Reach, Inc.

Data Breakdown

2011-02-22T19:46:00.002-05:00

At the end of the 2nd quarter, we had our first opportunity to evaluate the improvement of our tutors. While we recognize the need to provide additional data about tutor reading level, this academic data provides a first glance at the performance of our tutors.

Based on a 4.0 Scale -

Average 1st Quarter GPA: 2.32

Average 2nd Quarter GPA: 2.49

Average Improvement: .17

Additional Data -

Program participants averaged 46.8 hours of additional reading instruction.

Program participants averaged 21.2 hours of community service hours earned.

11 of our 16 tutors showed improved grades during the 2nd Quarter.

Looking a Little Closer -

The 5 tutors who experienced a GPA decrease had an average 1st Quarter GPA of 2.94.

The 11 tutors that showed improvement had an average 1st Quarter GPA of 2.03. They showed an average improvement of .38 on a 4.0 scale.

In sum, the students with the most significant challenges experienced the most significant progress.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Climbing Higher

2011-02-17T22:30:00.004-05:00

Reach measures success in many ways. The first semester recently came to a close, so we have been looking at the progress that our tutors made from the 1st quarter to the 2nd quarter. While not every one of our students improved, some of our students demonstrated really significant growth. Today, I want to recognize three of our fantastic tutors:

DaQuan presents as one of our quietest tutors, though I know he's more social than he appears. At the end of the first quarter, DaQuan admitted that he could have done better. During the second quarter, he did better. Much better. DaQuan showed an improvement of .52 (on a 4.0 scale).

Eriq has been one of our most consistent tutors. Always quiet, Eriq simply shows up on time and immediately gets to work. He's clearly been bringing that same workman's quality to his academic coursework. From 1st quarter to 2nd quarter, Eriq's GPA showed an improvement of .87.

Romello has really come on strong recently. He has really grown as a tutor during recent weeks, and his academic progress has mirrored his program success. Romello's improvement - a whopping .90! - leads the class.

Thus far, I've collected report cards from 13 of our 16 active tutors. 8 of 13 showed improvement in academic performance (it should be noted that a number of those whose GPA did not rise had very strong performances during the 1st quarter), and I look forward to receiving report cards from the three remaining tutors. The other tutors that showed improvement deserve recognition as well: Brandon, DaJohn, Jonathan, Chynna, and Cawahn.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Responding to Feedback

2011-02-14T20:01:00.003-05:00

In recent weeks, I've been asking the tutors for feedback regarding training sessions. Our tutors have reported that training sessions can be a little boring, so I've been experimenting with some different formats to engage and excite our high school students. Today, after a brief vocabulary activity, I introduced A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson. My goal was to model comprehension-building strategies using this crown of sonnets. What developed was much more exciting.

...If trees could speak, it could describe, in words beyond words, make us see the strange fruit that still ghosts the reverie, misty companion of its solitude...

The tutors, using context clues, learned the meaning of "strange fruit." Their eyes moved to me; you could almost feel them engage. They heard about Billie Holliday ("I thought that was a dude!") and began to think about the horrific reality of men hanging from trees.

...my heartwood has been scarred for fifty years by what I heard, with hundreds of green ears...Two hundred years of deaths I understood. Then slaughter axed one quiet summer night, shivering the deep silence of the stars...

Can we tell, I asked, from whose perspective this particular sonnet is written? Romello answered quickly, "the trees." And when asked for evidence, a number of tutors cited the green ears and the two hundred year lifespan. A lesson in perspective hidden in a much larger lesson.

...Surely you didn't know you would devote the rest of your changed life to dignified public remembrance of how Emmett Died, innocence slaughtered by the hands of hate...would you say no to your destiny, mother of a boy martyr, if you could?

DaQuan pulled out the real question: Knowing that her son's death became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, would Mrs. Till change history? Opinions were shared with each tutor offering solid reasoning.

...For the lynchers feared the lynchee, what he might do, being of another race, a great unknown...

Asked to explain what was really feared, the tutors explained that it was the unknown. So, knowledge is fear's enemy. As teachers, I told the tutors assembled, you give your students the ultimate freedom. As tutors, I told them, I expect you to lead conversations about literature - conversations like the one we had today. Can you do that? They nodded.

As the tutors gathered their belongings, I asked for feedback. With one being boring and three being great, they held up fingers to tell me how they thought today's session went. One student extended a single finger; one put up two. The rest of them extended three fingers into the air. Today, kids got excited about what they read. Today, tutors saw a connection between their own lives and the words on the pages. Today, we brought a book to life.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Meet Our Tutor: Chynna

2011-02-11T12:41:00.005-05:00

Recently, I had the honor to nominate one of Reach's tutors for DC Lawyers for Youth's Young Achievers Program. Read the nomination below:

Taylor enters the room each day with the same two words, “Where’s Chynna?” Chynna generally enter moments later, and Taylor’s face breaks into a big smile.

Chynna, a Deanwood resident and 9^th grade student at Hyde Leadership Public Charter School, is a tutor with Reach Incorporated. Reach improves literacy skills, across ages, by hiring and training adolescents to tutor in DC elementary schools. Two days each week, Chynna receives training to provide instruction in the five core components of literacy development: fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and text comprehension. On two alternating days, Chynna works with Taylor, an energetic second grade student.

Chynna pushes Taylor to give her best. Though Taylor, like many young learners, works hard to avoid hard work, Chynna continually pushes Taylor to do more. Together, they work on journal entries, read stories, and complete book reports. Chynna finds creative ways to motivate Taylor each day – sometimes, for example, Taylor will quickly begin her work once Chynna lets her write in multi-colored markers.

While Chynna’s performance in Reach’s after-school program is impressive, she handles her in-class responsibilities with equal devotion. In addition to her nearly perfect attendance, Chynna is an honor roll student currently carrying a grade point average of 3.43. Her well-developed social skills and impressive record of achievement predict success in her efforts to become a forensic scientist.

While Chynna must sometimes be reminded to smile, the same can never be said of Taylor. With Chynna’s continued hard work, both she and Taylor will continue to thrive.

Whether or not Chynna is recognized by DCLY, we were so pleased to be able to recognize her work to this point. Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Dreaming of the Future

2011-02-07T09:14:00.002-05:00

This weekend, many passionate people will arrive in DC to attend Teach for America's 20th Anniversary Summit. Once, like Reach, TFA was a young nonprofit trying to create impact. We have all seen the organization explode in recent years, becoming one of the premier employers of recent college graduates. For me, it's impossible to hear about such an event without stopping to consider a fascinating question: Where do we want Reach to be in 20 years?

That question begets a thousand others, which is why organizations rarely create a 20-year strategic plan. It is, however, still interesting to consider a couple of the big ones.

How many students will Reach be serving? Right now, we hope Reach becomes a leading nonprofit in Washington DC. We have no intention of becoming a large-scale national nonprofit. In twenty years, it would be wonderful to say that Reach was present in all of the city's public high schools serving over 2,500 students.

What will our programs look like? We will continue to attack DC's significant adolescent literacy crisis while ensuring that elementary school students are given the support necessary to achieve proficiency in reading by the end of 3rd grade. We also may be able to explore other opportunities to engage struggling adolescent learners through employment - summer camps, child development centers, a theater company, etc.

Where will we get funding? Once Reach establishes the efficacy of our program model, we will leverage success to develop cost sharing agreements with program sites. Additionally, we will continue to secure funding through individual donors, foundations, and corporations. Finally, we will generate revenue by providing training to other jurisdictions interested in implementing our unique literacy intervention.

What impact will we make? This is the place where I struggle with TFA's popularity, since the teacher shortage continues to be at crisis levels 20 years after the organization's founding. In 20 years, Reach will have significantly impacted the number of students leaving 9th grade with grade-level reading capabilities. Additionally, while we target those students who enter 9th grade in the bottom quartile, we will produce high school graduation rates and college matriculation rates equal to those of the public school population as a whole.

20 years seems like a long time, but I have no doubt it will move quickly. We will continue to work with urgency to address the needs of our students - only through a tireless dedication to high-quality programming will we be able to look back with pride on our first two decades.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

One Decision, Four Frames

2011-02-04T15:27:00.007-05:00

As a student in the School Leadership Program at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, Bolman and Deal's Four Frames Framework was often used to analyze organizational decisions. The framework suggests looking at strategic decisions through four different lenses: structural, symbolic, political, and human resources. Through this approach, one can analyze decisions and predict resistance. During last week's board meeting, Reach made the decision to add a second program site in the fall. Using the four frames allows a full understanding of the factors that led to this decision.

Structural: One of my board members dropped a wonderful pearl of wisdom when he said, "duplication is easy, but expansion is really hard." The comment, while simple, really drives home the idea that we must focus on learning before we focus on scaling. Growing an organization while solidifying a program model necessitates constant expansion efforts. However, if we create the strongest possible program now, we will have the ability to focus largely on duplication in the future. This means we should proceed slowly during this learning stage.

Symbolic: As a new organization, every decision largely influences the way Reach is perceived in the community. As we begin investigating expansion opportunities, we must keep this in mind. Our first site, Hyde Leadership, is a charter school. This means that we must be very cautious about selecting a charter school as our second site. The decision to partner with another charter might lead those in the community to begin thinking of Reach as an organization that serves only charter schools.

Political: Nonprofit organizations deal with political realities on a number of levels. For Reach, political considerations involve remaining committed to our students despite sometimes challenging relationships with partner schools - we want to be seen as an organization that weathers storms. Additionally, serving specific communities carries significant political weight in the funding community. For Reach, these political considerations, and our desire to serve the students that face the most significant obstacles, drive us to aggressively explore relationships in Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Human Resources: Perhaps the most obvious challenge for next year will be one of staffing. At our first site, I was able to handle all aspects of program planning and execution. As we expand to a second site, we will have to design the systems necessary to achieve success at multiple schools. Developing these systems will not be easy, which is one of the reasons that we are satisfied to add one more site for the coming academic year. By doing so, we will ensure that appropriate supervision structures are created so we continue to succeed with our students.

Above all, our board decided that our current focus should be placed squarely on program quality. We will not consider ourselves successful if we effectively scale an organization that provides mediocre services. While we want to provide high-quality services to every one of DC's struggling adolescent readers, we recognize that we must focus on becoming great before we can focus on addressing the problem's significant scale.

This year, we're serving approximately 45 students. There are thousands in need of our services. Next year, let's focus on providing the highest quality services to about a hundred of those kids. Only by taking these careful first steps will we be able to make an even more significant impact in the future.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Meet Our Student: Aaron

2011-01-31T17:07:00.009-05:00

At the beginning of each session, Aaron needs a little guidance to get focused. Once that energy is harnessed, Aaron is a constantly-improving reader.

Recently, tutors have been focusing on providing direct feedback to students. Additionally, program instructors have worked to provide appropriate comprehension tools to our tutors. This way, tutors can more explicitly focus on comprehension strategies rather than simply improving student fluency.

Seeing a book report in front of him, Aaron began immediately trying to answer the questions - he missed an important step: actually reading the story! Aaron showed his book report to his tutor. The tutor's response: "I don't think you tried very hard." Aaron came running to me asking what grade I would give it. Seeing me write a big C- on his paper, Aaron looked shocked.

Walking back to the tutor, I offered a suggestion. Have Aaron read you the story out loud. That way, you can make sure he doesn't skip anything. Once he does that, you can help him work on his book report. "I have to do it again?" Aaron asked. I laughed. "Buddy, you never did it the first time."

A few minutes later, I visited Aaron and his tutor once again. He had now determined the story's setting, and he had identified the conflict - "both kids wanted to have their birthday party on the same day!" Unfortunately, our session was coming to an end. Aaron, disappointed, wanted to finish the task. When told he could finish it next time, his answer was quite insightful. "I could have finished it this time if I did it right the first time." It was, perhaps, the most important lesson of the day.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Board Planning

2011-01-27T19:21:00.003-05:00

This weekend, Reach's Board of Directors will meet to discuss the organization's plan for future growth. While not a formal strategic planning session, this will be the board's first opportunity to develop a shared vision for the future.

First, the board will receive an update based on the following outline:

Fundraising Report (Fiscal Year To Date, as of January 27, 2011):

Individual Donors: $63,899.98

Foundations: $40,000.00

Corporations: $21,456.00

Special Events: $ 4,952.85

Total Collected: $130,308.83

Foundation Pledges: $ 5,000.00

Individual Pledges: $16,000.00

Total Pledges: $ 21,000.00

Total Raised: $151,308.83

Fundraising Update:

Additional $32,500 challenge grant from the Snave Foundation – expected December 2011.
Continued conversation with ARPC re: dinner to build corporate donor base.
3 funding opportunities pending:

Crowell & Moring Foundation: $10,000 – Decision Expected in April
George Preston Marshall Foundation: $5,000 - $10,000 – Due in March
Echoing Green: $60,000 over two years – Finalist Decision in March

Program Update:

Currently serving 42 students at Hyde Leadership.
Learning from a number of challenges:

Teacher Turnover
Collection of Personal Information
Student Attrition
Scheduling Conflicts

Early conversations with Eastern Senior High and Cesar Chavez re: possible expansion opportunities.
Very popular and successful Books for Break campaign.
Pending application for FairChance DC.
Speaking engagement at NYU School of Social Work – February 26^th.

After going through a program update, we'll look at the growth strategies of four highly-successful nonprofit organizations: Life Pieces to Masterpieces, Urban Alliance, Higher Achievement Program, and Breakthrough Collaborative. By looking at the choices made by these more established organizations, we can explore the strengths and weaknesses of each organization's growth strategy before determining our best way forward.

It's because of the wonderful support from so many of you that we can have a discussion about the best strategy for growth - a discussion that is not driven entirely by financial considerations.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Today's Plan

2011-01-24T22:36:00.002-05:00

A lack of routine begets a lack of consistency. After having such a wonderful tutoring day on Thursday, Monday's training session was entirely disappointing. For the first time, I dismissed my tutors early - letting them know that I thought everyone's time was being wasted. Today, they'll hear from me - something like this:

Yesterday was disappointing. Not because you spoke when I was speaking. Not because you were making negative comments to others. Not because you all ran late. Not even because I - your teacher and your boss - was called petty. My feelings about myself and this program extend beyond a single day. No one day will change what I feel about each of you and about the power that this model holds. Yesterday was disappointing because you made clear the low expectations you hold for yourselves - or, at least did yesterday. I hope that's not an indication of how you generally feel about yourselves.

The day I accept, without comment, you showing up late - I've indicated my belief that you can't be a good employee. The day I accept, without comment, you talking over your boss - I've indicated my belief that you can't show respect to others. The day I accept, without comment, your negative comments to each other - I indicate my belief that you can't be nice. The day I accept, without comment, any didn't or won't - I indicate my belief that you can't. And it's not true - I believe in can.

Every time a teacher gives you an A for a mediocre effort, they insult you. Every time an elder looks the other way when you're actin' a fool, they make a statement that you can't be a better version of yourself. If you think redirection or advice from adults is offensive, imagine what it means when it stops. It means they've given up - that they expect nothing else from you.

For that reason, I promise you this. What happened yesterday will continue to be unacceptable. I will be on your ass even harder than I was previously. The day that I expect behavior like you demonstrated yesterday is the day that I owe it to you to quit, to walk away. But, I can promise you three things. 1) I will maintain high standards. 2) I will let you know when you meet or exceed those standards. And 3) You will have earned it.

Yesterday was disappointing. Luckily, you get another opportunity tomorrow. See you at 4.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

When It Works.

2011-01-20T20:41:00.011-05:00

Since returning from Winter Break, it's been somewhat challenging to settle back into Reach's routine. Since returning from break, weather has caused Reach to be canceled twice, and we missed an additional day due to Dr. King's day. Kids thrive on routine, so January has been tough. But today, some great things started happening.

Jaylin (right), not always the easiest student, had his best day of the year. He worked well with his tutor and continually sought additional challenges. First, by writing a comprehensive answer to the day's journaling prompt, then by starting work on a book report about the story he finished reading. I was so impressed with Jaylin today, and his tutor, Romello, deserves a lot of the credit.

Eddie, whose energy was highlighted in a previous blog entry, worked with a new tutor today. Cawahn's student was absent, and Eddie's tutor was absent, so they worked together. It couldn't have gone better. After reading for a little while, Eddie's teacher suggested that he might need some assistance with the week's spelling words. Cawahn created a game that harnessed Eddie's energy - they played a game of catch, but each time Eddie wanted the ball back, he had to spell another word. Everyone was smiling, and our supervising teachers were appropriately impressed.

It was Willie (right), however, that made my day. Willie's been having trouble getting started recently. Did he want to journal? No. Did he want to read? No. Was he willing to do anything we asked of him? No. As we were beginning to grow frustrated with Willie, he spoke softly, "I want to read my book."

"Your book?" I asked. "You have your own book with you?"

With that, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a compilation of eight Curious George stories - a book that Willie had received through Reach's Books For Break program. He had been carrying this book (a big hardback book, being carried around by a tiny kid) since he got back to school. He wanted to read it with his tutor, DaJohn. Willie simply said, "I've only read the first one. I got seven more."

Today was awesome.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

If Reach fails...?

2011-01-17T16:20:00.002-05:00

The Echoing Green Semi-Finalist application is no small exercise. Among the challenging questions asked, one was particularly challenging: "What might you wind up doing if this organization doesn’t work out as planned?"

Part of me wanted to respond by simply saying, "We won't fail." Or, even better, "Reach will survive and thrive." I truly believe that social entrepreneurship requires a start-up leader to be slightly cocky and entirely crazy. I rarely consider failure; it seems counterproductive.

I ended up answering the question like this:

Reach’s early success in programming and fundraising make it unlikely that the organization will meet an early demise. We are extremely proud of the level of organizational stability that has been achieved so early. I do, however, recognize the challenges inherent in nonprofit management. If Reach were to go out of business, I would remain actively involved in providing better opportunities for adolescents in the District of Columbia in a position of school leadership or nonprofit management.

Writing the answer became a reflective process. Social enterprises develop in stages. While the names and models vary, the themes are similar. First, there's a start-up phase - idea, initial funding, planning, piloting, and establishing a reputation. Soon after, these new enterprises enter the growth phase. We have now entered this second stage - our immediate future is no longer in question. I'm so proud to be able to say that. While we know we will face challenges, we stand firmly on a strong foundation.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

PS - On this day of remembrance, I chose not to write about Dr. King's legacy. It is my hope that his beliefs - especially those of non violence, equal rights, and economic justice - stay with us 365 days a year. While we pause to think of him today, it's my hope that we will all wake tomorrow with a continued commitment to the ideals he voiced.

The Last 24

2011-01-13T13:46:00.002-05:00

Occasionally, people ask what my days are like - it's not always easy to know what goes into launching a start-up. So, as I've done in the past, I want to share a bit about the last 24 hours.

January 12th:

12pm: Assembled storage cabinet for use as classroom library at Hyde Leadership.

1pm: Scanned tax documents to make electronic copies available to potential funding partners.

2pm: Secured pickup truck to transport storage cabinet to Hyde Leadership.

3:30pm: With tutors, set up classroom library at Hyde Leadership. Labeled, leveled, and shelved books. Prepared individual folders for elementary school students.

5:30pm: Prepared final draft of partnership application for Fair Chance DC.

6:30pm: Confirmed speaking engagement at NYU Silver School of Social Work - discussed potential lecture topics.

January 13th:

8am: Met with Rachel Skerritt, new principal of Eastern Senior High School, about potential expansion to Eastern in the fall of 2011.

10am: Submitted final proposal to Fair Chance DC.

11am: Secured invitation to apply for funding from the George Preston Marshall Foundation.

11:30am: Began work on semi-final application for the Echoing Green Fellowship.

12pm: Wrote blog.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The Surprising Science of Motivation

2011-01-10T09:41:00.002-05:00

Learning is an iterative process. Reach's youth allows a high degree of malleability - when we recognize something needs to be changed, we change it. As organizations get larger and organizational norms become established, this becomes more challenging. For this reason, I feel a significant amount of pressure to get things right. While I know we will never stop learning, I want to use this first year to solidify our model as we move toward expansion.

When looking at the components of our program model, there is no aspect that gives me greater pause than the use of financial incentives. To be clear, I believe that our financial incentives have played a great role in recruiting tutors that will benefit from program participation; however, I question whether the bonus structure has had, or will have, an impact. At this point, we don't have the data to tell, but my current reading is forcing me to ask questions.

I'm currently reading Drive by Dan Pink. In his book (and this TED Talk), Pink tells us that there is little correlation between contemporary incentive structures and the scientific research regarding human motivation. If a task involves even some cognitive skill, then pay-for-performance incentives actually have been proven - again and again - to be harmful. Rather than provide financial incentives, it seems that we should be focusing on providing our tutors with three more intrinsic sources of motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. While there is work to be done around the idea of mastery, I feel that much of our early success with tutors can be linked to the ways we already promote autonomy and purpose.

So, what does that mean about the financial incentives we're currently using? In my mind, paying our tutors is still an important part of our program model. They remain at school for additional hours and provide an important service. Additionally, many of our tutors would not normally volunteer for such a program - in part, because many have not previously experienced success at school. We need something to get them in the door.

I do, however, see potential for significant changes in our bonus structure. Nothing in the research outlined by Pink indicates that we will create academic improvement by providing financial incentives - in fact, research indicates that these incentives might actually hurt academic performance. While the research may confuse us, it is abundantly clear.

There are many decisions ahead of us. Will Reach continue to offer bonuses, or should we move to a simple stipend model? If we do offer bonuses of any kind, what behaviors should we incentivize? The answers have large financial implications, but more important, they will strongly impact the efficacy of our work.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Exciting News

2011-01-04T17:01:00.004-05:00

Reach is again a semi-finalist in the Echoing Green Fellowship Competition. Of 2,854 applications, only 224 organizations - about 8% - were selected to move forward!

By The Numbers

2010-12-29T19:22:00.006-05:00

42: Program participants

8: Current board members

109: Books given to program participants before Winter Break

3.54: The highest GPA achieved by a Reach tutor

57: Additional hours of instruction provided to our tutors

28: Additional hours of instruction provided to our students

$32,500: Largest contribution

7: Contributions of $5,000 or more

2: Law firms that held "Jeans Day" to benefit Reach

1: Current program site

53,225: Dollars pledged for 2011

4: Program Instructors

1,437,049: Lessons learned *

194: Donors during 2010

60: Percent of grant proposals that were funded

400: Books in Reach's library

3: Fundraising events

2: Volunteers that help with instruction

157,648.28: Dollars raised in 2010

Thank you all for making it such a great year!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

* This number is an estimate.

Reach Welcomes Two New Board Members!

2010-12-27T21:49:00.007-05:00

Reach is excited to announce the addition of two new members of the organization's Board of Directors: Crystal Moore and Dianne Samuelson.

Currently, Crystal Moore is a ProInspire fellow at DC Public Schools. ProInspire is an organization that helps develop, "the next generation of leaders for the nonprofit sector and [helps] organizations effectively achieve their missions." Crystal's bio from the ProInspire website follows:

Crystal Moore is an Inspire Fellow at the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). As a Business Analyst in the Office of Secondary School Transformation, she conducts analysis necessary to make data-driven decisions that forward the districts’ reform efforts of becoming the preeminent urban school system in America. Crystal is responsible for analyzing the key drivers of secondary school performance, enhancing performance management, the project management for test administration, and managing strategic initiatives. Crystal started her career as a Corporate Finance analyst with Accenture in Washington, DC. There she worked in the Health and Public Service Operating Group managing, consulting, and outsourcing contracts and business units for public sector clients. Crystal graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Finance from Xavier University of Louisiana in 2007; where she served as Student Body President and was the recipient of the Saint Katharine Drexel Award, the University's highest student honor. She has been a passionate volunteer and member of several non-profit organizations throughout her career, including College Summit, Junior League of Northern Virginia, and Greater DC Cares. Additionally, she currently serves on Xavier University Young Alumni Board.

Dianne Samuelson is the founder of Samuelson Educational Consulting, a senior researcher at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a founding member of the Disability Resources Advisory Board for the Center for Advanced Learning at Washington University in St. Louis. Before she entered the field of education, she held senior level positions in the management consulting industry with such firms as Booz, Allen & Hamilton and The Analytic Science Corporation.

In Dianne's current consulting work, she assists students and their families in navigating the educational system by translating the students' educational assessments and academic history into an integrated plan to address student needs. In her role as a researcher at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, Dianne is a Co-author of a grant proposal which was awarded funding through Harvard Medical School’s Milton Fund. The research study is investigating the effect of technology on writing behaviors and performance. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Reach is very excited about these two new additions to our board, and we look forward to working with them toward Reach's continue growth and progress!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

My Best Reach Moment...

2010-12-22T19:04:00.011-05:00

On the last day before break, our students were asked, "What's been your best Reach moment so far?" Below, enjoy some of their answers:

"My best Reach moment was when my student Qur-An learned how to read a book. It made me feel good inside." - Destiny

My best Reach moment was..."when Willis came and he wanted to learn - it made me feel good about my job." - Jonathan

"My best Reach moment was when I first met my student and we took a picture together. It made me feel like a real teacher, because I never got a chance to work with little kids before." - Crystal

My best Reach moment was..."When I was teaching Aaron how to spell. It made me feel accomplished." - Romello

"My best Reach moment was when I found out that my first student improved in her reading. It made me feel that I was doing a good job." - Joyce

"My best Reach moment was when Kamari read a book without me helping. It made me feel good that I taught her something." - Eriq

"My best Reach moment was when I was able to give Taylor her books [through 'Books For Break'], because it made me feel closer to her...When she looked me in the eye and said, 'thanks,' I felt different. She was happy and that made me happy." - Chynna

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

A Month Late

2010-12-21T14:15:00.002-05:00

We're told to give thanks at Thanksgiving. I mean, it's in the name, so it does make sense. However, I tend to take time to reflect as the year comes to an end. When schools empty, I'm able to take a few moments to think about our 2010 accomplishments. It is during these reflective moments that I become most aware of our need to give thanks. Before the end of the year, I'll use this space to talk about our goals for the future and highlight some 2010 accomplishments. For today, we give thanks:

During 2010, we have raised over $150,000 from over 200 wonderful supporters.
We currently have the wonderful honor of serving 45 students at Hyde Leadership Public Charter School.
We are in the financial position to explore expansion opportunities for the fall of 2011. Additionally, we have been named an approved after-school provider, so we have the flexibility to explore opportunities in both public and public charter schools within the District of Columbia.
When we ask our tutors about their best Reach moment, we get to read this: "My best Reach moment was when I got to give [my student] her books [from Books For Break]...it made me feel like our bond grew stronger. I felt connected to her. When she looked me in my eye and said thank you, I felt different...like she was happy and that made me happy."
A few Wednesdays ago, while leaving Hyde Leadership, we got to hear Bilal say, "Mr. Mark, I'm excited 'cause tomorrow we have tutoring!"

More than anything, we can be thankful that we're going to get bigger and stronger and better. This is only the beginning.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

A White Christmas

2010-12-14T20:45:00.004-05:00

I got to live out a dream this week - shopping at a bookstore with an (almost) unlimited budget. If I could have a shopping spree anywhere, it would, without doubt, be at a book store. This week, I got to have some fun!

Today, each of our elementary school students received three books. These level-appropriate books will, we hope, keep our students reading during Winter Break. Shopping for the books, however, was not entirely easy. The title of today's blog is intentional: so few of the available children's books feature characters of color. Though this has improved, to some degree, during recent years, there is still very little children's literature available that represents the cultural reality of Reach's students.

Improvements have been made, yes. There are now books about children in Africa and Mexico and China and even Indian Reservations in Oklahoma; however, few characters have lives similar to my kids.

Today, it seems that many authors have chosen to make main characters ethnically ambiguous (for example, the Wimpy Kid is a stick figure). While this may avoid accusations of overt trends, it does little to actually address the issues faced by our students. Even when characters are ethnically ambiguous, they live in nice houses with nice yards and both parents and comfortable beds in safe neighborhoods. This is not the experience of my children.

This is not to say things aren't improving. I was able to give many children books by Ezra Jack Keats - an author that tries to depict real scenes of inner city life. And, without doubt, there is a universality to the experience of children - it's why some of them fall in love with the Wimpy Kid or Captain Underpants. But, there's a long way to go. One day, perhaps Reach's tutors - who now notice these things - will be the ones that write the stories that the next generation will read.

One day, maybe Christmas won't have to be quite so white.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Waves

2010-12-09T18:30:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, we sent our December Update to Reach's mailing list. Many of our loyal supporters sent congratulatory notes; they were so pleased to hear all our good news. Our donors were happy, everyone was pleased with our progress, and I was really proud to be able to share such good news.

Everything seemed to be going so well. Then...

On Thursdays, I usually have three teachers assisting with program implementation. Today, for various reasons, all of them were absent. In addition, we had two - count them, two! - fights between boisterous elementary school students. Bad days happen, but handling them alone is difficult.

Today was the first time I left Hyde Leadership with an aching head. It was a strong reminder of the journey that remains. Today made it feel like the entire program was held together with scotch tape and rubber cement, like an elementary school arts and crafts project.

Despite all these difficulties, there is always a silver lining. DaJohn learned deescalation techniques - and implemented them well - while working with one of the fighting students. Binetou effectively lined up our elementary school students and walked them out to their waiting parents. And, for the most part, our tutors and students ignored the distractions and continued working hard.

Perhaps the universe felt that yesterday's update was too positive. Lesson learned.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Books For Break

2010-12-06T18:40:00.002-05:00

Tony has helped Bilal dramatically improve his reading fluency. Destiny's student Qur-An recently read her very first book. Eriq has worked with Kamari to develop more advanced text comprehension skills. Though it seems that our work just started, we are already seeing tremendous advances in the reading skills of our students at Hyde Leadership!

Despite all the progress made to this point, a significant concern looms on the horizon. Studies show that learning loss occurs during school breaks, and this loss is particularly bad for those students who do not have access to books at home. We can, however, combat this learning loss by providing our students with high-interest books to take home during Winter Break.

With your help, we can provide each of our students with 2-3 books and an activity workbook for use during the Winter Break. Please help us to make the holiday season both relaxing and productive for all of Reach's students!

Click Here to Support Books For Break!

Challenged By Success

2010-12-02T10:03:00.002-05:00

During Reach's planning year, there came a point when I knew that planning for possibilities had become futile. We had done all the learning we could do in the abstract, and we needed to launch programming to learn through our experiences. This week brought another unexpected challenge, but one that we will undoubtedly learn from.

Two of our third grade students recently left the program. One day, they came in and told me that they would be attending a different after-school program. Due to their teacher's illness and the Thanksgiving holiday, I didn't get an explanation of this decision for a number of weeks. The explanation: the two girls had improved so quickly that they had become more appropriate for some of the school's other offerings.

Both girls entered the program with very low reading abilities. Despite other concerns, their teacher felt that basic literacy remediation was the most pressing need. The girls were not yet in a place to benefit from one of the school's other tutoring programs, one that focuses on reading comprehension and testing strategies. By November, that had changed. Their basic literacy skills had improved so dramatically that targeted instruction in comprehension and testing strategies was now appropriate.

My response to this news is two-fold. It's fantastic that our intervention is creating such dramatic improvements in basic literacy skills like decoding and fluency. However, I believe we could have continued to help those students by developing the higher-level comprehension skills as well. Sadly, we were never given that chance. As Reach grows, I have no doubt that we'll show our ability to move with the changing needs of our students. Our ability to be successful with our students will lead to increased confidence in our efforts. A day will come when we will no longer lose students due to our success.

When I explained this transition, and the explanation, to the tutors that had been working with these two girls, they were surprised. While they were pleased to hear that this transition occurred due to their success, they were also frustrated by what could have been. When I told Joyce, one of the tutors, that the girls were seeking targeted instruction in more advanced skills, her response was simple: "We could have done that."

She's right. One day, we'll have the opportunity to prove it.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

What This Money Means

2010-11-27T17:12:00.004-05:00

In the last three weeks, Reach has received a number of significant gifts:

$5,000 from the Luther I. Replogle Foundation on November 10th.

$5,000 from the CityBridge Foundation on November 11th.

$65,000, over two years, from the Snave Foundation on November 19th.

$20,000 from Monica & David Dixon on November 27th.

$1,000 from the NEA Foundation on November 28th.

We celebrate these strong statements of support, and we look forward to using these funds to serve students in DC. But, what do these donations really mean?

These gifts satisfy our fundraising needs for the current fiscal year, which runs through June 30, 2011. Seven months before the start of the next fiscal year, we can begin aggressively planning for expansion. This means:

We can confidently begin exploring expansion sites for the 2011-2012 academic year.
We can begin planning for the addition of a second full-time staff member in the summer of 2011.
We can be certain of our ability to pay all tutors and teachers for the remainder of the current academic year.
We can transfer some of our funds to interest-bearing accounts, allowing our money to make money.

More important than any other factor, our early fundraising success allows the organization to focus on the most important part of our work: the program. With the impressive support secured through foundations, corporations, and individuals, we can focus entirely on creating the city's best literacy program.

We are immensely grateful for this early support, and we look forward to using this financial security to effectively plan for future success.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Nothing Can Stop Them

2010-11-22T14:01:00.002-05:00

When working in education, we often hear talk about "social factors." Poverty, crime, and family stress are often part of the discussion. Those of us that work in the reform field have the privilege of being able to speak about such issues with an academic distance - it is not our reality. Occasionally, however, these issues step forward in a way that demands our attention in a very real way and forces us to recognize the reality of our students' existence.

There is a short walk between Hyde Leadership and the New York Avenue Metro Station. Usually, I make that walk each day, lagging behind groups of students so the contagious "uncoolness" of a teacher doesn't infect them. One day last week, a meeting took me away from my usual routine. On that day, two of Reach's tutors were attacked. While injuries were minimal, it is a too real reminder of the challenges faced every day by our students.

Always one to highlight the strength of our students, I feel the need to share what happened the next day. Both students arrived to work, as scheduled. Chynna, a tutor with perfect attendance, walked in with her hand wrapped. Before leaving for a doctor's appointment, she wanted to tell me, and her student, that she would be missing the day's tutoring session. I tried to suppress a smile when I found out that Chynna hurt her hand not by falling when attacked, but rather because she had hit her assailant with such force. Jayson, the original target of the attack went on as though nothing had happened. With one eye swollen shut, Jayson instructed his student as he does every Tuesday and Thursday.

After the session, I spoke with Jayson about the event. I offered to give him a ride, assuming he might be rattled by the week's events. As we left the building, I realized my offer was unnecessary. No fewer than five of Jayson's peers were waiting outside, willing to walk with him to the New York Avenue Metro. Having heard what happened, Jayson's peers refused to let him walk alone.

Their challenges are real. Their strength inspiring.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Small Victories

2010-11-18T11:35:00.003-05:00

Running a nonprofit organization is exhausting. The repetitive nature of teaching is also exhausting - finishing one lesson only means you must start another. Neither offers a finish line. The combination sometimes leaves me feeling quite drained. During those times, small victories really give me the energy to move forward and continue building. In the last two weeks, we have had several of those victories.

As some of you may have read, we received two $5,000 grants last week. Despite the tough choices faced by funders, the Luther I. Replogle Foundation and the CityBridge Foundation both felt that Reach's work was worth supporting. Due to the economy, I have been told on many occasions that we would not receive any early foundation funding. I'm so proud that our work is standing out in a crowded nonprofit world. Like its students, Reach loves proving people wrong.

Many of you met Brandon when he was profiled in our last blog entry. On Tuesday, he hung back, asking if he could speak with me. Looking upset, he stated his desire to join the wrestling team, but he was clearly torn due to the commitment he made to his students. I offered to contact the wrestling coach to negotiate a way Brandon could be involved in both programs. Brandon left, seemingly still struggling. I was immensely proud the next day when Brandon came back in smiling. "I'm not going to wrestle this year," he said, "I have three more years. This year, I made a commitment to my students, and it's not fair to leave them." What maturity!

Finally, I received an incredibly special e-mail this morning from my friend Luke, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Education:

So, I'm working with these three young men - one is a Junior in high school, one a Sophomore, and one a sixth grader. The Junior is working on intense Physics, the Sophomore has no homework and is watching TV, and the sixth grader has a reading assignment about The Scientific Method. The sophomore struggles with reading and has attended schools that have their own struggles (hence the lack of homework...). So, I'm trying to work with the Junior and 6th grader at the same time, when I think, "what would mark hecker do?" So, I employ the Sophomore in the task of teaching his brother how to comprehend what was a pretty difficult text for both of them. Before an hour had passed, he was asking his brother the exact questions I would have asked. Both of them learned a ton about The Scientific Method, reading for comprehension, and themselves as competent individuals and members of a family!

That e-mail made my day. It's the little things...

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Meet Our Tutor: Brandon

2010-11-15T19:02:00.004-05:00

"They're screaming my name!"

These are the first words out of Brandon's mouth when he enters the room. A very personable young man, many of our elementary school students shout Brandon's name when he enters the room. He makes them all feel that he's excited to see them, and they feed his ego - mutualism at its best.

Brandon is the only tutor we have that is assigned to work with two elementary school students, Larry and Darius. Brandon is a natural leader, and he thrives on the additional responsibility he's been given. He really enjoys sharing the moments when his students truly demonstrate their knowledge.

Brandon's students force him to look at himself differently. Like him, his students are born leaders. Whether they're behaving appropriately or inappropriately, other students follow. Brandon grows frustrated, at times, but realizes quickly an important reality: they're just like him.

Recently, I provided the tutors with first quarter progress reports. In Brandon's, I mentioned that he could use his leadership abilities to become a fantastic business executive. Today, Brandon was having a bad day. He came in with too much energy, and he was really struggling to focus on the day's task. When I pulled him aside, he stopped me. Quoting the progress report, he said, "I have the ability to be a great leader, but sometimes I lead in the wrong direction." He stopped, apologized, then sat down and got back to work...at least for a few moments.

Baby steps.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Big Decisions

2010-11-11T10:58:00.002-05:00

We have been incredibly lucky in our first year and a half of existence. While so many nonprofit organizations are struggling to confront this challenging economy, we have built a strong foundation of financial support that allows us to focus on our important work. We have built a relationship with Hyde Leadership and 45 of the school's wonderful students. And, recently, we have been approved by District of Columbia Schools to provide after-school services in public schools, starting in the fall of 2011. While I'm pleased with each of these developments, there is no time to rest - we have some big decisions ahead of us!

Of all the tasks that have fallen on my shoulders since Reach's founding, I have found none more intimidating than creating growth projections. Planning expansion seems to involve so much guessing - and so many big numbers! On some of the larger principles, we know our approach. For example, our interest is in developing a strong program in DC before we consider other markets. Our stage one growth plan is local, not national. But, we're left with many questions: How many schools? How many kids? How many dollars?

The time for thinking is over. We must now make decisions. For Reach, that means determining the target number of schools for next year. We will remain at Hyde Leadership, and we will aim to begin training cohorts of tutors at either one or two additional sites. One or two? It doesn't seem like a huge decision, but it represents a difference of $100,000 or more. In this economy, what size program can we effectively support?

With some big funding news expected this week - and a meeting of our Board of Directors on Tuesday - these decisions will be made shortly. It's worth noting that we're discussing the aggressiveness of our growth strategy while others are being forced to contract. We're very proud to have created such a strong foundation in only 18 months. Thank you for all you have done in getting us to this place. We look forward to making you all proud with our continued growth.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Some More Pics

2010-11-04T23:11:00.001-04:00

Setting Limits on Setting Limits

2010-11-04T22:31:00.002-04:00

When training our tutors, we discussed appropriate limit setting. We also made it very clear that corporal punishment was entirely unacceptable. But, in recent weeks, this issue has really become an important focus of my thinking. Let me be clear - none of our tutors have used corporal punishment. We haven't had any such issues to this point. But, the relationships are becoming more complex.

As we know, student test boundaries as they become familiar with new people. As the initial excitement about working with "big kids" wears off, our students are realizing that the tutors are holding high expectations and making their students do challenging work. This, naturally, leads to some push back from the students.

For the first time, our tutors are dealing with whining and temper tantrums. I'm noticing, clearly, that our tutors are struggling to handle these behaviors. They fall back to what's most comfortable for them - in some cases, yelling and threats. Our supervising teachers step in quickly in these situations, but it presents a challenge as we move forward. How do we teach appropriate behavior management strategies without insulting the strategies used in our tutors' families? It becomes so easy for, "it's more appropriate to try..." to sound like, "your family's doing it wrong!" All educators know that discussions about parenting/punishment are inherently tricky - student tutors simply add another layer.

Moving forward, we will constantly take steps to improve our training program. I realize now that specific behavior management strategies must be taught during our pre-service training. Specifically, it seems that the program should have a series of escalating warnings and consequences that is simply administered by our tutors. This would avoid the confusing cultural dynamics currently emerging. We work hard to ensure that all of our students are safe, and we look forward to providing our students with the skills necessary to successfully deal with the challenges that elementary school students bring.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Torn Down, Built Up

2010-11-01T22:51:00.002-04:00

I often have meetings that I know will not lead to any immediate financial support. These meetings are intended to establish a relationship and make people aware of our work. Last week, I had two such meetings with significant players in DC's funding community. The meetings were very different in tone.

Tuesday: While definitely interested in our approach to literacy remediation, the conversation in this meeting focused on the terrible state of foundation finances. It is, as you can imagine, incredibly intimidating to hear about established organizations going out of business, foundations choosing not to work with any new partners, and organizations merging to consolidate resources. That being said, our work is necessary. Even when I hear - like in this meeting - that I made the wrong decision to launch Reach in this climate, I am confident. Maybe this isn't the right time for most nonprofits to launch. We're not most nonprofits. We will survive and succeed.

Thursday: Braced for another challenging discussion, this conversation took a much more pleasant tone. While some of the questions asked by this huge name in the DC nonprofit community were challenging, the discussion was one focused on learning. One of the highlights of my time as Reach's leader occurred when she looked up from her oatmeal and said, "this is a really elegant solution" (what an awesome compliment!).

Both these meetings occurred with really intelligent women that know the DC nonprofit community exceedingly well. And, to be sure, they're both correct in their assessment of the challenges associated with being a new nonprofit in these trying economic times. However, during a recent conversation with Charles Phaneuf, Managing Director at Joe's Movement Emporium, I was reminded of a comment by a former professor of mine, Chris Stone. To paraphrase: Money is never the finite resource. Good ideas are the finite resource. Create great programs and you'll find money.

Despite the challenging economy, I think often of those that have given more to Reach than they've ever given to an organization before. While many organizations are struggling to survive, we're planning for growth. We're privileged to have your support, and we look forward to our continued growth toward the future.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Meet Our Tutor: Keenan

2010-10-28T20:55:00.003-04:00

I designed Reach with students like Keenan in mind. School is not his first priority, and his failure to perform to his potential academically has been a source of frustration for many of his teachers. Keenan has always seemed satisfied to sit passively in the back of our training sessions, rarely speaking unless called upon. Then, Keenan and I both realized something exciting: he is an exceptional tutor.

After each tutoring session, I give tutors the opportunity to discuss successes and challenges. Repeatedly, our tutors have gone out of their way to recognize Keenan's work. Specifically, they recognize how much energy Keenan's student, Eddie, brings to each session. Eddie enters the room running, and he rarely stops...unless he's with Keenan. With Keenan, Eddie's willing to do his work (though, as you see in the picture, he still doesn't sit down!). It's a positive experience for both participants.

For me, the most exciting part is watching Keenan's response. When I tell him how well he's doing during tutoring sessions, he tries so hard not to smile - that would involve admitting that he cares. But, I can tell it means something to him. In the beginning of the year, Keenan's attendance was spotty. In recent weeks, he has had perfect attendance at tutoring sessions (though, we're still working on training sessions).

His maturity and dedication were made clear during a recent session. Eddie and Keenan were reading "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein when Eddie's father arrived a little early. I admit that I was a little nervous when I invited Eddie's father to watch the session in progress. Looking over Keenan's shoulder, Eddie's father watched his son reading and answering questions. Keenan barely flinched - simply demanding Eddie's attention and continuing with the lesson. Noting my failure, Keenan called me over and asked quietly, "do you think we could get a copy for Eddie's dad so he could follow along and finish the story at home?"

Keenan is doing a fantastic job, and he's very invested in Eddie's success. The model isn't perfect, but when it works, it's beautiful.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Meet Our Tutor: Crystal

2010-10-25T20:13:00.003-04:00

Many of you know about Reach's alternating schedule. On Mondays and Wednesdays, our tutors are trained. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they tutor elementary school students. While Crystal does relatively well during our training sessions, she truly shines as a tutor. When things get a little too chaotic in the classroom, I find Crystal - and her student, DeJah. They, without fail, provide an oasis of calm amidst the (only slightly) controlled chaos. Each day, DeJah is excited to work with Crystal, and they have a singular focus during the time they spend together. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have almost 40 people in a single classroom. It can get loud, and one student's bad day can disrupt the learning of many children. But, that's never the case with DeJah. Crystal creates a cocoon within the classroom - a big kid and a little kid, two brains and a story.

During an early session, Crystal told me she was interested in pursuing a career in Cosmetology. While I have no doubt that she will find success in whatever career she pursues, it's tough not to imagine her leading a classroom one day. She has a true gift with children. While a few unexcused absences and a sometimes less-than-serious attitude on training days remind me that Crystal is a high school freshman, her work on tutoring days reminds us all what can happen when we provide high school students with real responsibility for student learning.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Quick Hits!

2010-10-21T23:54:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy week, so today's blog is just a couple quick hits.

1) Each of our tutoring sessions occurs in Ms. Berg's classroom. Ms. Berg is in her first year at Hyde, and, like me, she moved to DC from North Carolina. She's often present during our sessions, and she's become one of Reach's best advocates. So, you can imagine my excitement when she said, "let me know when you need letters of recommendation as you look to expand. These kids are doing a great job, and it's definitely working - better than most programs I've seen." Ms. Berg made my week! It's specifically powerful for an elementary school teacher to be making these comments. As you can imagine, many people think Reach's model is great for high school students, but they express concern about the quality of the programming for elementary school students. Ms. Berg's comments show that we're providing a high quality program for all students.

2) You may remember DaJohn from our October Update. Today, I provided DaJohn with a hard copy of our October Update. I told him it's important for him to share good news with his family, and I thought they might enjoy seeing his story in our newsletter. DaJohn - seeing the update for the first time - looked at the paper, immediately showed it to the nearest teacher, then walked out into the hall (it was after school) yelling, "look who is front page news!!" You can't help but find energy in these encounters.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Reciprocity of Accountability

2010-10-18T18:06:00.002-04:00

$880.

At the end of the first quarter, each of Reach's twenty-two tutors will be eligible for a bonus of up to $40 based on grades in academic courses. The bonus, worth ten times their GPA on a 4.0 scale, is meant to motivate the students to make every effort to improve in-school performance. Even greater rewards are available for improvement from quarter to quarter.

Today, I wrote $880 on the white board. I asked the tutors to imagine that money sitting on a table. Then, I told them, at the current rate, they're leaving about half of it sitting there.

Many of our tutors have had previous academic struggles, so their middling grades are not entirely surprising. As we were confronted with their first progress report, however, I was reminded of one of Professor Richard Elmore's rules:

For every increment of performance I demand from you, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation.

Many of our tutors' teachers have started asking them to come in for additional help after school; however, the tutors' obligation to Reach prevents this extra help from happening. Additionally, the subject-specific extra help simply addresses the symptom (poor grades), not the root cause (limited reading skills). Though, if we're encouraging our tutors to improve their grades, then we must provide them with the capacity to make those improvements.

For that reason, our days just got a little longer. Reach will begin offering an additional hour-long study hall following training sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays. Through offering this additional layer of support, we hope to help our students achieve success both in and after school by providing time to address both the symptoms and the root cause. Starting on Wednesday, we will make this additional support available. We hope that its impact will be felt by the October 29th end of the quarter.

As a new nonprofit organization, we continue to learn how to best support our tutors both in and after school. We hope this slight change to our approach will make a difference for our kids.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Reach @ Hyde Leadership

2010-10-12T19:57:00.002-04:00

Waiting for Superman

2010-10-11T12:27:00.002-04:00

I'm not a documentarian. So, it's certainly possible that I lack a true understanding of the purpose of Waiting for Superman, the recently released film getting so much attention. The film is effective in painting a frightening portrait of the state of American public schools. However, in my opinion, the simplicity with which this portrait is painted actually impedes further conversation on the issue.

The movie explains it simply: public schools are awful, there are not enough spaces in high quality charter schools, and teacher unions prevent reform in the public system.

I know DC far better than the other cities depicted in the film, so I'll focus on those aspects of the movie that relate to my city and Anthony, the DC student depicted in the film. I have two major issues with the film.

1) The SEED School was not Anthony's only option. While DC struggles to improve the quality of all public schools, they also have a process through which students can apply for placement in an out-of-boundary public school. Deal, Hardy, and Stuart-Hobson all offer stronger options within the public system. This is not to say the current system is even remotely satisfactory, but the SEED or misery dichotomy created by the film seems manipulative and dishonest.

2) The most egregious spin in the film related to words about Sousa Junior High. In the film, The Washington Post is quoted as calling Sousa, "an academic sinkhole." To provide background on DC Public Schools' struggles, the film cuts to Jason Kamras, DCPS' Head of Human Capital. Only moments after we hear about Sousa, Kamras speaks about the ways unions prevent real school-based reform. Kamras' opinions are given extra weight when we're told that he is a former National Teacher for the Year. A key fact is ignored: Kamras received the honor for the school-wide improvements he was able to lead at that same sinkhole, Sousa Junior High.

I am a believer in action over talk, and I hesitate to question a film that is getting so many people talking about the education reform movement. However, the challenge is real. We do a disservice by acting as though the solutions are simple. Teachers, unions, parents, activists, and students must all be involved in our solutions. Demonizing some of those groups in our efforts to find a way forward impedes true conversations about the complexities of education reform. These conversations must involve good public schools, great public school teachers, and progressive unions as well as bad teachers, stubborn unions, and high quality charters - these things all exist.

Geoffrey Canada, an incredible figure in the effort to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged youth, makes a statement in Waiting for Superman. To paraphrase, he says, "When I started this work, I thought it was easy. I thought it would take 2-3 years to fix it, the whole nation!"

Luckily, for us, he realized it wasn't so simple.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope that this film leads more people to get involved in improving public education. Rather than simply pledging to see the film, I hope inspired viewers pledge to get involved - read to children, mentor youth, and tutor teens. We know it takes one caring adult to make a major difference, and you can't make that difference from a movie theater in the nice part of town.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Highs & Lows

2010-10-07T20:53:00.004-04:00

I imagined Reach's launch for months. During planning stages, it's easy to imagine those perfect days when everything seems to go right - the days when it all becomes worthwhile. It's also easy to imagine worst case scenarios - the days when no one shows up. Reality persists: most days exist in the middle. Most days bring a fascinating and difficult mixture of in-between experiences. Most days are like today.

Today was our first one-to-one day. Every tutor was matched with an elementary school student - the numbers were finally aligned. Excited for today's action, I was just inside the school door when one of my third graders approached to tell me he was switching tutoring programs, because his teacher told him he should be in another one. Working on the fly, we made some adjustments, but that was just the beginning. Two older students came in to pick up their younger siblings early, then an after-care coordinator came in...and she was heated. Some of the kids were apparently in the wrong place. I furnished their registration forms for our programming, but she took them anyway, simply stating, "they're supposed to be waiting for their parents downstairs."

My response: "So, they're getting reading help here, but you want them waiting downstairs?"

I maintained my best social worker face when she said, "yes, that's what's on the paper."

This, folks, is how schools work.

All of a sudden, I had tutors without students. As you can imagine, this is neither exciting nor challenging for my high schoolers. Slowly, my tutors found their way to other students. The young ones smiled as they sometimes found themselves getting help from two "big kids!"

Then, in the last ten minutes, two tutors really made my day.

First, there was Binetou. I turned around and saw her speaking with a parent, her student's parent. They were smiling and laughing. I went over to introduce myself to the parent and heard the tutor giving a recap of the session, talking about her student's strengths and weaknesses. The parent ended the conversation by asking, "are you going to be working with my daughter all year?" The tutor smiled; she knew that the parent was hoping that was the case. When the parent left, Binetou said, "she's tough, but she's getting to know me. I think I can work well with her."

Then, as things wrapped up, Brandon took charge. Brandon's a natural leader. Yesterday, he led my training session in the wrong direction. He was having an off day, and it was clear that the rest of the tutors followed his lead. After the training session, I simply asked, "do you see what happens when you choose to use your leadership abilities inappropriately?" He looked away. He knew he could do better. Today, as we cleaned up at the end, it was Brandon that said, "Tutors, here's the trash can! Let's help our students clean up!" Without a word, other tutors stepped up to the plate. I smiled.

A mix of highs and lows. That will be the norm. Enjoy the highs; endure the lows.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Meet Our Student: Bilal

2010-09-30T20:29:00.004-04:00

Bilal is a fantastic kid. Perhaps a little too energetic, he was very excited to get to work with some "big kids." In fact, on the first day, while doing some get-to-know-you activities, Bilal was the one that turned to me and said, "when can we read?!"

On our first day of tutoring, we read "Be Glad Your Nose Is On Your Face" by Jack Prelutsky. Bilal enjoyed the poem, and he demonstrated comprehension, after working with his tutor, by telling me about all the problems Prelutsky describes in having your nose in others places. The greatest challenge for Bilal was a single word: dread. He understood that it was bad, but he was struggling with the idea that dread is the opposite of looking forward to something.

An example made this all clear. One of our tutors said, "do you ever wake up and not want to go to school?" Bilal responded, "yeah, sometimes I just want to stay in bed."

"Exactly," said the tutor, "on those mornings, you dread going to school."

"Ah," said Bilal, "I get it."

We'll win him over soon enough. In a few weeks that example won't work. He'll be so excited for tutoring that he'll be ready to come to school - at least on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The Reports of Education Reform's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

2010-09-23T20:30:00.002-04:00

If you've followed the recent political happenings in Washington DC, you might think that educational entrepreneurs are preparing to pack up and leave town. Our tendency toward intellectual laziness has blinded us to the potential learning that could come from the recent mayoral election. Vincent Gray's election does not indicate that parents and teachers do not care about improving outcomes for DC's children. And, the group disappointed with Fenty's loss is not comprised entirely of white outsiders who only care about improving schools in affluent neighborhoods. The reality lies in the middle. We, as a society, struggle to discuss the complexities that exist in the middle.

DC's education history creates emotions in me that are hard to convey appropriately. Only 13% of the city's entering 9th grade students read at grade level. Only 1 in 11 students who entered 9th grade in 1996 graduated college within 10 years. The business community regularly reports that DCPS graduates leave high school without the skills necessary to succeed in entry level positions. In exploring this issue, we can blame the students, their parents, society, or the school system. But, in what other field is the product blamed for the production system's failures? Each adult must consider his or her role in this disaster.

It's reasonable for intelligent people to disagree on where this anger should be directed. This election made clear the racial and economic tensions that have long existed in The District. "Progress" creates winners and losers - a fact we often try to ignore. In DC, it's easy. Those that never get to feel the true power of progress live elsewhere - literally on the other side of a river. Most of us can go about our days without acknowledging that separate reality. This has created an intense lack of trust. Reform efforts seem to improve the best neighborhoods first. Firing bad teachers creates a horrible life situation for good, well-meaning people. These issues are not as simple as the articles we write.

The recent election simply brought these issues to the surface. Whether or not you agree with the decisions made by Chancellor Rhee, this discussion involves more than simply proposing the "right answers" for our students. It's about change, trust, and progress. It's about finding the right answers while building the relationships necessary to define a shared vision that will allow us to move forward together. It's about acknowledging that many have had to leave their neighborhoods to receive an education that approaches adequate, so pushing the idea of neighborhood schools is concerning (and rightly so!) to many who have seen the generational failure of their neighborhood schools. We're asking people to trust a system that has never earned that trust.

That being said, the recent election does not mean the end to reform. The problems are significant and the need for change is urgent. We, as a system, have failed DC's children. Dramatically. Pathetically. We all must own those failures. Small changes will do little to create different results. At Reach, this increases the intensity with which we approach our work. Perhaps the fight just got a little more difficult, but we recognize the challenge, and we relish the opportunity to win the battle. We will pick up our lunch pails, move forward in service to our students, and create change the best way we know how - one messy relationship at a time.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Two New Items

2010-09-20T22:04:00.004-04:00

For those of you attending Reach Becomes Reality, we have secured two new auction items. Given our literacy focus, I am particularly excited to auction signed copies of these recent bestsellers:

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

Two kids with the same name were born blocks apart in the same decaying city within a year of each other. One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, army officer, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.

The Tenth Parallel by Eliza Griswold

The tenth parallel—the line of latitude seven hundred miles north of the equator—is a geographical and ideological front line where Christianity and Islam collide. More than half of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims live along the tenth parallel; so do sixty percent of the world’s 2 billion Christians. Here, in the buzzing megacities and swarming jungles of Africa and Asia, is where the two religions meet; their encounter is shaping the future of each faith, and of whole societies as well.

In addition to these books, we have some other exciting auction items:

6 nights in a 6 bedroom home in The Outer Banks, North Carolina
4 nights in a 2 bedroom condo in Keystone, Colorado
2 tickets to see Duke vs. Maryland at Cameron Indoor Stadium
Photography by Wyatt Gallery

These items simply add to the excitement created by the door prizes and drink discounts available on September 29th. Tickets are going fast - buy now!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

First Week

2010-09-16T23:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, one of Reach's Program Instructors said the following about one of our tutors:

"You don't know this, but he is the bane of everyone's existence. He's constantly talking, never doing his work, and always causing trouble. It's pretty amazing to watch him in here. He's actually focused and working hard. He seems to really be responding to the responsibility of being a teacher."

This is only the beginning...

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Reach Became Reality

2010-09-13T17:38:00.002-04:00

Beginnings at schools are rarely perfect. Working with teens rarely goes smoothly. Combine the two, and you're asking for trouble. My goal is (and always has been) to have the tutor cohort together by the end of this week's pre-service training. Today, we had about 10 - with 10 additional kids already enrolled. Additionally, I provided a financial incentive for current tutors who recruit others. By the end of the week, I imagine we'll have a solid cohort of 25-30 tutors.

Only ten showed up. Why am I smiling?

Well, each of those kids will be back tomorrow - hopefully, with others. There was some confusion about the program's start date, and I know other tutors will be arriving for the first time tomorrow. Most of all, you should have seen how excited our new tutors were!

Their chests swelled when they heard about their responsibilities. They shook their heads in understanding when I explained my expectations. They nodded in agreement when I told them they would be doing the hard work, but we would never ask them to do anything they couldn't do. And you should have seen the smiles when we explained the bonus structure...

Be on time? I can do that!

Improve my grades? I can do that!

Increase my percentile on standardized tests? I can...wait, what's a percentile?...oh, I can do that!

Improve my own reading level and that of the student I tutor? I can do that!

We designed four days of training for a reason. Beginnings are always bumpy, but today was a fantastic start. I can't wait to share our stories as we move forward.

Today, Reach became reality.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Final Countdown!

2010-09-09T16:43:00.002-04:00

4 Days!

96 Hours!

5,760 Minutes!

345,600 Seconds!

When the countdown hits zero, we will have completed Reach's first tutor training session. Like Reach's students, we will never be perfect, but we will be prepared. It's very easy to feel overwhelmed at this moment - to worry about student attendance, teacher contracts, and instructional materials. But, at this moment, that serves little purpose.

In the coming weeks and months, there will be bumps in the road. But, after a full year of planning for this moment, we are ready. We are ready to learn what works, discover what could be improved, and watch our students grow. We will see tutors discovering their own potential to create change, and we will see students learning to love reading. We will see tutors get excited about their first paycheck, but we will also watch as they become proud of their progress and the growth of the students they tutor. In the end, to them, their progress will become more important than their pay.

Our tutors will enter our program with a history of poor performance and the associated questions about their own academic ability. The journey through which we will produce proud and proficient readers will be challenging, but we will get there. That journey starts now.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Reach Becomes Reality - September 29th!

2010-09-06T15:58:00.002-04:00

Reach Becomes Reality
Wednesday, September 29th

6:00pm - 10:00pm

$30

Location: Co Co Sala (web site)

929 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004

Click here to buy tickets!

With your ticket purchase, you will receive your first drink and entry into a drawing for a two-night stay at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia!

Happy Hour Specials!

$8 Signature Cocktails

$6 House Wines

$4 Amstel & Heineken

Exciting Door Prizes!

Two Nights at The Greenbrier! *

$25 Gift Certificates to Co Co Sala!

Silent Auction!

Week Long Home Rental in North Carolina's Outer Banks *

Condo Rental in Keystone, Colorado *

Photography by Wyatt Gallery - a person, not a place
Two Tickets to Duke v. Maryland Men's Basketball @ Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Check back for updates...

* some restrictions apply.

September Update

2010-09-02T13:34:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon!

With only weeks to go before program launch, this is an incredibly exciting time for Reach and our supporters. In DC, students returned to school almost two weeks ago, and Reach has visited Hyde Leadership Public Charter School regularly to begin recruiting our adolescent tutors. With 30 spots available, we were very excited to receive interest from 50 9^th grade students. Additionally, several teachers have expressed interest in supporting program implementation – these pieces will all fall into place in the coming weeks. After so much preparation, Reach will begin training tutors on September 13^th!

During September, we look forward to hiring teachers, training tutors, and beginning work with our elementary school readers. With books in their hands, our tutors will be forced to grapple with the real work of teaching – defining difficult words, teaching basic phonics, and developing comprehension questions. The tutors will improve their own reading skills while ensuring that the elementary school students achieve proficiency by the end of 3^rd grade – an important academic milestone.

To celebrate our arrival at program launch, Reach is pleased to announce an exciting event: Reach Becomes Reality. On September 29^th, Reach supporters will gather at Co Co Sala to enjoy happy hour specials, exciting door prize drawings, and a silent auction – all supporting our continued work at Hyde Leadership. With the purchase of a ticket, guests will receive their first drink free and be entered into a drawing for a two-night stay at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. At the event, guests will be able to bid on a variety of exciting silent auction items. Please visit our website for more details.

After an amazing summer, we have almost secured the resources necessary to support our first semester of programming. We hope you will continue to support our work as we begin transforming the lives of struggling readers. Thank you for all your support in helping Reach arrive at this point. In the coming weeks, we look forward to introducing you to our first cohort of tutors, and we hope to see you at Co Co Sala on the 29^th!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

What Are We Looking For?

2010-08-30T17:23:00.003-04:00

Today, I had the opportunity to speak at Hyde Leadership's High School faculty meeting. In search of teachers to help with program implementation, I was able to make a short presentation about the work Reach will be doing at Hyde this year. It's always a wonderful experience to see how some people really get excited about our program model - even tired teachers at the end of a long day.

In preparing to make this presentation, I was forced to consider an important question regarding the teachers we will hire: What exactly are we looking for?

One of the beautiful aspects of our teaching framework is that it can be executed by those with expertise in areas other than reading. By focusing on very specific learning activities, we create the context for our tutors to do the "heavy lifting." More than anything, we need teachers that can ask good questions, encourage effort, and earn the respect of our students.

For example, a tutor might ask, "What does this word mean?" We would expect our teachers to respond by saying, "What strategies do you know for figuring out the meaning of words?" And, once our tutor figured out the definition, we would ask, "So, since that was a challenge for you, we can assume your student might need some help with that word. How will you help them to figure out what that means?" At no time would the teacher simply provide the definition.

While, traditionally, we think of teachers as the ones with the right answers, we're asking our teachers to take on a different role - we want them to be the ones with the right questions.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

A Wonderful Problem

2010-08-26T13:59:00.003-04:00

The start up process involves many moving pieces. Only weeks away from program launch, many items must still fall into place. Will students want to participate? Will we be able to find talented teachers interested in working with us? Will we have the money needed? Will the instructional materials arrive on time? And, as an outside school partner, I only have some control over these items - I depend on Hyde to answer questions about program space, storage, and access to data. So many questions to be answered, yet the countdown to launch continues.

Over the last two days, we were able to address one of the questions listed above: Will students want to participate? This week, I was given the opportunity to make a short presentation in four different 9th grade reading classes. Given the opportunity to speak to 40-50 Hyde 9th grade students, I was curious to see whether the kids would be interested in the program we were offering. Would they want to do extra work? Would they want to help younger students become better readers? Would they be willing to dedicate themselves to improving their school performance to earn financial incentives?

How many of the students I spoke with filled out the interest form so I could approach their guardians with additional information? Every. Single. One.

With space for only 30 tutors, we will now have to find ways to identify the students most appropriate for Reach's program - those students that would derive the most benefit from the structure and motivation we offer. For now, we have more interested students than we have space in the program - what a wonderful problem!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

It Works, Except When it Doesn't...

2010-08-23T17:14:00.002-04:00

In this month's edition of the Harvard Graduate School of Education Magazine, there is an interesting article about the use of financial incentives. While researchers certainly have strong opinions, there does not seem to be a consensus around the use of financial incentives. What does this mean for an organization, like Reach, that uses compensation as a component of programming?

Without doubt, the motivation facilitated through financial incentives is not the most important aspect of our work. Our goals: improve student engagement, increase student motivation, and teach students to believe in their ability to improve. For students that have experienced previous academic failure, like those at The BIFF Paradigm Project, financial incentives simply encourage students to take the first step. Additionally, students learn about the relationship between academic success and financial rewards - a relationship that remains long after graduation.

That is not to say that financial incentives are the solution to all our problems. We must also convince kids to value education - yes, as BIFF's director states, this is a bait and switch. I regularly state that we, as educators, often focus on how kids can improve academic performance, but we rarely answer a simple question: why?

While there is some overlap, there are some distinct differences between Reach and the programs mentioned in this article. Reach's compensation system acknowledges that our teenage tutors are actually providing a service, not simply being rewarded for academic outcomes. Additionally, instead of rewarding mastery - for example, making honor roll - we reward improvement, regardless of the student's starting point.

While we have not achieved certainty in researching financial incentives, we do know that those students that enter high school without adequate literacy skills face dire consequences. While a complete educational revolution is likely needed, we must take immediate steps to identify avenues to improved outcomes.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Blog Break

2010-08-16T10:29:00.002-04:00

While out of the office this week, I will have limited internet access; therefore, the blog will take a short break. We will return with our twice weekly installments on Monday, August 23rd.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Training Tutors

2010-08-12T17:15:00.002-04:00

Today, I finished a strong draft of Reach's Tutor Training Manual. I feel confident in this version, though I would never call it a "final draft" as there is always room for improvement, and we will continue to learn. The creation of the Tutor Training Manual has been a fascinating process - it's so much stronger than it once was. Now, we have a document that will provide our tutors with a basic understanding of literacy development, the tools necessary to create a lesson plan, and the confidence to provide high-quality instruction to younger learners. And, the manual itself is a graphic organizer that will facilitate note-taking and knowledge retention.

The training will occur over a four-day period in the week prior to program launch. On day one, our tutors will get an overview of the program structure. We'll answer all of their questions: How does it work? When do we get paid? How much do we get paid? How can we earn more money? We don't doubt that our tutors will be fixated on this issue in the beginning, so we would like to answer all their questions quickly.

On day two, the tutors will be students. Using an original lesson, I will teach the tutors. They will experience a basic literacy lesson covering all five components of literacy development: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Using that lesson, we will then backtrack to introduce those five components to our tutors. We will explain each concept, then show the tutors how we addressed them in the lesson.

On day three, we'll use another original poem to walk through the creation of a lesson plan. As a class, tutors will construct a lesson plan while teachers provide guidance and support. We will use whole group instruction to minimize the risk being taken by any individual student in contributing to the lesson plan.

On the final day, the tutors will have the opportunity to practice. We'll break our Lesson Planning Template into five parts. One component at a time, we will give tutors the ability to develop their own ideas for the lesson plan. Then, before moving on to the next component, we will ask two or three tutors to demonstrate how they would handle that part of the lesson. Through this role play activity, students will gain confidence in providing real literacy instruction.

In the end, the goal is to have our tutors leave training with the feeling that they can do this work at a high level. For the first time, I feel confident in our ability, using this manual, to get our tutors to that place.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Truth Behind the Numbers

2010-08-09T17:22:00.003-04:00

Educational statistics have become part of everyday conversations for many in this country. We hear people speak of merit pay, national standards, teacher evaluation, reading proficiency, and graduation rates; however, we don't really understand what's being said. Statistics can always be spun, and that reality shines through in the world of education as much as anywhere.

Let's look at the educational statistic most relevant to Reach's work: proficiency in reading. How are we to understand the statistic related to reading proficiency? According to the DC Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS), 43% of the District's secondary students are proficient in reading. However, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 13% of DC's secondary students are proficient in reading. How is that possible?

Well, NAEP is considered the gold standard of educational assessments, but it doesn't paint a very bright picture of the District's public education system. So, states generally only highlight their own proficiency data (and credit is due to DC for publishing NAEP scores on their website). No Child Left Behind forced states to develop accountability systems, but it gives states the ability to define proficiency. That means that proficiency as DC measures it is not the same as proficiency by Pennsylvania's definition. Some argue that states can improve statistics simply by lowering standards. NAEP allows us to compare states. DC-CAS and NAEP provide two totally different definitions of proficiency, and we tend to see a preference based on what is most convenient for the writer/speaker.

As you can imagine, Reach often uses the 13% number. To garner support for our programming, it's important that a bleak picture be painted. The seriousness of the problem creates a sense of urgency about fixing the problem (though, to be fair, why are we more satisfied with 43% of our kids reading proficiently?). To truly understand the problems we face, we must understand the nature of the statistics we so often see.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

We Need Your Help!

2010-08-05T09:46:00.003-04:00

As many of you know, Reach is one of three organizations selected to benefit from Deals for Deeds during the month of August. We'll be posting each of the daily deals on our Facebook page. We know you might not be interested in every deal you see, but we hope you'll consider spreading the word to those you think might be intrigued. Even better, you could sign up to receive Deals for Deeds' email each day. For every 250 people that sign up here, Deals for Deeds will partner with Casey Trees to plant a tree in DC. Getting great deals while giving back to the community - what could be better?

Additionally, I've decided to indulge my competitive side through a friendly wager with Sara Gibson, Director of Development at Miriam's Kitchen. Whichever organization raises more money through Deals for Deeds during the month of August will receive a $50 donation from the losing organization's executive. There's only one problem: WE'RE LOSING!!

Miriam's Kitchen is off to a fast start, and they've raised about $80 more than Reach at this point. Our competitor has been around for more than 25 years, and they have a legion of dedicated volunteers. We're clearly the underdogs, so we need you to spread the word about Deals for Deeds. And, more important, we need you to encourage your friends to support Reach when they take advantage of the site's amazing discounts. Please forward this to your social networks and help Reach prevail in our competition with Miriam's Kitchen!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

August Update

2010-08-02T16:07:00.001-04:00

Friends of Reach,

Moving quickly toward the beginning of the next academic year, Reach's launch is almost upon us! As we finalize our Tutor Training Manual, create a program library, and begin student recruitment, we are excited about our opportunity to dramatically improve the reading skills of 60 students at Hyde Leadership Public Charter School.

Signs of our growth are evident in many ways. During the month of August, Reach has been selected as one of three beneficiaries of Deals for Deeds, a group buying program that allows consumers to donate a portion of every purchase to one of three local charities. Additionally, building on the leadership donations of ARPC, Monica & David Dixon, Karin Johanson, Jack Werner, and Mike & Missy Young, Reach raised over $45,000 during the month of July alone - leaving us less than $10,000 short of our goal for the first semester! Finally, we have partnered with local restaurant Co Co Sala to a host a September 29th event - Reach Becomes Reality - celebrating our pilot program launch (details to follow). The start-up journey has been challenging, but we hope you share our enthusiasm about our progress and potential.

In a matter of weeks, we will begin recruiting Hyde's newest 9th grade students. Using our unique, three pronged approach - training, tutoring, and compensation - we will simultaneously address the literacy needs of our 9th grade tutors and our 3rd grade students. In a few months, you will begin hearing about engaged students, improving grades, and excited teachers - we look forward to telling those stories in an updated newsletter format.

We are immensely grateful for your support in getting us to this point. If you have not yet made a donation in 2010, we hope you will help us raise that final $10,000 before the school year begins - either by sending a check or donating online. Additionally, we hope you continue to follow our work on our blog or on Facebook - these are exciting times, and we hope to earn the confidence each of you has shown to this point through our successes in the coming school year.

With Gratitude,

Mark

It's Complicated.

2010-07-29T21:19:00.003-04:00

I could spend all my time writing the perfect grant - crafting each word as though there would never be an opportunity for revision. I could do that, but it would be a very poor use of time.

So much of this work is about building relationships. Simply having conversations to see where they lead. The last few weeks have shown that to be true. We regularly call it networking, but networking has a negative connotation in my mind - it implies that we're all simply out to find people that can help us. When you network, you might get an introduction. When you build relationships, you gain advocates.

In recent weeks, we've seen true advocacy. And, as I reflect on how we got to this place, I see that those relationships were built in three ways.

Our Board: When considering nonprofit work, there's often talk about what the Board of Directors should do. Recently, I believe my board has gone beyond what I expected of them. Our board members have actively given their resources, and they have actively pursued discussions with others about doing the same. Their work played a significant role in our recent fundraising successes. As we prepare to submit proposals to The Gannett Foundation and The Replogle Foundation, our board members have used their contacts to ensure that these local foundations are already familiar with our work.

Our Supporters: Those that have supported our work have also gone to bat for us in recent weeks. Previously, I've mentioned Josh Friedman's work in raising $800 through Akin Gump's Jeans Day. Additionally, Dianne Samuelson, a graduate school classmate of mine, made the introduction (and the sell!) that led to a recent $10,000 donation from ARPC. Lastly, it was a Reach supporter, Francine Serafin, that encouraged Manfred Macx to support Reach, Inc. through their site launch.

Our Partners: The type of advocacy that excites me the most occurs when another justice-seeking organization states their belief in your work. We were recently invited to submit a grant proposal to The New York Avenue Foundation. We received this invitation solely because Free Minds Book Club thought highly enough of us to use their relationship with the foundation to provide a recommendation.

I remain Reach's only employee, but I certainly no longer work alone.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Learning

2010-07-26T15:16:00.002-04:00

As I sat in Gutman Library at Harvard's Graduate School of Education on Friday, I took the time to reflect on what I had learned during my year (2008-2009) as a HGSE student. Above all, I was hit with the realization that it is incredibly difficult to actually apply the lessons learned in lectures and discussion groups. How often do I actually have time to think about the three concepts listed in this entry's title - and, are they even distinct concepts? Considering the last year of work, I discovered two themes that emerge from the most difficult challenges of Reach's first year.

First, I discovered how much I consider learning to be part of leadership and entrepreneurship - and organizational management. Speaking with Monica Higgins, a favorite HGSE professor (whose course shares the title of this entry), I tried to explain the most intense pressure I experience when speaking with people about Reach. Mostly, that pressure centers on the idea that we should already have it figured out. The goal, in my mind, is to create an organization that operates effectively, measures outcomes, reflects on impact, and makes improvements that build on new knowledge. Speaking as though I should have a perfect program model before launch assumes that organizations are stagnant and rigid. The goal is to create an organization that learns and grows, not one that assumes to be perfect at launch.

Second, and closely connected to the first theme, is the idea of depersonalization of work (a topic covered more closely in Richard Elmore's class). Discussions about reform efforts often closely resemble investigative interviews - poking holes and identifying weaknesses. It is easy for me to assume that I am doing something wrong when I find myself unable to answer a question. Depersonalizing the work forces us to consider that Reach (the organization) being unprepared to answer a question does not mean that I (the individual) am unprepared for the discussion. There are things we don't know now - so much learning occurs in the actual implementation of ideas. It's our ability to learn and adjust that will predict our future success. However, it is exceedingly difficult to avoid feeling like a student staring at an empty pop quiz about an unread chapter. Reach's growth as an organization now exists as an entity larger than me - there are things I can not know right now.

Reform efforts are not finished products, especially before they are existing products. I will only be successful in leading this entrepreneurial endeavor if I never stop learning - to do so, one need not know all the answers.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

This Week

2010-07-22T22:28:00.005-04:00

Monday: Karin Johanson, a member of our board, called to inform me that she had secured commitments totaling $12,500.

Tuesday: At a business dinner, I secured a $10,000 gift from ARPC.

Wednesday: We learned that Jeans Day at Akin Gump raised $800 for Reach. We also secured a future $500 commitment from Venture II. Finally, Reach supporter Francine Serafin helped us create a corporate partnership with soon-to-launch e-book publisher, Manfred Macx.

Thursday: We secured our first car donation. Jack Werner will be donating his car, through which we hope to gain $5,000 - $7,000.

Friday: Tomorrow, I will be up before dawn to travel up to Boston to observe a summer reading program that uses high school interns. In the afternoon, I will be meeting with some of my former Harvard Ed School professors.

What a week!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Keeping The Faith.

2010-07-19T14:49:00.003-04:00

Social entrepreneurship is often a lonely endeavor. For many months, I've spent time trying to inspire confidence in Reach's unique program model. Regardless of who I'm speaking with, I do my best to give a complete and accurate representation of our plans. In such a connected world, you never know when these conversations may lead to material or financial support. Basically, every time I'm given the opportunity to tell someone about Reach, I act as though the person has $10,000 in his or her back pocket or has some specific skills that could greatly benefit the organization.

My first social work supervisor always used to tell me that life comes in waves. You weather the tough times knowing that good times will come. Last week, it was getting tough to weather the storms. It had been so long since we had received any significant financial support, and I was starting to worry that we might not be able to raise the money necessary for program launch. For the first time, I was legitimately considering the possibility of failure. This week, a positive wave came through - the result of so many months of hard work done by so many Reach supporters.

Through Josh Friedman's advocacy, Reach became the beneficiary of "Jeans Day" at Akin Gump's DC office on Friday. Any employee of the firm could pay $5 for the right to wear jeans to work. All proceeds will benefit Reach. The MoFo Foundation is also considering supporting Reach's work, due in large part to more of Josh's advocacy.
Two Reach supporters, Brian Hecker and Katie Franklin, encouraged friends to support Reach's work at private events over the weekend. Through creativity and advocacy, these individuals multiplied the financial support they could have provided as individuals.
Today, I received a phone call from a member of Reach's Board of Directors informing me that she had secured two pledges worth a combined $12,500 in support for our upcoming pilot program.

This win streak may continue. Tomorrow morning, I have a meeting with Deals for Deeds to discuss ways that we can maximize the potential funds created through next month's partnership (see July 12th's blog post). Tomorrow evening, I have a dinner to discuss our plans with a potential donor. I will go into tomorrow's meetings knowing that so many of Reach's supporters are confident in our ability to do good work for DC's kids. The waves will come, but we will succeed.

Thank you for all that you do. I look forward to sharing further good news as we build on this week's momentum.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Mark

Stay Tuned...

2010-07-15T18:01:00.001-04:00

I will be traveling through Sunday evening. The blog will return on Monday, July 19th.

Thanks for checking in!

Mark

Deals for Deeds

2010-07-12T17:44:00.002-04:00

Reach got some great news today. We've been selected to be one of three featured organizations on Deals for Deeds for the month of August!

While many of you out there may have heard of Groupon or LivingSocial, Deals for Deeds offers a similar model with a twist. Like these other websites, Deals for Deeds offers great discounts at local businesses; however, they also contribute a portion of the purchase to local nonprofit entities. Reach's selection allows you to take advantage of great deals while supporting our work. Additionally, many new supporters will learn about our work through this unique website.

Beyond checking out the daily deals during the month of August (they often last for 6 months, so even frequent visitors should check out the bargains!), you can help in another way. The minds beyond Deals for Deeds provide nonprofits with incentives for recruiting participating businesses. If you know of any owners or managers at local businesses that might be interested in supporting local nonprofits while recruiting new customers, please let us know so we can tell them about this exciting opportunity.

We'll be sure to remind you again at the beginning of August!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

To DC, With Love

2010-07-08T15:57:00.002-04:00

Last week, I told everyone that Reach had been selected to participate in an innovative street festival: To DC, With Love. Tickets are now on sale, so if you're interested in learning about the DC nonprofit community (while enjoying food, drink, and fun), then come join us for this exciting event at Howard University! And, of course, when you buy your ticket, select Reach so that we will get a portion of the ticket sale.

Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested. We'd love to have lots of people come meet us on July 31st!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Competition: The Wrong Word.

2010-07-05T14:04:00.002-04:00

I'm often asked about which organizations will be our greatest competitors. The base assumption - one I don't assume to be true - is that there is a finite amount of money to be given to nonprofit organizations. This assumption sets up a spirit of competition between organizations, like animals in the wild seeking the same prey. Through the perpetuation of this mindset, nonprofits miss the opportunity to support new entities doing similar, but slightly different, work.

I was once told that the finite resource is great ideas, not money. For this reason, I generally respond to the competition question in the following manner: There are many organizations that successfully use a similar model, but we are taking the next step by engaging disconnected students instead of working with those that are already highly motivated. Two such programs - Heads Up (local) and Breakthrough Collaborative (national) - have developed strong reputations. Given that they use highly motivated high school and college students as teachers, Reach brings a new dimension to the world of cross-age tutoring. Each organization can succeed without negatively impacting the others.

Intelligent funders often hope to develop strong portfolios. It is rarely desirable to fund a single strong organization in a program area. Cross-age tutoring can create positive outcomes for both highly motivated youth and those that have previously experienced failure. I don't consider Heads Up and Breakthrough Collaborative competitors. Rather, these organizations serve as support for Reach's model - they are similar programs that have proven effective for all participants. At Reach, we are simply tweeking a known model to the benefit of a different student population.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

This Is What We Get To Do.

2010-07-01T13:57:00.003-04:00

Atul Gawande recently delivered the commencement address at Stanford University's School of Medicine. Many of you will notice that this is not the first time that I use talk of medicine to discuss education - the parallels are striking.

Two sections, in particular, stick out.

Gawande speaks about the need to develop an effective system rather than simply developing effective components of a system. We all can understand that having a great Neurologist isn't that helpful when you have a heart attack. However, we don't often recognize the corollary in education: having wonderful early intervention programs is great, unless you're a struggling high school student - in that case, it doesn't much matter. Geoffrey Canada is the man best known for trying to develop an effective system - cradle to college, as he calls it - but much more needs to be done. We need to think about the entirety of the system. Gawande offers this example:

"[There's a] famous thought experiment in which an attempt is made to build the world’s greatest car by assembling the world’s greatest car parts. We connect the engine of a Ferrari, the brakes of a Porsche, the suspension of a BMW, the body of a Volvo: What we get, of course, is nothing close to a great car; we get a pile of very expensive junk.”

The work ahead of us will be very difficult, and we will be forced to think creatively in order to effectively harness our constantly evolving knowledge. To conclude, we return again to Gawande:

"This will take science. It will take art. It will take innovation. It will take ambition. And it will take humility. But the fantastic thing is: This is what you get to do."

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Promising Partnerships

2010-06-28T15:35:00.003-04:00

New organizations often depend on valuable partnerships with existing organizations. While I often talk about fundraising goals, new organizations also often participate in grassroots marketing efforts. Recently, Reach was selected to participate in Capital Cause's "To DC, With Love Festival" from 4pm - 9pm on July 31st. This exciting event is designed as a fun street festival that allows DC's young professional community to learn about a select group of local nonprofit organizations. We'll have a booth at the event, so come by and say hello!

Location: Howard University (off Harvard Street, near Reservior)

Cost: $20

DJ, LIVE MUSIC, ART SHOW

Activities: Henna Tattoos, Yoga Demonstrations, and Other Interactive Activities
Food: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Grilled Chicken, Baked Beans, Green Beans, Desserts,

Beverages: Soda, Juice, Wine, Beer & Water

Over 50% of Proceeds Benefit the Following Nonprofits*:

National Association of Youth-Owned Businesses
Higher Achievement Program, Inc.
Yoga District
Young Ladies of Tomorrow
Reach Incorporated
Center for Minority Achievement in Science and Technology
Weatherize DC

*The remainder of funds go towards supporting Capital Cause efforts to plan affordable fundraisers for young professionals and to fund educational grants.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Mark

Did You Hear?

2010-06-24T15:25:00.002-04:00

For several weeks, the news has been dominated by oils spills, a "rogue" general, and the 2010 World Cup; however, while few were looking, the Gates and Buffet families decided to lead the largest philanthropic charge in history (a more detailed explanation of their goals can be found here). Buffet, who has pledged 99% of his wealth, has long differed from many of the world's richest people by asserting that he is not inherently deserving of his vast wealth. Finding a like-minded spirit in Bill Gates, they have dramatically changed the face of philanthropy. Now, given the recent economic downturn, they are becoming more evangelistic in their approach.

Already, the challenge has created significant results - the Broad family has pledged 75% of the family's wealth. The Broads, already a major player in the philanthropy world, bring Buffet and Gates closer to their goal of raising $600 Billion from the world's richest people. Yes, with a B. Buffet has long felt that the richest (or, as he would say, luckiest) have a greater obligation to contribute to the needs of the disadvantaged. Specifically, he feels like they sacrifice the least, in terms of quality of life, when giving away significant amounts of money.

This is not to say that this approach is flawless. By funneling so much money through large foundations, those funders gain immense power in determining which valuable community programs will get funded. This is specifically troubling, because so many of these major funders focus on "proven" models that take an efficiency-focused approach to problem solving.

Frankly, in many ways, I think Buffet lets the rest of us off the hook. Giving back is also about sacrificing luxuries (It's shocking to me how many people report that they don't have the financial flexibility to give back, yet they were picking up their iPhones this morning!). That being said, in a world where the financial sector created an economic crisis while hot shots collected multi-million dollar bonuses, it's exciting to see Buffet pushing the world's wealthiest to give more. All of us - every. single. one. - can do more.

Let's hope that Buffet's words encourage others to give back. Without resources, great ideas are simply the dreams of passionate people. We have so much left to do!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Extra Thought: Buffet's biography, "Snowball," is a fascinating read.

Is This All There Is?

2010-06-21T15:25:00.003-04:00

In this recent article by Dr. Benjamin Ward (scroll down to pages 8-9), Ward outlines the dangers associated with an exclusive reliance on what is described as the "ethic of performance." While not speaking directly about America's public education system, so many of Ward's words ring true when considering urban education. In an effort to promote accountability (whatever that means), we have started to focus on the tenets that define the ethic of performance: "reduction to a readily quantifiable or measurable standard, comparability, and fundamental limitations in the governing terms of discourse so as to ensure precisely such measurability and comparability."

When we focus entirely on things we can measure, does that not limit the true impact we can have on the students we encounter? Ward ends his article by discussing the steps we must take to counter the "growing sense of hollowness and brittleness [associated with] an exclusive reliance on an ethic of performance. But true intellectual engagement does not come with a road map or any guarantee of 'success.' The only thing that we can look forward to with confidence is a turbulent journey that shakes us to the very core of our being. Such are the fruits of the authentic educational venture."

How does a new organization balance the public system's performance demands with the need to create a true educational experience? That is our constant battle.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Well Said...

2010-06-17T16:44:00.002-04:00

Few people understand the importance of Adolescent Literacy. We have invested so much more in the education of children in grades K-3. Our time, our attention, and our money have been directed toward younger children. While this is a necessary use of some educational resources, it is not sufficient to produce our desired outcomes. Advanced adolescent literacy is the single factor that relates most closely to almost every desirable educational outcome: academic achievement, college success, and employment. For so long, unsubstantiated myths have guided our decision making regarding investment in literacy.

Don Deshler - Director of The University of Kansas Center for Research and Learning - dispels these commonly held assumptions in his recent testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Deshler's testimony starts at 50:00. Click here and get educated!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The Most Beautiful Sight These Eyes Have Ever Seen...

2010-06-14T20:28:00.003-04:00

In the movie "Rudy," this is what the main character's father says when he arrives to watch Notre Dame play Georgia Tech. That line came to mind today when I finished a big project. It was the most beautiful sight these eyes had ever seen: an amazing Excel spreadsheet.

I often write about fundraising and/or development. And, I've certainly used the words interchangeably. But when I actually take a step back, they are different words. Development is an important, and necessary, part of fundraising. Specifically, development involves gathering information and data - accurate and up to date - while simultaneously developing relationships. Today, I arranged all the information I have through two years of working: Names, Addresses, Email Addresses, Addresses, Date of Last Contribution, and Date of Last Contact.

Previously, I was working from 4-6 different spreadsheets. That may seem a little crazy, but it all happens piecemeal in the beginning. There's a spreadsheet to keep track of donations, one for addresses, and one for solicitation letters that need to be sent out... Now, they're all in one place. An investment of time that will, no doubt, create dividends in the future.

Sometimes, it's the little things that feel like big accomplishments.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The List Keeps Getting Longer!

2010-06-10T23:15:00.002-04:00

Every time I feel, for a moment, like I'm actually getting my feet under me, I am reminded of how far I have to go. Sometimes, a simple task creates a million opportunities for anxiety. This evening, that task was the completion of some forms necessary to get price quotes for insurance coverage. As you would expect, these forms ask a lot of questions about the ways the organization protects itself. To this point, we haven't had the need; however, the questions forced me to consider the various systems we would need to create before even hiring our first employee.

Some of the questions asked included (organized from least scary to most scary):

Do employees have to fill out an applications?
Do you have an equal employment statement on the application?
Do you verify previous employers?
Does your employee handbook outline complaint procedures?
Are all employees CPR certified?
Are all employees trained in using an AED device?
Do you currently have kidnapping, hostage, and ransom coverage?

KIDNAPPING, HOSTAGE, AND RANSOM? Are you serious? It's like these forms are trying to create anxiety!

More than anything, the process made me realize the importance of setting up appropriate human resource and risk management systems. Developing these systems will entail some significant learning and a substantial investment of time. It's better to recognize these needs now, when I have the time to address them effectively; however, I certainly never feel like I have everything under control. I suppose that's just the nature of the beast.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Another One Gets On The Bus.

2010-06-08T09:15:00.002-04:00

During the start-up phase, there's a catch 22 regarding enlisting help. It seems like a great idea to bring in interns to handle some of the tasks that eat my time, but I have neither the space for an office nor the time to supervise and guide interns. So, to this point, I have declined to enlist volunteers or interns to handle major tasks related to organizational development.

That all changed this week. I was approached by a student pursuing a Masters in Professional Services at Georgetown University. This student, with a concentration in Public Relations, also has extensive professional experience. Even more important, this student was recommended by a trusted Reach supporter. We welcome Janelle Stevenson to the Reach team!

As part of a summer class, Janelle will help Reach develop a short-term communications plan with an emphasis on reaching out to new donors. Organizational communications, and its relationship to fundraising, is a key factor in the start-up process; however, it is not a specialty of mine. I look forward to working with Janelle and getting the guidance necessary to develop a strong plan moving forward.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Sometimes, You Just Don't Know.

2010-06-03T22:53:00.004-04:00

I sit here coming down from the high of last night's trivia event at Solly's Tavern. The Solly's staff was enthusiastic and friendly, and the tables were filled with Reach fans and supportive strangers. In a closely contested trivia battle, "Smooth as Eggs" took home first prize while a strong showing by "The Boote Bunch" earned second place. Arash Jahanian and Randi Greenberg, our big raffle winners, will enjoy fantastic tickets to a Nats game next week. We are very appreciative to The Newseum, Jackie Jenzen, and Federal Realty Investment Trust for donating the evening's prizes. Overall, it was a great night!

Still excited from last night's festivities, I sat down this morning to continue work on some financial documents for a meeting of Reach's Board of Directors. After finishing a revised version of our FY2011 budget, I began developing revenue projections - estimations regarding how and when we will collect donations. It was both frustrating and freeing to recognize that, frankly, I have little idea. So much of this process is new to me. There is not yet any standard revenue cycle for Reach. I can tell you when we will apply for funding, but I certainly cannot predict with any certainty when we will receive funding.

While it makes planning difficult, this has been one of the great joys of our first year. I don't always know where the money's coming from, but I have repeatedly been surprised by the generosity of our supporters:

When leaving Los Angeles at the end of a visit last summer, a friend handed me an envelope as she dropped me off at the airport. When I opened it, I discovered a check for $2,000. It was, at that time, our largest gift ever.
Last September, having just returned from a wedding, I found myself spending time with old friends from college. When asking about my "pitch," a friend asked if I usually dressed up. I said, "yes, I'm usually in a suit." She then indicated she would donate $1,000 if I put on a suit to give the pitch. Minutes later, after a quick change in my rental car, Reach had another donor join our Founder's Circle.
During a rough stretch, a classmate from Harvard's Graduate School of Education sent a simple e-mail: "My family has a small foundation. I can think of no better organization to support than Reach. Send a brief description, and we should be able to provide a grant of about $1,300."

I have no doubt that our revenue patterns will become more predictable, but I am confident now. The generosity of our supporters continues to surprise me. I am growing more comfortable with the fact that I don't know how we will raise every necessary dollar; however, I have faith that we will make it.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Trivia for Charity @ Solly's

2010-05-31T19:57:00.002-04:00

At 8:30pm (doors open at 8:00pm), on Wednesday, June 2nd, brilliant people from all over DC will gather at Solly's Tavern for a night of trivia to support Reach, Inc. After an epic battle of the minds, winners will be rewarded with exciting prizes:

1st Prize: Four passes to The Newseum - $80 Value
2nd Prize: Gift Card for Neighborhood Restaurant Group - $50 Value

We will also be selling raffle tickets - 1 for $5, 3 for $10, or 7 for $20. The big raffle prizes: Two sets of Nats tickets (each set valued at $650). Tickets are in the section directly behind home plate and include a gourmet buffet, non-alcoholic drink, and a parking pass.

There is no cover or suggested donation, but Reach will receive a portion of the night's bar take (so drink plenty) and will benefit from the sale of raffle tickets.

What: Trivia for Charity @ Solly's - benefiting Reach, Inc.
Where: Solly's Tavern - on the corner of 11th and U Streets NW
When: Wednesday, June 2nd. Doors open at 8pm, trivia starts at 8:30pm.
Why: 'Cause you think kids should be literate.

You're not that productive on Thursday mornings anyway...

Hope to see you on Wednesday night!

Mark

A Year Removed...

2010-05-27T22:52:00.003-04:00

A new class graduated from Harvard's Graduate School of Education today. A year removed, I still work every day to "get to work." It's never easy - the pull toward the status quo never ceases - but we continue to make every effort to create change, to do something better, and to provide today's children with the opportunities they deserve.

Giving the speech at the HGSE Convocation Ceremony was a personal challenge: would I actually say what I thought needed to be said in front of such a large group? Could I speak effectively to such a large group? Would I pass out?

A year out, there's only one question that remains: Did it matter?

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Making The Sale

2010-05-24T21:10:00.003-04:00

Today, I found myself, once again, at the front of a classroom. In the minutes before we began, I rediscovered that familiar nervous feeling as they began filing into the classroom. I quickly reviewed my notes, reminding myself of the major points I needed to cover. As they sat down and looked in my direction, I realized all over again that I was in charge, but they were in control.

While the feeling was a reminder of my days as a teacher, the context was slightly different. My class was the entire upper school faculty at Hyde Leadership Public Charter School, our pilot site. Today, I had the opportunity to present Reach's approach to all the upper school teachers. Since we plan to hire contract teachers from Hyde, I was placing a lot of pressure on myself to get everyone in the room excited about next year's plans.

As is standard, I then forgot everything I was going to say, spoke way too fast, and totally ignored the notes I had written before speaking. Awesome. Despite my perfectionistic tendencies, overall, I was pleased with the exchange. The teachers asked some good questions at the end and several teachers made a point to speak to me at the conclusion of the meeting - both those interested in working with us and those interested in referring students. By the time I left, I was pleased with the meeting's outcome.

With each day, we take another step toward program launch. Today was a big one. It's exciting to think that one or today of the teachers that heard about Reach today may one day be working with us to create better outcomes for our future students.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Many Problems, One Source.

2010-05-20T17:23:00.002-04:00

The creation of marketing materials is a challenging task. For the last eighteen months, I have spent almost everyday trying to learn more about adolescent literacy and develop an improved intervention. Frankly, I now know a lot about literacy development. The challenge in creating marketing materials is that all of the knowledge gathered over those eighteen months must be condensed into short, but powerful, statements. It is a task that I find supremely challenging.

In working on a concise "problem statement" with one of my board members, I found myself talking about the various factors influenced by a teenager's reading ability. Did you know:

Those students who enter high school in the bottom quartile in reading are twenty times more likely to drop out of school than their higher performing peers.
Advanced literacy across content areas is the best available predictor of students' ability to succeed in introductory college courses.
About 40% of high school graduates lack the literacy skills that employers seek.
About two third of prison inmates are high school dropouts, and one third of all juvenile offenders read below the fourth-grade level.
About half of incoming ninth graders in urban, high-poverty schools read three years or more below grade level.

I expressed my frustration that it's tough to boil all of that information into a single statement that explains the intense need. When asked why it seemed so overwhelming, I simply said that "Every single educational outcome that we value - graduation, college success, employability, criminal offending, success in Science & Technology, and global competitiveness - all correlate most strongly with a single factor: proficiency in reading." Lightbulb. And with that, I was much closer to the short, powerful statement needed for marketing materials.

In the end, we hope to have a one page document that outlines the problem, the Reach concept, the research base, the factors that make us unique, and the details about our upcoming pilot program. Eighteen months of work on a single page. In the end, each word will be intentionally selected, and the process is challenging. With each day, the vision gains a little more clarity and our core becomes a little more defined.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The Perfect Fit?

2010-05-17T15:46:00.003-04:00

It's rare that I come across a funding opportunity that seems to fit perfectly. But today, I came across the following announcement:

Fiscal Year 2011 Out of School Time Programs. D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation

(CYITC) announces funds to provide high quality out-of-school time programs to children and youth ages 5 – 24 in

the District of Columbia during Fiscal Year 2011. The Trust seeks to support programs during the school year that

will provide purposeful and developmentally appropriate programs to help the District’s children and youth meet

developmental outcomes.

Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations.

Deadline: June 18, 2010.

The experience of reading such funding announcements brings with it mixed emotions. On one hand, it's so rewarding to see that some major funders recognize the importance of what Reach is doing. Beyond simply looking for academic enrichment, The Trust seeks "purposeful" and "developmentally appropriate" programs. After months of work, I feel confident that we fit that bill. It is our dedication to being purposeful and developmentally appropriate that makes us unique. I look forward to sharing our plans with The Trust.

On the other hand, I know the realities of the current funding climate. Recently, familiarity trumps anything else when it comes to grant applications. Since we're new, I recognize that - regardless of the strength of our model - we may not receive funding through this, or any, opportunity. No funding institution wants to waste money right now, and investing in an unproven entity inherently holds that risk. One day, we will be proven. That will, undoubtedly, bring its own challenges. For now, I only hope that The Trust sees the power in our model and its alignment with their wishes.

In the end, this is only one funding opportunity. We will pursue it, and many others, in the coming months. It will involve a significant investment of time. Whether it leads to a grant, we don't know. Only time will tell.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Why I Do This...

2010-05-13T16:30:00.003-04:00

While social entrepreneurship is about innovation and determination, for most of us, it also involves a healthy dose of rage. When it comes down to it, my work is driven by a single belief: all people are equally valuable. Sadly, a trio of violent events in and around Washington DC recently showed how far we are, as a society, from valuing all individuals equally.

On March 30th, four people were killed and five injured in a drive-by shooting in Southeast Washington DC. Several weeks later, the murder of DCPS Principal Brian Betts drew national attention. Finally, most recently, nearly everyone heard about the murder of Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player at the University of Virginia.

Simply examining the media attention given to each of these events tells us something about the way we value the individuals involved. Specifically, it's worth noting that Love's murderer, George Huguely, has been analyzed far more than any of the other alleged killers. People stated, over and over, that they were surprised he would do this. Did we expect this behavior from the others accused? I shudder to think that murder would be expected from anyone.

Friends Meeting of Washington - a Quaker meetinghouse - hangs a sign outside that asks, "How does your life help to remove the causes of war?" In my mind, all murder is war. We should respond with disgust to each and every killing, not simply to those that surprise us due to the wealth and privilege of those involved. Each of the accused killers came into contact with many of us - in schools and churches, group homes and neighborhoods. We failed to effectively influence the killers and to effectively protect the victims. We failed to value every individual in a way that create hope and confidence rather than fear and rage.

We cannot afford to help only the young ones, or the motivated ones, or the ones that "want to be helped." We must reach out to every individual. If we don't, we will fail in removing the causes of war, and we've seen what that means too frequently in recent weeks.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

A Big Transition

2010-05-10T15:50:00.003-04:00

A week ago, at Reach's most recent board meeting, we had an in depth conversation about our cash flow needs in the coming months. As we inch toward program launch, our financial needs will increase significantly as we incur our first program costs. To this point, our costs have been low. During this year's first four months, we've doubled our cash reserves; however, the board indicated an interest in accumulating a semester's worth of reserves before entering into contracts with teachers and tutors. So, what does that mean?

For me, that means an intense increase in fundraising. By August 1st, we will need to raise an additional $50,000 to ensure that we can meet our financial obligations during our pilot program. With the assistance of the Board, we are aggressively looking to cultivate relationships with donors who have shown interest in supporting educational initiatives. We are certainly going to be busy in the coming months, and I look forward to sharing our work with interested donors throughout the city.

We got a solid start this weekend when we raised over $1,000 at two events. On Friday night, we welcomed both old and new supporters to Town Tavern for Philanthropy Friday. In addition to the small cover charge that went to Reach, we raised over $400 through the sale of raffle tickets - congratulations to Provi ($50 to Maddy's), Julia ($50 to McCormick & Schmick's), Christine ($50 to Ireland's Four Fields), and Matt ($100 to Matchbox) on their big victories! On Saturday, Reach received a cut of the proceeds from Nerd Nite DC at DC9. Both were exciting events, and we appreciate the financial support created. It was a great weekend, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the coming weeks.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

A Busy Weekend

2010-05-06T22:28:00.002-04:00

Friday Night: Come on out to Town Tavern for Philanthropy Friday. For $5, you get $2 domestic bottles and mixed rails from 6pm - 9pm and $3 domestic bottles and mixed rails from 9pm - 11pm. The proceeds from the night will go directly to Reach, Inc. Additionally, we'll have raffle tickets for sale - 1 for $5, 3 for $10, and 7 for $20. We have a number of prizes available:

Saturday Night: DC Nerd Nite takes place at DC9 again this Saturday. A combination of intellect, booze, and entertainment, DC Nerd Nite provides three short lectures on totally "nerdilicious" topics. All the proceeds from this month's event will go directly to Reach, Inc.!

By the end of the weekend, we'll have a little money in the bank and (hopefully) a lot more people that are excited about our work!

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Mark

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep...

2010-05-03T22:51:00.002-04:00

It's 11pm, and my day is not yet done.

This evening, we had a meeting of Reach's Board of Directors.

The good news: Our Board members ask great questions, and they are demonstrating a true interest in creating a strong and sustainable organization.

The intimidating news: The task is large. Part of tonight's meeting involved a better definition of our cash flow needs. As a new nonprofit executive, these conversations can sometimes be scary. We've officially moved from the stage when any progress is considered success. Now, we have ambitious goals, and it's my responsibility to make sure they get met. It's intimidating, but I expect to succeed.

There's lots of work to do, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow...

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

What If We Only Trained Pediatricians?

2010-04-29T13:48:00.002-04:00

In recent years, it hasn't been uncommon for educators to hear about applying "the medical model" to schools. Generally, this refers to efforts at improving teacher quality. Similar to teaching hospitals, some schools have worked to develop teaching systems that involve mentorship and increasing responsibility. Though less successful to this point, some schools have also worked to "depersonalize" conversations about education. How can we talk about our teaching failures in a way that does not imply that our teachers are failures? Doctors often learn from situations in which patients die; however, teachers rarely are given a formalized opportunity to learn from the situations when students do not succeed. In applying the medical model, some educators are trying to address this challenge.

Taking a step back, it's interesting to look at the entire system. Can we continue the medical analogy? I believe we can. For a long time, we have focused educational resources on early childhood education, elementary schools, and middle schools. High school students have been held accountable for their own success or failure. If we produce "healthy learners" by middle school, then we expect the students to achieve in high school. In the medical field, it seems that this begs the question: What if we only trained pediatricians?

Ideally, we would have healthier children than ever before. With such strong resources for pediatric medicine, we would expect better health indicators for young people. Healthy children are probably more likely to become healthier adults. However, we would never consider training only pediatricians. We recognize that issues must be addressed differently at different stages of the life cycle. Additionally, there are some issues that only become present after childhood. Yet, for some reason, we offer only "educational triage" to high school students.

Reach provides a new course of treatment for academic skills gaps present upon entry to high school. While many high schools simply serve a sorting function (kids with significant gaps are referred to GED programs, job skills programs, or classes outside the college track), we believe that every high school students can achieve highly. Like a doctor faced with a challenging disease, we must use our knowledge and act aggressively. Regardless of how bad the prognosis is when we encounter a high school student, the right approach can lead to healthy outcomes.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

What's the Perfect Event?

2010-04-26T18:12:00.003-04:00

In this challenging economy, many non-profits are looking to create revenue through events as other income streams bring in fewer dollars. This, sadly, has resulted in many organizations hosting expensive events with underwhelming returns. And, as many of you are likely aware, the organizations end up repeatedly inviting (and asking money from) the same core supporters. When considering events as an income stream, I have always tried to offer some sort of return for the donation offered by our supporters.

On May 7th and 8th, Reach will be earning revenue through two separate events, and this is due in large part to the intelligent infrastructure created by two our hosts.

On Friday, Reach will benefit from Town Tavern's Philanthropy Friday. For a $5 donation, supporters will receive significant drink discounts for a five hour period. The fact that Town Tavern has this infrastructure in place allows the beneficiary organization to focus on creating additional revenue where possible. For instance, we will have a number of raffle prizes for next Friday's event. Additionally, since Town Tavern is on a popular strip in Adams Morgan, we will gain some walk in traffic. Using fliers crafted for the event, we will educate walk ins with the hope of winning new supporters.

On Saturday, Reach will benefit from DC Nerd Nite (click here for the Facebook invitation). Nerd Nite is a series of short lectures, in a bar, aimed at young intellectuals (or nerds). Nerd Nite donates proceeds from ticket sales to a different non-profit each month. In May, that non-profit is Reach. They provide the event, the venue, and the attendees. Each month, the event sells out. This provides a great opportunity for each beneficiary non-profit to market the organization to people who are not already supporters.

A truly successful event should raise money, bring in new supporters, and provide something in exchange for the attendees' donations. Next weekend, I believe both our events will successfully do all three. If you'd like, come on out and enjoy the fun!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Giving Circles

2010-04-22T14:47:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with a representative from an organization called Black Benefactors. This group is the grant-making arm of The Black Philanthropic Alliance. Slightly different than a typical foundation, Black Benefactors is a giving circle. In a challenging economic climate, I think giving circles have the potential to play a very important role in ensuring continued innovation in the nonprofit community.

First, let me briefly explain the way a giving circle works. Many people want to support nonprofits; however, they often feel that they can not give enough to make a significant impact. In a giving circle, like minded people pool their resources so they can make more substantial gifts to selected organizations. Last year, Black Benefactors was able to give away $10,000 by asking members to contribute a minimum of $250.

Currently, very few foundations are considering new organizations. While many organizations got their initial funding through a couple generous grants, this is no longer the reality. For that reason, I believe that giving circles have the ability to assume a unique position in the philanthropic community. Giving circles can ensure continued innovation and ensure impact by focusing on supporting the work of small start-up organizations. Through strategic thinking, giving circles can use their limited resources to make an even bigger impact.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Maintaining High Expectations

2010-04-19T16:16:00.002-04:00

Often, we hear of reform movements that claim to focus on high expectations. The phrase has become so common in educational discussions that I'm no longer certain we know what it means. Too often, when we say we are maintaining high expectations, it appears that, in reality, we are promoting obedience. More often than not, the changes made to promote "higher expectations" are related to the elimination of negative behaviors. In many schools, appropriate behavior is expected. Why do we consider it a sign of high expectations in urban schools? What does this say about the expectations we have for different student populations?

By chance, I read two stories today in two different newspapers. First, Jay Mathews writes about a principal in Prince George's County, Maryland who has improved a school, in part, through the forced transfer of unmotivated students. In Detroit, we read the story of a female version of Joe Clark, the inspiration for "Lean On Me." She - yes, with her baseball bat - has decided that those that disrupt her village do not get to stay. In both schools, additional steps have been taken that I would actually consider raising expectations; however, we tend to focus on the process of creating order.

If we claim to maintain high expectations for all students, then what do we say about those students that are expelled? Clearly, on some level, the "tough" principals have decided to give up on some kids to save others. If we maintained high expectations for all students, wouldn't we make efforts to engage these students?

While I respect the efforts of these leaders, I sometimes wonder if we actually pay attention to how we speak about education. It doesn't seem possible to maintain high expectations for all students by throwing some of them out. Perhaps we, at some point, must look at ourselves and ask a more difficult question: what must we do differently to motivate all students to actively pursue an education? Creating a well-behaved student population is not maintaining high expectations, it is creating the environment necessary to establish high expectations. Let us not confuse the two.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Lesson #2

2010-04-15T14:30:00.003-04:00

Last week, I gave you a sneak peak at part of our Tutor Training Manual. Using an original poem, we will teach our tutors how to provide instruction in each of the five core components of literacy development: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Through this process, students gain an understanding of the instructional process.

With this newfound knowledge, Lesson #2 will allow students to construct a lesson themselves. This will be our final training exercise before tutoring begins. Lesson #2 is explained below.

Lesson #2:

An adapted excerpt from a speech by Dr. Benjamin Carson about the importance of teaching Black children about their history:

Anybody could take a young Black boy by the hand and walk down the streets of Baltimore. They could give him a Black history lesson that would thrill his heart.

You could point at his feet and tell him it was Mr. Matzeliger, a Black man, who invented the machine used to make shoes. Looking down, you could point at the street and say it was Mr. Brooks, a Black man, who invented the street sweeper that cleans the streets.

When you came to a traffic light, you could tell him it was invented by Mr. Morgan, a Black man. Morgan also invented the gas mask, which saved many lives during wars. Speaking of war, it was Ms. Bradbury, a Black woman, who invented the underwater cannon – now used for torpedoes.

When you see a beautiful Black woman, you can tell him about Madam Walker, the first woman in America to become a millionaire on her own. She invented make-up for people with a dark complexion.

If you walk by a hospital, you can tell him how Dr. Drew, a Black man, created blood banks. Or, you could tell him about Dr. Williams, a Black man, the first doctor to perform open-heart surgery.

You could even tell him about Mr. Latimer, a Black man, who invented the part of the light bulb that allowed it to work for more than two or three days. Mr. Latimer worked very closely with Thomas Edison, but few people have ever heard of him.

Finally, you can tell him about Mr. McCoy, a Black man, who invented the lubrication system for trains. He was so good that people, before buying something, would ask, “Is this a McCoy? Is this the real McCoy?”

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Using Reach's Lesson Planning Template, our tutors will then be guided in using this content to develop a lesson plan for a future tutoring session. The tutor will identify a word family, generate an exhaustive word family list, and outline various ways of showing the identified sound. Tutors will also identify potential vocabulary words and strategies for defining those words. Additionally, tutors will identify at least four questions that will check text comprehension during reading. Finally, the tutor will come up with a plan to promote fluency. By the end of this final training session, each tutor will have created a high-quality lesson plan based on Dr. Carson's speech. A potential plan is outlined below:

1) The tutor introduces /ack/ word family.

2) The student orally generates lists of words with /ack/ sound.

3) The tutor writes out words, showing that the sound can be shown with different letter combinations. The tutor then identifies /ack/ (back, lack, black) as today's focus, but recognizes the same sound can be shown in different ways (Cadillac, plaque, vacuum).

4) Using prepared notecards - ack, b, l, t, r, ing, s, ed - the tutor uses manipulation of cards for lessons in phonemic addition, deletion, and substitution.

5) Turning to today's passage, the tutor reads the passage out loud. The tutor then identifies two potential vocabulary words - complexion and lubrication. The tutor then demonstrates use of context to define complexion and uses dictionary to define lubrication.

6) The student and tutor read the passage together.

7) The student reads the passage alone while the tutor asks comprehension questions. After 2nd paragraph - What do you think the rest of the passage will be about? After 3rd paragraph - What were Mr. Morgan's two inventions? After paragraph 6 - Who did Mr. Latimer work with? After completing the passage - What was the most interesting part to you?

8) After completing the lesson, the student can pick a book from the classroom library to read until program conclusion.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The Next Level

2010-04-12T15:38:00.002-04:00

A recent Time Magazine article provided an overview of a recent program piloted in Chicago, Dallas, New York City, and Washington DC. This program, called "Capital Gains" in Washington DC, is the brain child of Harvard economist Roland Fryer Jr. When I mention that our tutors will be compensated, people often compare our work to that of Dr. Fryer.

One caveat: I would state that the main difference is that we provide compensation in exchange for additional time and effort - it does not fall within the typical school day. The bonuses we provide are related to job performance and the improved qualifications of our tutors.

I would like to speak specifically to three issues presented in the article. I feel that they are relevant to Reach, Inc.'s work as well.

1) It is absolutely true that the education sector needs to do more research and development work. Our fear of failure often prevents us from trying to new approaches. Because we refuse to do this research, reform often looks very similar to existing approaches and programs.

2) The article talks about rewarding factors over which children have some control. We address this in two ways. First, our incentives are connected to a number of factors: attendance, timeliness, GPA, standardized test scores, tutor reading improvement, student reading improvement, and program compliance. All of our tutors will do better in some areas than others; however, the diversity provides all tutors with the ability to earn incentives. Second, we can not look at any child's ability as static. Our entire incentive system focuses on improvement rather than mastery, so we are always pushing our kids to take the next step. If our training program is working effectively, then our tutors will gain increasing control over the factors we reward. In the beginning, they can focus on showing up on time each day; however, with training, our tutors will gain the capacity to begin focusing on improving their grades.

3) When talking about incentives, detractors often site research stating that extrinsic motivation rarely works long term. This is true. We do know, however, that intrinsic motivation is effective in the long term. In this article, representatives from KIPP talk about the need to "start where they are." Extrinsic motivators can, and do, work to promote initial efforts. When children receive the motivator, it is then up to the adults to make that transition from extrinsic to intrinsic. Many of the students Reach will work with have never experienced academic success. When incentives encourage our students experience success for the first time, it is up to us be vocal about the pride we feel in their success. It is through our responses that these extrinsic motivators can produce intrinsic motivation.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Lesson #1

2010-04-08T13:35:00.004-04:00

A Reach, Inc. Original: From Our Tutor Training Manual

"Train in the Rain"

Outside in the cold, cold rain,

I sit here waiting for the train.

I'm mad about this long, wet wait.

The train is fifteen minutes late!

Near the depot, the crowd huddles,

while one boy runs and jumps in puddles.

As the group begins to whine,

we see a headlight's bright white shine.

At the station, the train pulls in -

the conductor with a mile wide grin.

We say, "We waited as it rained and poured!"

He shrugs and says, "All Aboard!"

As we construct our training manual, we're more concerned with the richness of the content than the quality of the poetry, so please don't insult my literary skills. As I've mentioned previously, there are five key components of literacy development: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. This short poem provides at least one entry point for each of the key components.

Phonemic Awareness: Simply put, this is the understanding that words are made up of sounds. The rhyming pattern above makes it easy for kids to identify repeating phonemes (sounds). Additionally, we can use rhyming words to do some phonemic awareness exercises. What's the first sound you hear in train? It's the /t/ sound (That's phoneme isolation). What if you took that away? You get rain (That's phoneme deletion). The awareness created by exercises in phonemic isolation and deletion is an first step in strong literacy development.

Phonics: In phonics, we draw connections between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters). While phonemic awareness allows us to develop word families (words that share a characteristic - for example, the /ain/ sound), phonics allows students to learn that this sound can be shown in multiple ways (train, reign, sane, vein). In phonics, it's important to show that different letter combinations can produce the same sound. Rhyming poems provide a great opportunity for this to be demonstrated (In this poem, you see both wait/late and bright/white, while you also see rhyming words shown by the same letter combinations, like train/rain and whine/shine).

Fluency: Research shows us that fluency improves most significantly through partnered reading aloud. Students should hear something read aloud, then have the opportunity to read aloud themselves. Poetry is a natural literary realm for this practice. Additionally, rhyming provides an additional cue for getting the word right, as students can expect rhyming sounds.

Vocabulary: Often, it is best to teach necessary vocabulary before a student reads a passage. There are multiple opportunities for vocabulary instruction (for a 3rd grade student) in this poem: depot, huddles, and conductor, for example. Additionally, the poem provides contextual clues so the reader may be able to derive meaning.

Text Comprehension: When focusing on comprehension, we often focus on three strategies: summarizing, clarifying, and predicting. The above poem provides plenty of chances for a tutor to check comprehension using these strategies. For example, "Why is the writer mad?"

This (at least in our first draft) will be the first piece of content our tutors encounter. In just twelve lines, we provide all the content necessary for instruction in all five keys areas. This brevity is important as long texts are often intimidating for struggling readers. Through this first poem, we will be able to show how effectively they can provide literacy instruction in all the necessary areas.

I welcome your thoughts. What do you think of the content for Lesson #1?

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Another First!

2010-04-05T15:32:00.002-04:00

What a wonderful birthday present we received! Over the weekend, Reach received a $3,000 grant from The Crowell & Moring Foundation. While it may seem like a small grant, this is the first time we've received funding through a competitive process. Many foundations are not currently considering new organizations, but Crowell & Moring has shown leadership in continuing to support strong programs at all stages. We are very grateful, and we look forward to being responsible stewards of these resources.

On Thursday, I look forward to telling you about a summer full of exciting Reach events!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Happy Birthday (Almost)!

2010-04-01T16:55:00.002-04:00

On April 3, 2009, while sitting in Gutman Library at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, I received a phone call. Our Articles and Bylaws had been filed and a Certificate of Incorporation had been issued. Reach, Inc. was now a legal - and for the first time, real - entity.

As Reach approaches its first birthday, it's interesting to look back on the progress we've made. For me, it's often easier to see the length of the journey ahead, so these moments of reflection are both important and encouraging. I often think of my job in three parts, and I'll frame our progress in the same way.

Fundraising: In a year, we've raised almost $100,000 in cash and pledges. We've received our first donation, first corporate contribution, and first foundation grant. Starting from donations of $10, we have been able to celebrate our first $1,000 donation, our first $5,000, and our first $10,000 donation. While there is a long way to go, we've had great successes in our first year.

Networking: I can't even begin to recount all the great people I met this year. Many in DC's nonprofit community have been willing to provide guidance and support in what is often a difficult process. We've also had two incredible individuals join our Board of Directors - and I knew neither of these individuals a year ago. I'm now in a position where I know where to turn to get many of my questions answered. Additionally, people are starting to talk about Reach, if just a little bit, around this city. Most important, the professionals that I have met now allow me to feel, on some days, that I'm not doing this entirely on my own.

Programming: This is where are greatest strides have occurred. A year ago, I thought I had a concrete idea that would improve literacy outcomes for both high school and elementary school students. I've spent the past year learning how little I then knew. I've learned so much about literacy development - more than I knew existed. From this concept, we now have a signed Memorandum of Agreement, an upcoming pilot program, training materials, an approach to assessment, outlined learning activities, and a strategy for recruiting participants. In the coming months, we'll hire contract teachers and begin recruiting current 8th grade students for next year's program. We've even started targeting potential expansion sites for the fall of 2011.

I'm very proud of how far we've come, and confident in our ability to handle what lies ahead. It won't always be easy, nor has it been to this point, but we will succeed. And in the process, we'll show that it's never too late for a student to address previous academic failure.

Thanks for your support thus far, and I look forward to the continuation of our shared journey.

Mark

Nelson Mandela: An Inspiration for Reformers of Urban Education?

2010-03-29T18:22:00.003-04:00

To challenge my thinking about leadership, I've recently started reading the autobiographies of game-changing leaders. Most recently, I read Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela.

What I found most inspiring about Mandela was his refusal to allow incremental gains to distract from the larger goals of his movement. During his days as a young adult, Mandela's race limited his access to all aspects of South African society. Yet, he saw that the current structures simply created infighting. Because no one ever considered it a possibility that all people would be treated equally, Black Africans ended up fighting each other for the "best possible" outcomes. Those people of color that were "winning" - achieving the best outcomes they thought possible - were, therefore, not easily convinced that revolution was necessary.

While the apartheid struggle in South Africa seems distant, I found myself using this framework to explore the reform movement in America's urban schools. We often talk about high-performing urban schools, and our reform movement has certainly created winners and losers. Many of the well-respected charter school organizations make people feel that they are winning - that the best possible outcome is being achieved. This, Mandela helped me see, allows us to take our eyes off the real prize. We have a long journey ahead of us to achieve some important goals, such as the following:

Every child should be able to receive a high quality education - in his or her own neighborhood - that provides them with the skills and talents necessary to contribute to the workforce in whatever way he or she chooses.
Academic achievement and life outcomes should not be determined by the neighborhood or city of one's birth.
Basic reading and math skills should be used to teach more important higher order skills that will allow individuals to remain flexible in a changing economy. They should not, in themselves, be considered goals.

I finished the book thinking that Mandela would be disappointed in our reform efforts to this point. We continue to create systems that produce unequal outcomes. More disturbing, creating these spurious dichotomies in urban systems - creating winners and losers - allows some to forget that unity is needed to create improvement for all our children.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

What Does a Budget Really Mean?

2010-03-25T19:55:00.002-04:00

For a variety of reasons, I'm currently in the midst of revising and reformatting Reach, Inc.'s budget. For me, this process brought up two important questions:

Why do we treat budgets like rule books when they are really planning documents?
Why do we think so negatively about any money not spent on programs?

With regard to the first question, it seems that it's a huge mistake to approach budgeting from a knowledge perspective rather than a learning perspective. While we hope the numbers in the budget are educated guesses, they are nonetheless guesses. Nonprofit organizations are expected to use their resources to pursue their mission. It is not possible, at all times, to know exactly what resources will be necessary. Budgets, and later records of actual spending, provide administrators and Boards with the ability to examine whether resources are being used efficiently toward the mission. However, it seems that many organizations fail to look at costs and spending as information from which new knowledge can be drawn. In creating this new budget, I hope that it will begin a conversation with our Board about priorities and choices, but I do not expect to be able to provide accurate predictions of exactly what will be spent in each area.

Moving to the second question, it's interesting to see how quickly the questions that funders ask force us to think differently about what's important. Start up organizations, like Reach, are often expected to have higher administrative costs than other nonprofits, due to the investments necessary for building infrastructure. However, it is often stressed that administrative and fundraising costs should be minimized. While this sounds good, it often leads to interesting choices being made. Is it really better to spend $1,000 on a party for program participants (program expense) than to spend that same money on donor management software (fundraising) or training around effective nonprofit management (administrative)? Often, when funders ask about the percentage of funding spent on programs, they are forcing organizations to make short-sighted decisions.

Back to the numbers.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Reach, Inc. welcomes Mike Young!

2010-03-22T14:31:00.003-04:00

Today's Press Release:

March 22, 2010

Today Reach, Inc. announces that Mike Young is joining the organization as its newest Director. Young brings extensive experience in program management and nonprofit administration.

In March 2008, Mr. Young left Hope and a Home, a local nonprofit that empowers low-income families with children to create stable homes, after 25 years as a Program Manager and Executive Director. During Young’s years as the organization’s leader, “Hope and a Home became an independent nonprofit organization with a firm financial foundation; established an office in the R Street neighborhood where we work with residents of subsidized housing; hired a Community Organizer and a Development Director; expanded programming capacity; developed our first strategic plan and completed our first financial audit” (Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign Profile).

A married father of two teenage sons, Young is actively involved in the DC community. Among other volunteer activities, he regularly provides literacy support to first grade students at King Elementary School in DC’s Congress Heights neighborhood. His commitment and experience will help guide Reach, Inc.’s development and future growth.

A new DC-based nonprofit organization, Reach, Inc. will improve reading skills, across ages, by hiring and training struggling adolescent readers to tutor in District of Columbia elementary schools. Through this innovative model, Reach, Inc. will teach necessary work skills facilitate literacy instruction in a stigma-free environment, and provide a needed service in a resource efficient manner.

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Please join me in welcoming Mike!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Improvement vs. Mastery

2010-03-18T17:34:00.003-04:00

As you all know, Reach's program model consists of three components: training, tutoring, and compensation. Currently, I'm working on the creation of our compensation system. In this exercise, it has helped to revisit the different evaluation systems I have encountered in my professional career, both in social work and in education.

In social work, progress is often measured by looking at improvement (though some would argue we rarely measure anything effectively). For example, if presented with an acutely depressed client, a clinician would consider it a moderate success if the client began attending treatment, trusting the clinician, and voicing a desire to feel better. In education, imagine a student who was functionally illiterate and often truant. If this student began attending school regularly, asked a teacher for help, and began voicing a desire to learn, all our official measures (grades and standardized tests) would still consider this student a failure.

For this reason, I think so many of our current "motivational programs" miss the mark. If a student has a chronic truancy problem, is it realistic to offer a reward for perfect attendance?Or, if a student has experienced long-term academic failure, does it make sense to offer a reward for each A earned? I would argue no.

As we develop our system, we have to look at each metric we value (attendance, punctuality, grades, standardized test scores, and work performance), then we must consider how to best encourage improvement. As we know from Vygotsky, pushing for mastery may not be realistic or motivational. Let's use attendance as an example. We have three options. Students could start at the highest compensation figure, then be fined for each absence. Students could start with a base level of pay and receive a sizable bonus for perfect attendance. Or, students could start with a base level of pay and receive a small bonus each day they attend school. We choose the third option.

Similarly, we can provide bonuses for improvement in GPA when compared to the previous semester. Or, we can provide bonuses for percentile improvements on standardized tests when compared to the previous year. It is through rewarding improvement, not mastery, that we will be able to motivate students that have significant academic skill gaps.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

PS - The previously mentioned announcement has been postponed until Monday. My apologies.

Quick Hits

2010-03-15T19:59:00.002-04:00

#1) Save the dates:

Wednesday, June 2nd, Solly's Tavern, Trivia Night for Charity:

Come drink beer, answer questions, and raise money for Reach!

Wednesday, September 29th, Co Co. Sala, Reach, Inc.'s Launch Party.

Come enjoy delicious drinks for discounted prices while celebrating the launch of Reach's pilot program. (* date is tentative and subject to change *)

#2) This week, Unum joins The ACE Group in supporting our work through matching the contributions made by their employees.

#3) We hope to share another exciting announcement on Thursday, March 18th. Stay tuned...

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Reframing the Discussion

2010-03-11T18:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I had a great discussion with Mary Beth Fresh, the Director of Strategic Alliances at First Book. First Book has had great success in cause-related marketing campaigns. Through these campaigns, they create revenue, increase name recognition, and drive website traffic through corporate partnerships. While many of First Book's relationship are national in scale (Cheerios, Target, etc.), Mary Beth helped me to think about how Reach can begin cultivating relationships with local businesses. For-profit businesses are ultimately most interested in making money, not doing good, so nonprofits must learn to approach businesses with profit in mind. That means we must ask some key questions:

What businesses would benefit from having access to our students?
What businesses would benefit from looking good to our donor base?
Do we share an interest with any business in targeting a specific group?

This meeting really helped me in my thinking about a specific project. Recently, I've been thinking about ways in which I can cultivate relationships with the law firms and lawyers that play such a role in Washington DC. So, who else wants to target young lawyers? Additionally, how could we position ourselves - or what could we offer - so that the firms would be interested in providing support? I have some ideas, and I'm ready to start planning. So...

If you're a young DC lawyer, and you're interested in offering some assistance in planning an event this summer, please send me an e-mail: mark(at)reachincorporated(dot)org.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Is the best good enough?

2010-03-08T15:37:00.004-05:00

In a recent article, Jay Mathews described MATCH Charter Public High School as "one of the nation's most successful inner-city charters." Having spent last year in Boston, I got to learn a little bit about MATCH. While they have done impressive work creating academic gains with a challenging population, the school's success is not unqualified. Specifically, a significant number of MATCH students drop out each year. Due, in part, to the fact that MATCH regularly retains students who are not on grade-level, students leave to pursue their education elsewhere. Those that remain at MATCH do relatively well, but what about the students that leave?

(Note: Mr. Mathews' article is about their teacher residency program - only tangentially related to my writing today)

I wrote to Mr. Mathews about this issue, and he brought up an interesting point: "When I say it is one of the best charters in the country for inner city kids, indeed one of the best high schools in the country for inner city kids, I am comparing it to the schools we have, not the ones we wish we had. Big dropout rates are a problem for everyone in those communities. I don't think anyone, including the best charters, have solved that. Okay, they are in the same league with a lot of other schools on that one measure, but in terms of raising the achievement of and challenging kids they can persuade to stay, they are way ahead."

Mr. Mathews is right; however, I still think the conversation is being oversimplified. Should we praise programs that are the best available? Even if we know they're not good enough? By simply praising MATCH without outlining the known significant limitations, don't we avoid a true conversation about educational solutions?

Currently, many of the organizations being praised as panaceas work effectively for a certain type of student - those with some stability, motivation, and involved parents. By simply applauding their efforts, we ignore the fact that we continue to fall short in addressing the needs of so many of our students. MATCH does great work, but, depending on what you read, they lose as much as 50% of their freshman class before graduation. While their academic gains may be the best out there, is that acceptable?

Mr. Mathews was open to the feedback, and he expressed an interest in continuing the conversation as we both learn more about promising programs being implemented across the country (I suggested he explore Big Picture Schools). In the end, I find it extremely important that we recognize that A solution for SOME kids is not THE solution for ALL kids. While any failing system provides "best" alternatives, we have a long way to go before the best is good enough.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The Power of We

2010-03-04T20:48:00.002-05:00

During a conversation with a Reach supporter recently, I heard someone say, "it really feels like we're making some progress." Then, looking at me sheepishly, he went on, "I guess I shouldn't be saying we. You're the one doing the work." At that point, I happily told him that I thought he was entirely incorrect. At this moment, I am Reach's only employee; however, I often use the term "we" when talking about the work. While many people have questioned me about this word choice, I continue to believe that our 250 donors, 4 Board members, and countless partners are all part of Reach as well.

The true buy in of Reach supporters has helped us immensely in two ways recently. Tomorrow, I will work with accountant Linda Collyer to set up a more appropriate system for financial record keeping. Linda is working with us free of charge because someone told her they truly believe in Reach. Additionally, we will have an introductory meeting with Akin Gump next week. Akin has agreed to act as legal advisors to Reach. Again, this was based on a Reach supporter approaching a partner to say he really believed in our work.

So many people want to help, but they often feel like they don't know who to help. That's why your words matter. Many people want to give - both financially and through service. Your words can convince them that Reach could use both their dollars and their skills effectively and efficiently.

Thanks, as always, for reading.
Mark

Reach, Inc. welcomes Karin Johanson!

2010-03-01T15:46:00.004-05:00

Today's Press Release:

March 1, 2010

Today Reach, Inc. announces that Karin Johanson is joining the organization as the newest member of our Board of Directors. Johanson brings with her a wealth of experience building organizations within the world of electoral politics.

Currently, Ms. Johanson is a principal at Dewey Square Group in its grassroots and government relations practices. Prior to joining Dewey Square, Johanson made her mark in a variety of settings. She previously served as Chief of Staff for Steny Hoyer (D – MD), Political Director for EMILY’s List, and Executive Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

A graduate of American University and a DC resident, Johanson will contribute her extensive experience in organization building and network development. Ms. Johanson has earned high marks at all her previous stops, including at the DCCC where then colleague Rahm Emmanuel said, “I give her six things to do and she does seven.” Her keen mind and attention to detail will contribute greatly to Reach, Inc.’s future growth.

A new DC-based nonprofit organization, Reach, Inc. will improve reading skills, across ages, by hiring and training struggling adolescent readers to tutor in District of Columbia Elementary Schools. Through this innovative model, Reach, Inc. will teach necessary work skills, facilitate literacy instruction in a stigma-free environment, and provide a needed service in a resource efficient manner.

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Please join me in welcoming Karin!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Couldn't Have Said it Better Myself...

2010-02-25T16:24:00.005-05:00

From the Alliance for Excellent Education:

"Millions of middle and high school students lack the literacy skills—including reading, writing, and critical thinking—that they need to succeed in college and the workplace. According to The Nation’s Report Card fewer than one third of eighth graders read at a proficient level. Policymakers have directed considerable resources toward improving the skills of the nation’s youngest schoolchildren, and higher scores for fourth graders indicate that these investments are paying off. However, similar investments have not been made to support the literacy needs of students in the later grades; thus, academic gains are not being sustained through secondary schooling when students need instruction in advanced literacy skills necessary to succeed with more complex content. As a result, while fourth-grade proficiency rates on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) increased from 1998 through 2007, the percentage of eighth graders who scored at or above proficient declined.

"Only 29 percent of America’s eighth-grade public school students meet the NAEP standard of reading proficiency for their grade level.

"Approximately eight million of the 32.5 million students in fourth through twelfth grade read below NAEP’s minimum or ―basic standards for their grade level.

"A mere 2 percent of all eighth graders read at an advanced level."

To address such a massive problem, we need a portfolio of solutions. A huge number of the public school students entering 9th grade (71%!) are not proficient in reading, yet so often we say that this is too late to intervene. The fact that we have not successfully intervened at the high school level is not an indication that it can't be done. We have a responsibility to improve literacy interventions in high schools. Reach, Inc. aims to be part of the solution.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

Tutor Stipends

2010-02-22T18:08:00.003-05:00

Reach, Inc. takes a three-pronged approach to adolescent literacy remediation: tutoring, training, and compensation. In recent weeks, I've been thinking a lot about the third facet of our program, compensation. Many people have an immediate, negative reaction to paying students for academic performance; however, if executed appropriately, I think it can be a significant motivational factor for struggling students.

For compensation to work effectively, it must be tied to legitimate outcomes. In our case, this means that the tutor's compensation must be tied to job performance, effort in school, and academic achievement. It's been an interesting practice challenge to think about the best way to implement our system. We want to tie compensation into significant performance indicators - attendance, disciplinary records, benchmark assessments, grades, and standardized tests - and we want to recognize improvement more than mastery. However, these indicators all operate on different timelines. It's not easy to pay tutors monthly if we can only measure grades twice a year. Additionally, we must take into consideration the fact that adolescents do not enjoy delaying gratification.

Most recently (thanks to a helpful thought partner), it seems that having a two-tiered pay system makes the most sense. First, we'll provide tutors with a regular stipend for basic job performance. This will likely be approximately $40 twice a month. The second tier would involve the students' ability to accumulate bonuses. From very basic things like attendance (say, $.50 for every day they show up to work on time) to larger things (such as a $10 bonus for each percentile improvement in standardized test scores, up to a certain limit). These bonuses would be paid out at the end of each semester. By having this two-tiered system, we would allow students to receive immediate gratification for their after-school employment while also having a cumulative motivator for improvement in academic outcomes.

As we move closer to launch, these "nuts and bolts" issues will become increasingly important. The countdown continues...

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

Loaded Question

2010-02-18T21:06:00.002-05:00

I often get asked, "what can I do to help?" It's not always an easy question for me to answer. Each day is so different, so I honestly don't always have a good answer. Additionally, as is the nature of entrepreneurship, we're finding answers to new questions everyday. So, today, I give you five ways you can help - from easiest to hardest:

1) Help build our network on facebook. Up in the left corner, there's a link that says, "suggest to friends." Click on it, find some friends you think might be interested, and let's try to build our online community.

2) If you've been a donor, let people know that's the case. Tell them you're supporting a brand new nonprofit, and encourage them to do the same. Let them know that new organizations will never make it to market in the current economy without gaining the support of individual donors. Direct them to our website so they can learn more. Oh, and if you haven't been a donor, donate.

3) Encourage your employer to donate to Reach, Inc. Many corporations have giving programs, and they are especially interested in supporting the organizations that their employees support. Find out who is in charge of such efforts, and go to bat for Reach. If your workplace does events (such as dress down days benefitting a nonprofit), help Reach, Inc. become a beneficiary. Bonus points to anyone that can find me a comprehensive list of corporations that match employee gifts.

4) Identify individuals - specifically in Washington DC - that might be interested in serving on Reach, Inc.'s Board. We are looking specifically for individuals with skills in accounting, nonprofit law, literacy instruction, and educational administration. We're also looking to create a Board that is diverse with respect to race, class, gender, age, and capacity to give.

5) If you happen to have connections to foundations, either in DC or elsewhere, please feel free to make introductions. While DC-area foundations would be particularly helpful, there are often discretionary funds available that foundations can give to support organizations outside their standard geographic area.

The reading, writing, and planning I do every day are leading to our pilot program in October. It's an exciting time, and I can't wait to bring Reach, Inc.'s model to DC's students. When that happens, we will have many more opportunities for all our supporters to be involved in activities related to program execution. I look forward to using your many talents when that time comes.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

Reach, Inc.

Data Breakdown

Climbing Higher

Responding to Feedback

Meet Our Tutor: Chynna

Dreaming of the Future

One Decision, Four Frames

Meet Our Student: Aaron

Board Planning

Today's Plan

When It Works.

If Reach fails...?

The Last 24

The Surprising Science of Motivation

Exciting News

By The Numbers

Reach Welcomes Two New Board Members!

My Best Reach Moment...

A Month Late

A White Christmas

Waves

Books For Break

Challenged By Success

What This Money Means

Nothing Can Stop Them

Small Victories

Meet Our Tutor: Brandon

Big Decisions

Some More Pics

Setting Limits on Setting Limits

Torn Down, Built Up

Meet Our Tutor: Keenan

Meet Our Tutor: Crystal

Quick Hits!

Reciprocity of Accountability

Reach @ Hyde Leadership

Waiting for Superman

Highs & Lows

Meet Our Student: Bilal

The Reports of Education Reform's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Two New Items

First Week

Reach Became Reality

Final Countdown!

Reach Becomes Reality - September 29th!

Reach Becomes RealityWednesday, September 29th

September Update

What Are We Looking For?

A Wonderful Problem

It Works, Except When it Doesn't...

Blog Break

Training Tutors

Truth Behind the Numbers

We Need Your Help!

August Update

It's Complicated.

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Learning

This Week

Keeping The Faith.

Stay Tuned...

Deals for Deeds

To DC, With Love

Competition: The Wrong Word.

This Is What We Get To Do.

Promising Partnerships

Did You Hear?

Is This All There Is?

Well Said...

The Most Beautiful Sight These Eyes Have Ever Seen...

The List Keeps Getting Longer!

Another One Gets On The Bus.

Sometimes, You Just Don't Know.

Trivia for Charity @ Solly's

A Year Removed...

Making The Sale

Many Problems, One Source.

The Perfect Fit?

Why I Do This...

A Big Transition

A Busy Weekend

Reach Becomes Reality
Wednesday, September 29th