On A Quest for Data in Idaho | Philanthropy in Ed. Reform

Boise, Idaho—These days, sitting down with a group of Meridian Elementary teachers is a bit like attending a revival meeting, but instead of religion, they've found data. Data have "changed teaching" at this elementary school, says Title I teacher Nancy Henderson. Third-grade teacher Jacque Lowry agrees: "In our district, teachers now know how to use testing, assessments, and data" to inform their practice.

Meaning, says Henderson, "we use test scores and results of subtests to find out where kids are and then teach to their needs, and that really focuses instruction."

Like chalk dust in the air, data suffuse the school day. And students, too, are savvy interpreters. Teachers share performance data with them and, as a result, they're armed with the information they need to take more responsibility for their own learning, Henderson says. "Kids are not as afraid of the testing process. They know what their goals are, and they are more focused on goals, more prepared—they're really trying hard to reach their goals."

And, boy, are they reaching goals. Student performance at this traditionally low-performing school has soared past not only district averages, but state averages as well. No small feat for a school that serves an underprivileged population where nearly 70 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

"We went from the lowest performing school in the district to the highest in the state in terms of growth per kid," reports Principal Byron Yankey.

And the wind beneath the wings of their successes is a philanthropy with its terra firma in an Idaho grocery business that grew into a $36 billion corporation: Albertson's, Inc.

For 40 years, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation has directed all of its philanthropic power to education in Idaho. It is one of only a handful of major foundations that focus on a single state. Just in the past six years, the foundation has plowed more than $200 million into Idaho's education reform, with key initiatives focusing on the use of data to drive decisions about everything from policy to instruction.

A Gift for Giving

The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation was founded in 1966 by grocery store magnate Joe Albertson and his wife, Kathryn, who lived, raised their family, and grew their business in Idaho. Stories abound of Joe's generosity to bright young people who crossed his path, often employees in his grocery stores. Rumor has it that he quietly funded many a college scholarship, often for a full four-year ride, provided the student worked hard and got good grades.

At first, the foundation accepted unsolicited grant applications. "As a relatively young foundation, we wanted to see what educators were thinking, what they would ask for. We received requests for things like stage curtains and band uniforms and a science lab here or there," says Sharron Jarvis, executive director of the foundation from 1995 to 2002 and now a senior adviser. "But it soon became clear that they didn't have the same vision we did." A veteran educator and former school principal, Jarvis had a bigger picture in mind. Before long, the foundation had the means to act on that larger vision.

In 1997, four years after Joe passed away, the foundation's annual funding pool jumped from about $2.5 million to more than $35 million when Kathryn gave the philanthropy an additional $750 million worth of stock in Albertson's, Inc. This additional gift, made five years before Kathryn's own death in 2002, enabled the foundation to look at the entire landscape of Idaho education and consider ways they could make significant, large-scale changes to improve student learning. At that point, Jarvis says, "we decided to become totally initiative-driven."

In recent years, foundation initiatives have allowed schools across Idaho to upgrade technology, institute standards-based curriculum and assessment, engage staff members in professional development, adopt a nationally acclaimed early childhood program, and add hundreds of books to their libraries.

But the biggest initiative thus far is the Idaho Student Information Management System (ISIMS), which will synthesize 17 disparate database systems and link to every public school in the state. Albertson's put up $35 million to develop it, and the state has pledged $7 million a year to maintain it.

Opening Doors to Data

"The collection and use of data is a relatively new concept for education," says Jarvis, adding mischievously, "Educators are great at not using whatever the numbers show works best." But the use of data is not new to business, she observes. "They're used to looking at the bottom line. The biggest difference is that it's so much cleaner in business. If a grocery store wants to know what brand of beans is selling the best, they just look at the numbers. It's much more difficult to track cause and effect in education."

The ISIMS will help teachers and administrators parse data for such evidence, helping them to more accurately determine what works, and what doesn't. Craig Olson, the foundation's current president, says the system will include three components: "comprehensive student data, curriculum management, and a reporting and analysis mechanism for drilling down through the data."

Student data will include such things as demographics, attendance, grades, schedules, teacher information, class rosters, test history, and special education data. The curriculum management portion will address academic standards, aligned curriculum, lesson plans, electronic grade books, a standards-based report card, and test creation. The reporting and analysis component will include assessments, disaggregated data on student performance and demographics, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reports, research, and program reporting. "The benefits of the system are many and multifaceted," says Marilyn Howard, state superintendent of public instruction.

Teachers will be able to use the new system to help them develop curricula and lesson plans; to access class assessments, progress reports, and standards-based report cards; and to communicate with parents about their child's homework, attendance, and progress toward learning goals.

Parents can also use the system to check for themselves how their child is progressing. With a password to protect privacy, they will be able to sign onto a Web site to look at homework assignments, attendance records, performance reports, and progress toward graduation requirements. Ideally, Olson says, they will even be able to print out worksheets to help a child who is having difficulty with a particular standard or concept.

Schools and school districts will benefit from access to aggregated data on state and local tests; state and national comparison data; and school, district, and performance data. Moreover, the system will help the state track performance data required by NCLB mandates.

Creating a Buzz

A statewide database had been on Superintendent Marilyn Howard's agenda for some time.

"We recognized there was a need for a coherent system of information across the state," she says. The state spent the last couple of years gauging stakeholders' needs and "getting the buzz going."

Recognizing the benefits that could be realized with a state-of-the-art system and, at the same time, the limitations of state funding, the foundation offered to back the project, promising $35 million during the next four to six years for the design and setup of the system. There were two caveats, however: The foundation insisted that it manage the project until ISIMS was up and running, and the state would have to do its part to see that the system is maintained properly and used statewide for at least a decade after being launched.

The foundation asked the state to commit an estimated $7 million a year for system maintenance and require all districts in the state to use it. And they asked that this commitment be put in writing. "We didn't want to spend all that money and then have the state decide it was too fancy or expensive to sustain," says Olson.

In April, Idaho lawmakers made the commitment, even though the state faces a $160 million budget shortfall for fiscal 2004.

It's Just Like a Utility

The plan, say Howard and Olson, is for the system to operate like a utility. 'We thought that data systems today should be like phone lines or power lines and roads," Olson says. "They should cross all the boundaries. If you come to the county line and you're on one road and the next one is 500 feet over to connect, well, that wouldn't make much sense. Really, that's what you're talking about with these data systems."

To that end, project committees have spent laborious hours evaluating existing hardware and software, and talking to vendors about how to make technology deliver their vision for ISIMS. Along the way, there has been no shortage of challenges in designing the multilayered system.

There is the issue of getting providers and software to "talk" to each other. There are privacy issues to consider. The groundwork has even included creating what Howard calls a "data dictionary," a list of consistent labels for such things as population data and education subcategories, and an "acronym dictionary" to maintain consistency in referring to various education programs. "For a computer to work," says Howard, "it has to receive a constant cue."

"We're spending a lot of time up front to get it right," says Olson. The foundation is paying for everything until the $35 million budget runs out. "Our goal is to have all the heavy lifting done by the time the state takes over."

The foundation plans to have a working prototype by the end of January and test the system in a couple of small districts or a few schools sometime in the spring. "If we can get that done," Olson says, "then it's simply a matter of, 'How fast can I scale it and train people?'"

Turning Turf Into Common Ground

If it seems like this business-based philanthropy is remarkably in tune with the world of education, it is. The foundation has education experts on staff—Jarvis, for one, Wayne Rush, a former University of Idaho professor and now the program development officer of the foundation, for another—and frequently hires consultants: former superintendents, theoretical gurus, and the like.

The foundation also teams up with the state, the teachers' association, and administrators' and parents' groups to discuss key issues. Often, the foundation invites these "critical friends" to meet at their Boise headquarters. "We actually see ourselves as a neutral ground where people can come and discuss topics," says Olson. "We've had some great meetings here where it's not somebody's turf; it's neutral ground."

"The Albertson Foundation works closely with the state department on their initiatives," Howard affirms. "We sit at the table as projects are contemplated, as the form is created, and with the intention that the foundation's efforts will mesh well or enhance what's going on in all of education. It's a symbiotic relationship."

For their part, the people from the Albertson Foundation bring much more to the partnership than the foundation's deep pockets. They bring some of the best ideas from the world of business, namely, data-based decisionmaking. And Olson, a former chief financial officer of Albertson's Inc., knows how to read the numbers—provided he can find them.

"While the foundation has been very data-driven from the beginning, we've been very frustrated at the same time. We want to be data-driven as to 'Are we making a difference?' and 'Show us the scores.' And that's been a frustration because there's not very good data, and it's not organized very well, and you can't get a hold of it. Education has a bunch of data around it, but it doesn't have what business has and that's consistent data so you can see trends over time."

But Olson and others at the foundation never lose sight of what the numbers represent. Ultimately, he says, "We're here for increased student learning. If we see a clear trail to that, we're very likely to be on that trail. That's why we think data is so important. Because it's a neighbor in that relationship between the teacher and the parent and the student, and that's what it's all about."

Blazing Trails

A quick look around Meridian School District reveals that the foundation has done some trailblazing here. The district has benefited from numerous foundation-sponsored programs, including $3.2 million from the Creating High Performance Schools (CHPS) initiative.

The district used the funds, in part, to train all staff members in strategies for continuous, data-driven school improvement.

"While these are things we would have done anyway," says Linda Clark, director of student achievement, "with our size and limited resources, we would have taken small steps over a very long time. The Albertson Foundation gave us ample funds to do it systemically, instead of in bits and pieces, so that we can impact kids who are here now."

Taking Stock

The Albertson Foundation has been a powerful force for change in Idaho education. Clearly, they've got political sway. They've even changed public policy. But is there a downside to a private organization having this much influence in the state?

"Agendas need to fit the big picture of education," says Marilyn Howard. "But the foundation has been very open about its agenda.

It has the same goals as the state department: improving student performance and creating high performance schools."

"It's hard to think of a downside," says Eric Exline, public information officer for the Meridian School District. "Every state has limited resources. The Albertson Foundation has provided us with a lot of extra resources—more technology, more staff development, a better process of standardized testing. Is there a downside? It forces change and we have to work hard, but that's OK."

Sustainability is sometimes an issue after outside development funds disappear, Exline notes, "but we have continued to maintain all the things given to us by the Albertson Foundation, even though it's sometimes been a challenge to do so."

The foundation's grant pool is directly related to the value of stock, so it does ebb and flow with the economy. A few years ago, when the economy took a dive, Jarvis says the foundation responded by becoming more focused in its efforts.

"If schools look to foundations to fill in all the pieces," says Yankey, "then they create the possibility that those pieces will go away."

Because the Albertson Foundation has invested in people and processes instead of simply supplying products, Yankey says, they have riches stored away, even if the funds were to disappear tomorrow.

"Being able to chart some new directions, to focus toward the future, is the huge gift of the Albertson Foundation," says Marilyn Howard.

Consider This

Partnerships. By routinely partnering with education stakeholders and including them in the development process, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation is less an outsider than one of the team. They've also been careful not to force participation. "The thing they've always done is honor what you know about your community and your school," says Teri Wagner, curriculum director of the Lapwai School District. "You can always say, 'Yes, please,' or 'No, thank you.'"

Balance of power. In many relationships, the party with the cash calls the shots. While retaining control of the ISIMS budget, the foundation directs most funding for other initiatives directly to the districts, helping to balance the power scale. Additionally, through all its work, the foundation "partners" with other stakeholders to create a shared vision.

Philanthropic vs. public funding. To affect long-term, systemic change, the foundation has invested in people and processes, not just products, observes Meridian Elementary Principal Byron Yankey. If the foundation funding stopped tomorrow, the state would continue to benefit from its contributions for years to come.

Economic factors. Outside funding can fluctuate with economic factors. The Albertson Foundation's money, for example, is tied to stock holdings vulnerable to economic weakness or recession. The foundation has responded by becoming more focused in its philanthropy.

Sustainability. Once development funds are expended, local districts and schools often struggle to sustain programs. However, if the program has proven to be valuable, says Eric Exline, public information officer for the Meridian School District, they will find some way to continue the program.

For more information on J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation initiatives, visit the Web site, www.jkaf.org.