January 22, 2009
Foundation awards $145,000 in grants to help Central Texas access
regional education trends and outcomes
Austin, TX – The E3 Alliance (Education Equals Economics Alliance) was awarded a $145,000 grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support more effective P-16 Data Analysis and education performance management, including improved state data access and strategic student data systems design, as well a regional model for transparent information sharing with business, education, and community leaders. In addition, the grant supports the execution of The Blueprint for Educational ChangeTM, the Central Texas community’s unprecedented strategic plan to build the strongest educational pipeline in the country. The grant funds continued regional community deliberative dialogues to support target setting, drive community action plans, and develop public will.
This year three additional communities (Hutto, the Leander ISD area, and Pflugerville) joined the deliberative dialogues process. These dialogues allow people from all perspectives to come together to create common action plans for preparing our students for the 21st century, as well as to continue to develop The Blueprint for Educational ChangeTM action strategies. Well over 1,000 people have now participated in community dialogues to drive data-based systemic change in education.
San Marcos CISD Superintendent Dr. Patty Shafer commented, “For smaller districts like San Marcos, having common approaches to data analysis from the E3 Alliance helps us in strategic planning and in setting goals for performance improvement.”
Dr. Jesus Chavez, Superintendent of Round Rock ISD, stated that, “The Blueprint for Educational Change is unprecedented in that it provides our entire region a framework for target setting and data-based decision making that will be driven by educators and community members working together, and will benefit our students and our economy.”
E3 Alliance stands for Education Equals Economics.
Since its founding in 2006 as a regional collaborative by the Austin Area Research Organization, The University of Texas at Austin and Austin Community College District, the E3 Alliance has acted as a catalyst for change and is the P-16 Council for the Central Texas region. The E3 Alliance is dedicated to better aligning educational systems and practices to drive higher outcomes for students and ensure a more efficient allocation of resources to increase our competitiveness as a region.
