E3 Alliance

We are excited to share that we recently (May 1st) celebrated the one year anniversary of the creation of the E3 Alliance. Huge momentum has been gained over this short period, and it gives great hope and belief in the process of systemic change around our educational capacity in this region and beyond. Some recent milestones include:

1) The public release of the Central Texas Education Snapshot – Phase 1 of our data evaluation and research efforts.

This “snapshot” is actually a 200 slide compilation of literally millions of data elements that represents the most comprehensive review of education outcomes and trends ever compiled for any region in the state, or – so far as we know – the country. This Snapshot contains data never before published, such as comparisons of outcomes in districts with similar and dissimilar demographics, and where and how our students are experiencing success – or not- in post-secondary educational settings. This work will certainly inform future phase research, but is also already being used to drive systemic alignment activities in the region.

The snapshot will be supplemented by a series of additional research efforts which include focus groups (conducted in June in Austin, Bastrop, Eanes, Manor, Round Rock and San Marcos ISDs), and statistical research on at the level of individual student records to get the heart of regional student influences and factors in successful transitions to higher education and careers.

2) We have just recently launched a set of deliberative dialogs across the region on achievement gaps in education.

Where and why are there such large gaps in outcomes across different demographic groups? How do they impact all of us? What can we do to close these gaps while raising the level of achievement of ALL our students?

Central Texas will be the first region in the country to leverage a national Kettering Foundation model for change, and is built to leverage the rich data sets we have just developed. This project, undertaken in partnership with Texas Forums, Austin Voices for Education and Youth, and United Way-Capital Area, will involve hundreds of people across seven communities in the region, rolling up into a regional forum this fall to create a plan for closing gas across the region.

3) One of the areas we have been working on providing better articulation models is nursing.

We have a looming shortage of 8000 nurses over the next few years in our region alone (plenty of demand), and hundreds of students on waiting lists every semester to get into programs (plenty of supply), but the pipeline has many breaks and bottlenecks that makes it impossible to produce enough qualified nurses to meet the regions’ needs. ACC, Texas State, and Concordia and the University of Texas at Austin are all building capacity; the E3 Alliance is working with industry leaders as well as secondary and higher education institutions to create a more seamless “pipeline” to get students through more effectively. We also have been working with political leaders to get state support for program expansion and funding, and we are looking to apply successful models to other industry needs.

4) On June 1 we are holding our second Business Challenge breakfast, hosted by early E3 supporters Alex Brown and Allyson Peerman of AMD.

We are hosting business leaders from key area companies to get broad business support for the work of the E3 Alliance. While we have gotten some funding from Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, RGK Foundation, and others, this support from business is critical for work such as the Achievement Gap deliberations, which are critical to gaining broad community buy-in for systemic change and are NOT fully funded.