E3 Alliance and partners become ninth community to reach significant milestone for promoting a data-driven region, ensuring more children are school ready and removing barriers for college enrollment and persistence

CINCINNATI, OH — StriveTogether, a national nonprofit working to improve education for every child, today named Central Texas as the ninth community to receive the highest designation for achieving better results for children and youth by using a data-driven approach. The work in Central Texas to change policies and practices to improve outcomes for students is being led by E3 Alliance, the region’s cradle-to-career partnership, and its partners.

“Since 2006, E3 Alliance has been dedicated to using data and collaboration to drive systems change in education,” said Susan Dawson, E3 Alliance president and executive director. “We are deeply moved and honored by StriveTogether’s national designation, and are excited to learn and grow in our work and impact along with our partners. While we see that systems change is happening in our region, with incredibly inspiring results, we also know we still have a long way to go in moving the work forward so all students can succeed.”

E3 Alliance and its partners work closely to eliminate educational disparities and improves outcomes, with E3-led initiatives directly impacting 118,689 students last year alone. Key achievements include:

• Serving as the convener and data expert in Central Texas, influencing the way the community uses data to improve policies and practices and ultimately student outcomes. As one example, data showed that full-day, low student-to-teacher ratio pre-kindergarten plays a significant role in kindergarten readiness. Since E3 Alliance shared this data, the percentage of full-day, low-ratio pre-kindergarten classrooms has grown from 5 percent to 22 percent.
• Creating Early Childhood Results Count, a cross-sector regional collaboration to address a recent drop in school readiness. The work has led to a mindset change: Districts are looking for a way to fund full-day, low-ratio, pre-kindergarten; business leaders are promoting the economic value of investment in early childhood; and health care professionals are writing “Pre-K Prescriptions” for children eligible but not taking advantage of free pre-kindergarten.
• Forming the Austin College Access Network in 2008. The network began with 1,500 students and has grown to support 10 community-based organizations and more than 13,000 first-generation, low-income minority and undocumented students. E3 Alliance is improving college persistence through data-sharing agreements, an early warning system for the most vulnerable students, financial aid support and access to a regional student database.
• Taking a strong stance on equity. E3 Alliance has been deeply involved in providing data to guide the Greater Austin Area My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. E3 also is spearheading best practices and data sharing to build a culture of high expectations for minority students in science, technology, engineering and math courses.
• Lowering chronic absence rates for young men of color as part of a StriveTogether Impact and Improvement Network. One school paired chronically absent students with a caring adult using the Student Success Mentoring model, leading to a 57 percent decline in chronic absenteeism. The work is being scaled through an Attendance Peer Learning Network in 20 schools for the 2018-2019 school year.

Communities in the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network like Central Texas commit to improving results for major milestones in a child’s life. They receive this top designation when they prove systems are changing and a majority of outcomes are improving or being maintained year after year. Progress is measured along a cradle-to-career continuum, from kindergarten readiness through postsecondary completion and employment.

Central Texas is making great strides across four of the six StriveTogether cradle-to-career outcomes being tracked by E3 Alliance. The community reached this milestone through collaboration, a focus on data-driven decision making and the hard work of local partners.

“I’m thrilled to announce Central Texas as our most recent community to prove it’s making a measurable difference for students,” said Jennifer Blatz, StriveTogether president and CEO. “Through data-focused strategies and community relationships, E3 Alliance has developed an impactful reputation as a trusted hub for bringing community partners together to act. Their use of data and adaptability has helped create real change in Central Texas.”

Central Texas joins  eight communities with this top designation: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (StrivePartnership); Dallas County, Texas (The Commit Partnership); Dayton/Montgomery County, Ohio (Learn to Earn Dayton); Portland/Multnomah County, Ore. (All Hands Raised); Racine County, Wis. (Higher Expectations for Racine County); Shelby County, Tenn. (Seeding Success); Spartanburg County, S.C. (Spartanburg Academic Movement) and Tacoma, Wash. (Graduate Tacoma).

About E3 Alliance
E3 Alliance is the P-16 Council for Central Texas that is transforming the education system through data and collaboration so all students succeed. We provide access to the best education data to ensure a culture and practice of data-driven decision making in education. We build and facilitate collaborations to promote a culture of student success and community accountability. We align the system to ensure school readiness, eliminating achievement gaps for all students, and promoting high school, college and workforce success. We serve five counties in Central Texas and partner with 15 school districts, 8 institutions of higher education and over 200 community partners and organizations to ensure that systems are improved and aligned cradle-to-career.