital to addressing the cultural and political dimensions of reform. These grassroots groups are essential to creating the public accountability and will needed to catalyze educational reforms and ensure they stick. They can be the antidote to the ever-shifting political conditions and leadership turnover that plague reform efforts. At the same time, they help community members develop leadership and a grassroots base, building individual civic capacity and community power that strengthens our democratic infrastructure for the long term. Because educational improvement requires tackling persistent inequities in race and income, supporting leaders in low-income communities of color also helps build the social capital needed to solve integrally related social challenges. CPER was initially conceived to run for a minimum of three years -- a timeline consistent with most foundation grants but short for the transformative kinds of changes the Fund hoped to achieve. CPER's lifespan eventually stretched to eight years because of the recognized power of its supported work. Over this period, NEO Philanthropy engaged a highly diverse set of 76 local and national funders in the CPER collaborative. Incentivizing new resources through matching dollars, CPER raised close to $34 million and invested nationally in some 140 community groups and advocacy allies in national coalitions and in six target sites of varying scale (California, Chicago, Colorado, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Philadelphia). These groups, in turn, developed local leadership, national coalitions, and cross-issue alliances that helped to achieve over 90 school-, district, and state-level policy reforms that strengthen educational equity and opportunity. CPER's history of impact illustrates the efficacy of community organizing as an essential education reform strategy, along with the more commonly supported strategies of policy advocacy, research, and model demonstration efforts. But CPER's story is also more broadly instructive. In this period of "strategic philanthropy " when focused, foundation-led agendas are increasingly seen as the surest route to achieving desired ends, CPER offered a very different, bottom-up, multi-issue alternative that proved effective. In sharing CPER's story, we hope to deepen understanding of the value of community organizing for education reform while contributing to the larger conversation about how grantmakers can effectively support social movements to strengthen opportunity and justice

Beauty Shouldn’t Cause Pain: A Makeover Proposal for the FDA’s Cosmetics Regulation

The American cosmetics industry is not required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct pre-market safety assessments of cosmetics. The FDA only reviews personal care products when people voluntarily report problems. Further, companies continue to test animals for cosmetics, despite the FDA’s recommendation that manufacturers seek more humane and accurate testing. Although the FDA does not require animal testing for product safety or premarket approval, the United States is one of the largest users of laboratory animals for product testing. There are two pending pieces of legislation, which if passed would be the first acts of cosmetic regulation in over eighty-years: the Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act (Safe Cosmetics Act) and the Personal Care Products Safety Act (Personal Care Act). This note discusses the reasons the bills should pass and examines the FDA’s current personal care product regulatory scheme. Section II examines recent events in the media, which brought awareness to the current regulatory system’s inadequacies and concerning chemicals. Section III details the current federal legislation governing American cosmetics and proposed legislation. Section IV discusses the European Union’s and California’s stronger approach to cosmetic regulation. Section V proposes adding an animal testing ban and legal definitions for cosmetic terms to pending legislation. Section VI discusses consumer education as a temporary alternative until stronger legislation is passed

An Investigation of the In-Practice Development and Implementation of Recess and PE Weather Policies in Maine Elementary Schools

The purpose of this research was to investigate how Maine elementary schools decide when students may or may not go outdoors for physical education (PE) classes and recess based on weather conditions, and how those decisions impact the actual frequency that students are kept indoors. This topic is important from both education and public health perspectives because previous research has shown that exercise in outdoor settings has specific benefits compared to that done indoors. PE classes and recess in school provide all children with access to physical activity. A mixed-methods approach was used and included three components: a statewide survey of Maine elementary school principals, focused qualitative interviews of principals, and an analysis of school policies in the context of actual weather data. This three-pronged approach was warranted as the study was of an exploratory nature. As far as the author is aware no previous research has been completed on this topic. The survey was sent to principals via email and completed online with a response rate of 26.6%. The potential for self-selecting bias was a possible limiting factor in the study. Three principals representing five schools from different parts of Maine participated in focused interviews that uncovered more detailed data on the study topic. The historical weather analysis was completed for six towns, two each from Maine’s three climate divisions. A statistical analysis using survey results showed a significant correlation between geographic location and minimum cut-off temperature for outdoor recess. More northerly schools were more likely to have lower minimum temperature cut-offs. Statewide, the minimum temperature cut-offs ranged from 0°F to 20°F. No relationship was found between minimum cut-off temperatures and school poverty rates. Substantial differences were found between the survey-reported number of missed outdoor recess days and the estimated numbers using actual weather data. The lowest number of estimated cancelled outdoor recess days due to cold according to historical weather data was 10 per school year at a southern Maine school with a minimum temperature cut-off of 0°F. However, this estimate does not take into account rainy days, and nearly every responding school indicated cancelling outdoor recess and PE when it is raining. The findings of this research are important for three main reasons. First, it uncovered the vast differences in weather policies for outdoor recess and PE around the state. The reasons for these differences are complex and go beyond simple safety concerns. Second, there appears to be a general lack of understanding about how many days of outdoor recess and PE classes Maine elementary students miss due to weather. Students around the state are experiencing very different cancellation rates because there are such divergent weather policies. Finally, these findings may help Maine school administrators, teachers, and community members realize how relatively small changes to their weather policies could impact the outdoor time available to their students

Factors Predicting Turnover of International Science and Engineering Faculty at US Research Universities

In today’s global knowledge-economy, US research universities seek to attract and retain the best and brightest faculty in the world to increase the university’s intellectual capital and compete on a global scale. Increasingly, universities hire talented international faculty to fulfill these needs, which is especially prevalent in the science and engineering fields (S&E). International faculty benefit US universities in areas of research and scholarship as well as increased diversity and internationalization of the campus, however, not all international S&E faculty are retained. In fact, higher turnover has been found among international S&E faculty than their domestic peers (Kim, Twombly, & Wolf-Wendel, 2012), which results in high financial costs of replacement and disruptions to research projects and education programs. To decrease these costs and continue to compete on a global scale, US research universities must seek to retain talented international faculty at their institutions. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of international S&E faculty who leave US institutions for another job and their career path after departure. Results of this research may inform programs and practices which seek to retain international faculty in S&E departments at US research universities. This study utilized a large, national dataset from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation and provided results through descriptive statistics summaries and binary logistic regression analyses. The dependent variable studied was job departure between February 2015 and February 2017. Independent variables were categorized as perceived desirability of movement factors, perceived ease of movement factors, and institutional factors. This study’s descriptive statistics summaries showed a higher percentage of female faculty than previous studies and a lower departure rate than previously reported. Most international faculty who leave their job remain in the US, however, almost a third leave higher education. Among predictors of international S&E faculty turnover, perceived desirability of movement and perceived ease of movement factors were both found to be significant, yet institutional factors were not significant. Perceived ease of movement factors, specifically employment factors within this category, had the greatest explanatory power of the decision to leave

Outdoor Pursuits and Outdoor Learning at Rural Maine Schools: A Positive Outlier Approach

This study explored the barriers and facilitators to outdoor learning and outdoor pursuits (OPs) in some of the most rural isolated K-12 schools in Maine. The purpose was to understand why some of these schools incorporate a lot of OPs and outdoor learning into their curriculum while other schools do not. Outdoor pursuits and outdoor learning in school settings are worthy of study because they provide students with opportunities to increase physical activity, benefit from time in nature, and make important connections to local culture (Lim et al., 2017; Schafft, 2016; Trembley et al., 2015). This study employed a comparative case study design and positive outlier approach to investigate the research questions. The first phase of the study used surveys sent to physical education teachers and school administrators to assess what was being offered for outdoor learning and OPs in the sample schools and used that data to identify schools that were offering students considerable outdoor opportunities. One positive outlier (PO) school was identified during phase one data analysis. The PO school and two non-PO schools took part in the next phase of the research which included multiple interviews, a site visit, and administration of the Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA; Yousefian et al., 2010). Qualitative data analysis of interviews and creation of case narratives for each phase two school uncovered several important themes. Incorporating outdoor learning and OP time during the regular school day and curriculum–as opposed to relegation as an “extra” activity–seemed to be an important facilitator. Additionally, providing outdoor learning and OP related professional development opportunities for teachers, including connections to curricular requirements, was considered critical. Underlying these themes was the apparent presence of a strong school culture and culturally relevant outdoor-based curriculum at the PO school (Moosung & Louis, 2019; Hardré, 2013)