The United States Department of Education (ED) serves the 56 million students who attend 130,000 schools in 14,000 school districts across the country. Despite having the smallest staff of any cabinet-level agency with 4,200 employees, the department manages the second largest grant portfolio in the federal government.
ED sets ambitious goals for America’s schools and works closely with states to meet them. With a mission to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access, the department focuses on four activities: 1) establishing policies related to federal education funding; 2) supporting data collection and research on America’s schools; 3) identifying major issues in the education system and bringing them to national attention; and 4) enforcing federal laws that prevent discrimination in any program receiving federal funds.
Our Impact
Since 2009, 18 Education Pioneers have impacted the policy and operations of the Department of Education. They have:
- Supported the development of the ED’s FY2014-2018 Annual Performance plan for review by the Secretary of Education and submission to the White House.
- Conducted data analysis to document opportunity gaps for English Language learners, providing immediate and efficient analytic support so the ED can tackle opportunity gaps on a national level.
- Worked with the Race to the Top policy development team to develop grant review procedures that ensure millions of dollars in grant money reach the schools and students that need it most.
- Engaged a national network of entrepreneurs, educators, and policy makers to transition separate Common Core systems into a self-sustainable platform which empowers educators to more easily adopt and teach Common Core standards.
- And more.
