Hundreds of teachers at Seattle Public Schools tomorrow will wear Black Lives Matter shirts and discuss the Movement for Black Lives with their students during the district's Day of Unity, which aims to draw attention to racial equity. The action has drawn widespread attention, including both praise and criticism. As a funder focused on equity in education and as a member of the Seattle community, we wanted to share our perspective on this important moment.Read More

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of introducing author Paul Tough at the NewSchools Venture Fund Summit. Paul’s book “How Children Succeed” had a big impact on my wife, Tricia, and me. It highlighted what really matters in supporting children to succeed academically. The compelling case it made for the importance of non-cognitive skills galvanized much of the work we’ve done at the Raikes Foundation over the past several years around learning mindsets and skills.Read More

In 2014, the Raikes Foundation helped establish the Mindset Scholars Network to improve student outcomes and expand educational opportunity by advancing the scientific understanding of learning mindsets.Read More

We are constantly inspired by what teachers are doing to create classrooms that empower all students with learning mindsets and skills. Check out this great example of Chana Stewart using “process praise” to encourage her East Palo Alto 1st graders to operate with a growth mindset.Read More

Two weekends ago, I traveled to Martha’s Vineyard to speak on a panel on education and racial justice. This week, I'm enjoying similar discussions at PolicyLink's Equity Summit. While I am a new grantmaker –  now six months into my role as a program officer at the Raikes Foundation – I have spent much of my career devoted to improving diversity, equity and inclusion in education.Read More

School Retool is coming to Puget Sound! In January, the Stanford d.school, IDEO, and the Raikes Foundation will launch a Puget Sound cohort of School Retool - a professional learning fellowship for school leaders eager to transform their school cultures toward Learning Mindsets & Skills and Deeper Learning.Read More

As the new school year gets underway I want to share a few updates about our national education strategy, which is focused on improving student outcomes through the development of learning mindsets and skills. Read More

As one of the newest program officers at the Raikes Foundation, I’m excited that one of my first projects will be to manage a new grant to a great organization called Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS). EOS is a natural partner for the Raikes Foundation because it is an organization that shares our belief in the importance of not only encouraging students to take on new challenges, but also empowering them with the learning mindsets and skills that can help them conquer those challenges. Read More

Earlier this week Angela Duckworth and David Yeager published an important paper concerning the vital question of how to assess students’ mindsets and other non-cognitive competencies.Read More

At the Raikes Foundation we believe that helping students develop learning mindsets—including growth mindset, such as the belief that intelligence grows with effort —is a powerful way to increase motivation and encourage students to embrace educational challenges that will help them improve. But does it work in online learning?Read More