History

1995

Just for the Kids (JFTK) founder Tom Luce wrote Now or Never - How We Can Save Our Public Schools, a book that defined his educational philosophy and outlined a preliminary plan for educational reform calling for broader support for public education. He founded Just for the Kids to accomplish this plan.

1996

After conducting field tests in several Texas districts, JFTK concluded that student achievement data should drive these discussions, because without a unified picture of a school's academic condition, communities would be hard-pressed to agree on academic priorities.

1997

With assistance from Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Moses, JFTK received student enrollment and achievement records for all Texas public school students from 1990 forward. Access to this longitudinal student data made it possible to create a picture of student achievement that considers student mobility and student academic progress over time.

1998

JFTK presented sample elementary school reports to groups of educators from across the state of Texas, as well as at meetings of state and national education organizations. In late fall, JFTK published a campus-level data picture for Texas elementary schools on a new Web site, www.just4kids.org

1999

Just for the Kids presented JFTK school reports at the National Education Summit. As a result, Atlantic Philanthropies funded a project to promote JFTK school reports nationally, and to develop a customized Web site to share JFTK data pictures for three states (Texas, Washington and Tennessee.) The Education Commission of the States (ECS) became a partner in this initiative.

2000

By 2000, more than a thousand Texas schools had received training to use JFTK school reports, and approximately 500 educators from across the state attended Just for the Kids' institutes on elementary best practice results and math instruction. JFTK middle school reports were added to the Texas Web site, and Washington elementary school reports were also published.

2001

Two additional states (Florida and California) were added to the JFTK Web site and Just for the Kids, The University of Texas at Austin (UT), and ECS collaborated to form the National Center for Educational Achievement (NCEA).

2002

NCEA investigations of best practices caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Education, and staff members presented JFTK Best Practice Study results at all U.S. Department of Education Title I and Title III workshops. NCEA initial support of The Broad Prize for Urban Education began, and the National Alliance of Business (NAB) became a part of NCEA, allowing NCEA to expand services to business communities.

2003

NCEA's JFTK expansion to additional states continued, and several states conducted JFTK Best Practice State Studies. NCEA and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) conducted a survey of states and held a data conference in July to help states identify and begin collecting key data elements. President Bush announced that NCEA would be one of two partners in the newly created School Information Partnership to provide online data tools to assist all states with the basic data analysis and reporting requirements of No Child Left Behind.

2004

NCEA developed prototype scope of JFTK District and School Services. Education Trust and NCEA hosted an institute on urban districts in Washington, D.C. and co-sponsored a conference in Princeton, NJ with Education Testing Service and New Jersey Business Leaders for Excellence in Education. NCEA received a $1.25 million matching grant from The Broad Foundation, to support expansion of state comparable JFTK Best Practice Studies in up to twenty states during the 2004-05 school year.

2005

Test implementations were conducted of JFTK School and District Services and materials through five-day institutes in New Jersey and Texas, and in selected schools in the Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD). District-wide audits based on the JFTK Best Practice Framework were performed in Brandywine and Dallas ISD. Fourteen states participated in the 2004-05 Best Practice State Studies and six states hosted Best Practice Institutes in 2005. The first annual Broad Prize for Urban Education Symposium was held on September 19 - 20, 2005, in Washington, D.C., to announce the 2005 winner and share results of NCEA's study of the five finalist urban districts.

2006

NCEA subcontracted with American Institute for Research to serve as project partner performing data and practice analyses as part of the Texas High School Project funded by the Communities Foundation of Texas. Funding from The Texas Instruments Foundation and Dallas ISD received to implement broad-scale pilot of JFTK School Services in more than sixty Dallas ISD elementary, middle and high schools.

2008

NCEA joined with ACT, Inc. last year to expand and strengthen our impact on raising student achievement based on a higher college and career readiness (CCR) standard. While we share the belief that all schools and districts have the potential to prepare their students for college and skilled careers, our research shows that students must be on the college and career readiness ramp much sooner in order to ensure all students graduate with meaningful options. Together we intend to build innovative tools and resources for Pre-K-12 educators to help them benchmark for greater student success.

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Inform Inspire Improve History State Partners	History 1995 Just for the Kids (JFTK) founder Tom Luce wrote Now or Never - How We Can Save Our Public Schools, a book that defined his educational philosophy and outlined a preliminary plan for educational reform calling for broader support for public education. He founded Just for the Kids to accomplish this plan. 1996 After conducting field tests in several Texas districts, JFTK concluded that student achievement data should drive these discussions, because without a unified picture of a school's academic condition, communities would be hard-pressed to agree on academic priorities. 1997 With assistance from Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Moses, JFTK received student enrollment and achievement records for all Texas public school students from 1990 forward. Access to this longitudinal student data made it possible to create a picture of student achievement that considers student mobility and student academic progress over time. 1998 JFTK presented sample elementary school reports to groups of educators from across the state of Texas, as well as at meetings of state and national education organizations. In late fall, JFTK published a campus-level data picture for Texas elementary schools on a new Web site, www.just4kids.org 1999 Just for the Kids presented JFTK school reports at the National Education Summit. As a result, Atlantic Philanthropies funded a project to promote JFTK school reports nationally, and to develop a customized Web site to share JFTK data pictures for three states (Texas, Washington and Tennessee.) The Education Commission of the States (ECS) became a partner in this initiative. 2000 By 2000, more than a thousand Texas schools had received training to use JFTK school reports, and approximately 500 educators from across the state attended Just for the Kids' institutes on elementary best practice results and math instruction. JFTK middle school reports were added to the Texas Web site, and Washington elementary school reports were also published. 2001 Two additional states (Florida and California) were added to the JFTK Web site and Just for the Kids, The University of Texas at Austin (UT), and ECS collaborated to form the National Center for Educational Achievement (NCEA). 2002 NCEA investigations of best practices caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Education, and staff members presented JFTK Best Practice Study results at all U.S. Department of Education Title I and Title III workshops. NCEA initial support of The Broad Prize for Urban Education began, and the National Alliance of Business (NAB) became a part of NCEA, allowing NCEA to expand services to business communities. 2003 NCEA's JFTK expansion to additional states continued, and several states conducted JFTK Best Practice State Studies. NCEA and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) conducted a survey of states and held a data conference in July to help states identify and begin collecting key data elements. President Bush announced that NCEA would be one of two partners in the newly created School Information Partnership to provide online data tools to assist all states with the basic data analysis and reporting requirements of No Child Left Behind. 2004 NCEA developed prototype scope of JFTK District and School Services. Education Trust and NCEA hosted an institute on urban districts in Washington, D.C. and co-sponsored a conference in Princeton, NJ with Education Testing Service and New Jersey Business Leaders for Excellence in Education. NCEA received a $1.25 million matching grant from The Broad Foundation, to support expansion of state comparable JFTK Best Practice Studies in up to twenty states during the 2004-05 school year. 2005 Test implementations were conducted of JFTK School and District Services and materials through five-day institutes in New Jersey and Texas, and in selected schools in the Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD). District-wide audits based on the JFTK Best Practice Framework were performed in Brandywine and Dallas ISD. Fourteen states participated in the 2004-05 Best Practice State Studies and six states hosted Best Practice Institutes in 2005. The first annual Broad Prize for Urban Education Symposium was held on September 19 - 20, 2005, in Washington, D.C., to announce the 2005 winner and share results of NCEA's study of the five finalist urban districts. 2006 NCEA subcontracted with American Institute for Research to serve as project partner performing data and practice analyses as part of the Texas High School Project funded by the Communities Foundation of Texas. Funding from The Texas Instruments Foundation and Dallas ISD received to implement broad-scale pilot of JFTK School Services in more than sixty Dallas ISD elementary, middle and high schools. 2008 NCEA joined with ACT, Inc. last year to expand and strengthen our impact on raising student achievement based on a higher college and career readiness (CCR) standard. While we share the belief that all schools and districts have the potential to prepare their students for college and skilled careers, our research shows that students must be on the college and career readiness ramp much sooner in order to ensure all students graduate with meaningful options. Together we intend to build innovative tools and resources for Pre-K-12 educators to help them benchmark for greater student success.

National Center for Educational Achievement / Just for the Kids