Listening to educators

In 2004, recent Harvard Graduate School of Education graduates Marci Cornell-Feist and John Maycock began talking to a number of Boston-area charter schools about what they needed to help all their students achieve at the highest levels. What they heard, repeatedly, was teachers’ frustration with the assessments available to them: They weren’t as rigorous as the state summative tests; and results arrived too late for teachers to take action in response.

As an article in Education Next describes, educators said “they needed better assessments, better data, and help understanding how to use the information…They wanted assessments that would serve as an instructional tool and not another gotcha mechanism to punish teachers.” They also felt isolated, unable to collaborate with or benefit from the perspective of other educators tackling similar challenges.
 

A responsive organization, shaped by what’s working

In 2005, Marci and John began to build a team with the knowledge and skills to address educators’ needs. When they learned that the kind of assessments teachers envisioned simply didn’t exist, they recruited educators with expertise in assessment design and deep content knowledge. This team developed ANet’s unique assessments and refined them, year after year, with new information about the standards and input from teachers, leaders, and like-minded organizations.

They also developed our coaching program, in which specially-trained educators work alongside school leaders to implement best practices that ANet has learned from its partner schools.

Over time, more specialists joined ANet to enhance our ability to support our partners with an array of teacher-requested tools and resources and professional development.  And we introduced district and CMO consulting to respond to the need we heard to help systems foster strong practice across schools.
 

A partner, not a vendor

We’re now 180 people strong—the vast majority former teachers and school/district leaders—all dedicated to helping schools boost student achievement in over 700 schools.

Our work is funded primarily through fees from our partners, but every school receives a partial subsidy thanks to our supporters.

School and district partners cover roughly 80% of the cost to deliver our services, while the remaining 20% comes from philanthropic sources. 

We believe

• Every student deserves opportunity in life.
• Educators who devote their professional lives to this goal deserve support.
• There are no silver bullets. All schools are different and need a tailored approach.
• But there's no reason to re-invent the wheel over and over: We should learn from each other.

Mission

Achievement Network works alongside school leadership teams to strengthen their school-wide practice and culture of using learning standards and achievement data to get breakthrough results for students in underserved communities.

Core values

Advance Equity
We seek to understand the role of race, culture, socio-economics and privilege in our partner schools and communities, because we
know that inequities persist. We actively reflect on our own and others’ experiences, perspectives, and identities. We take actions grounded in our awareness to enhance the strength of our organization, deepen our partnerships with schools, and positively impact students’ lives.

Bold Thinking
We enthusiastically seize possibilities and act with an entrepreneurial spirit. We are optimistic about the future of education and take initiative to pave new roads towards closing gaps in student achievement. We innovate after careful study and reflection and with disciplined thought. We are intellectually curious.

Drive Results
We maintain a relentless focus on achieving excellence. We are responsible for the outcomes of our schools and recognize that our actions contribute to student achievement and school change.

People Matter
We prioritize the people and relationships that enable our work to be successful. We create a diverse and inclusive environment where our differences are appreciated and we can use our strengths. We operate with humility and a customer service focus because it accelerates impact for students. We encourage personal and professional alignment on our team.

Promote Leadership
We aspire to be change agents in our organization, our schools, and in the broader education reform community. We operate with a high level of integrity, personal accountability, respect, and self-awareness to achieve excellence in our work.

Team First
We achieve results as an interdependent team. We are supportive, responsive, flexible, and considerate in our interactions with one another. We partner with others both inside and outside of our organization because we share accountability for results and want to identify opportunities to learn from each other.