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| Reinventing Schools Coalition | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reinventing Schools Coalition |
| Formation | 1999 |
| Type | Nonprofit advocacy network |
| Headquarters | Oakland, California |
| Region served | United States |
| Leaders | Collective leadership |
Reinventing Schools Coalition is a U.S.-based nonprofit network that advocates for school redesign, progressive pedagogy, and community-led alternatives to traditional public schooling. Founded in 1999 by activists and educators influenced by movements in Oakland, California, the Coalition quickly connected with networks in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and other urban centers to promote site-based reform, teacher leadership, and student-centered models. Its work intersects with labor organizations, philanthropic foundations, charter networks, and grassroots groups involved in school change.
The Coalition emerged in the late 1990s amid national debates involving Department of Education (United States), Bill Clinton, No Child Left Behind Act, and local reform efforts in cities like New York City and Chicago Public Schools. Founders included activists with ties to Bay Area community organizing, organizers from United Teachers Los Angeles, and educators formerly involved with The Harlem Children’s Zone and Teach For America. Early 2000s campaigns aligned the Coalition with initiatives promoted by foundations such as the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Ford Foundation, while also critiquing aspects of federal policy shaped by figures like Arne Duncan and administrations including George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Over the 2010s the Coalition expanded collaborations with charter networks such as Success Academy Charter Schools, community school efforts in Cleveland, and local movements influenced by activists from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán and Mothers of East Los Angeles.
The Coalition’s stated mission draws on traditions from Progressive Education Association, John Dewey-inspired reformers, and contemporary practice seen in schools associated with leaders like Linda Darling-Hammond, Katherine Merseth, and Pedro Noguera. Principles emphasize site-based governance modeled after experiments in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco Unified School District, teacher leadership influenced by American Federation of Teachers, and student voice practices paralleling work done by YouthBuild USA and Facing History and Ourselves. The Coalition articulates commitments to equity shaped by legal precedents such as Brown v. Board of Education and policy frameworks advanced by entities like Every Student Succeeds Act proponents and civil rights organizations including NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Programs combine professional development, school incubation, and advocacy campaigns. Professional development draws on curricula and training models similar to those used by National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Relay Graduate School of Education, and KIPP Foundation-affiliated coaching. Incubation efforts have produced small-schools projects influenced by reforms in New York City Small Schools Initiative and community schooling pilots parallel to Annenberg Institute for School Reform collaborations. Advocacy initiatives coordinate with coalitions like Coalition for Community Schools, workforce efforts connected to AFT Innovation Fund, and civic partnerships resembling work by Harvard Graduate School of Education researchers.
The Coalition operates with regional chapters in metropolitan areas such as Oakland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and Houston, with a central coordinating body modeled on networks like Coalition of Essential Schools. Leadership blends elected teachers, local organizers with roots in groups like United Educators of San Francisco, and policy directors formerly of think tanks like Center for American Progress and Brookings Institution. Governance includes advisory input from academics affiliated with Stanford Graduate School of Education, Columbia Teachers College, and UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education, and labor advisors from unions including American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association.
Funding and partnerships reflect a mix of philanthropy, union grants, and local education agency contracts. Major philanthropic partners have included foundations such as Gates Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Annie E. Casey Foundation, while project-level alliances have been formed with charter operators like Ednovate and community organizations including Families In Schools. The Coalition has collaborated on grants with research institutions like RAND Corporation, University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, and policy centers including The Education Trust to evaluate pilots and scale practices.
The Coalition cites impacts in launching hundreds of microschools, shifting governance practices in districts such as Oakland Unified School District and Chicago Public Schools, and influencing teacher leadership policies adopted in places like Seattle Public Schools. Researchers from Harvard and Stanford have documented case studies of site-based work linked to the Coalition, while policy analysts at Brookings Institution and Education Week commentators have debated its effectiveness. Community organizers from groups like ACLU affiliates and civil rights leaders have at times praised Coalition efforts to expand multilingual programs modeled on examples from New York City Department of Education.
Critics include education reform advocates associated with E. D. Hirsch Jr.-style curricula and policymakers aligned with Department of Education (United States) accountability measures, who argue the Coalition’s approaches lack rigorous standardized outcome evidence comparable to studies by What Works Clearinghouse and Institute of Education Sciences. Labor debates have emerged between the Coalition and some chapters of National Education Association over charter partnerships and resource allocation, echoing controversies involving organizations like StudentsFirst and Teach For America. Investigations and op-eds in outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post have highlighted tensions when Coalition-affiliated projects intersect with local politics in cities like Detroit, Baltimore, and Los Angeles.
Category:Education reform organizations in the United States