Keys to Improvement
The BHEF Keys to Improvement help corporate philanthropy leaders understand how to invest most effectively in education by identifying the essential elements of lasting education improvement and the relationships among those elements. The framework examines eight key areas that, when functioning effectively, interact to create a district/school/classroom environment where all students are challenged and supported to leave high school prepared for college and/or the workforce. The framework:
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Outlines eight key areas essential to effective improvement efforts— whether large-scale, district-wide activities or individual programmatic initiatives.
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Demonstrates the relationship between student success (the "student success core") and program support that, when combined, enable students to graduate from high school ready for college and/or the workforce.
- Examines the external influences that are set and utilized at the district level, but also permeate the school and classroom setting, and influence student success.
Programmatic Support. The student programmatic support layer contains two keys that facilitate a college-going environment: student opportunity and access emphasizes the importance of college information, academics, and finances that may be imbedded into the curriculum and school day; while co- and extra curricular activities support students outside the school day and promote college readiness by developing students' academic and career knowledge and skills.
External Influences. The external influences layer contains three keys that are often used and set at a national, state or district level, but influence teaching and learning in schools and classrooms: data-driven decision making emphasizes the use of data to drive improvement efforts down to the classroom to maximize student success; standards are set and monitored on a large scale level, but must be applied in the classroom to affect student performance and success; and capacity building explores the "back office functions" of school systems, including hiring and firing personnel, food services, and transportation.
Other frameworks for district improvement exist; one notable example is the Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) Coherence Framework, developed by faculty at the Harvard Business School, Kennedy School, and Graduate School of Education to aid district leaders in understanding key elements that support a district-wide improvement strategy and their interrelationships. BHEF's Keys to Improvement framework relies heavily on the strong work of the PELP framework, but focuses specifically on improvement efforts that are designed to prepare all students for success in college and the workforce.
