Leading Educators Receives Catalytic Funding from Valhalla Foundation to Transform Teaching

NEW ORLEANS, LA. – Leading Educators, a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving teaching and learning outcomes for students, today announced the second-largest grant in the organization’s 13-year history. New funding from Valhalla Foundation will further Leading Educators’ mission of helping school systems nurture the conditions, teaching, and leadership to achieve life-changing results for all students at a critical inflection point for the education sector.

“Partnering with Valhalla Foundation allows us to scale our evidence-based work and accelerate progress in education at a time of great need and rapid workforce transformation,” said Chong-Hao Fu, CEO of Leading Educators. “This investment will enable us to expand our research capabilities to identify replicable best practices, scale proven support models to more communities, and develop solutions to emergent instructional and teaching role design challenges.”

Since 2011, Leading Educators has helped some of the fastest-improving school systems in the United States transform teaching so students have more predictable access to knowledge-rich learning experiences. Together with senior school system leaders, the organization works to surround educators with nimble, dynamic support systems that help them collaborate toward their best possible lessons, focus their creativity on higher-order needs, and access targeted development to build on their strengths. Last year, the organization directly influenced 12,000 educators and 178,000 students across 334 schools.

The investment will support Leading Educators’ efforts to:

• Scale high-impact direct teaching and learning services, reaching 272,079 students and 28,000 educators each year by 2027.
• Build cohorts of transforming systems to facilitate greater knowledge sharing and coordination across geographic boundaries so leaders can replicate promising practices.
• Produce rigorous research, publishing two quasi-experimental, mixed-methods studies each year through 2027 to build field knowledge on what works.
• Expand AI-enabled services, prioritizing solutions that help educators gain capacity, increase effectiveness, and expand possibilities to ignite potential in schools and communities.

“Leading Educators’ outstanding record of impact demonstrates that better opportunities are attainable for all learners. We’re excited to support them in building up our nation’s educators and igniting new potential,” said Sara Allan, President of Valhalla Foundation.

Valhalla’s support aligns with its commitment to driving measurable and meaningful improvement in outcomes that matter. The foundation aims to dramatically improve academic achievement and attainment nationwide so that all children—particularly children experiencing poverty and children of color—gain the skills necessary for success in life and careers.

Evidence matters at this moment when school system budgets are tightening, students are struggling to acquire sufficient literacy and numeracy, and the teaching profession is at a 50-year low.

Six rigorous studies with independent researchers, including the RAND Corporation and learning experts at Brown University and Harvard, conclude that the organization’s systemic model of improving teaching quality, student access to meaningful lessons, and student learning delivers those outcomes at higher rates than competing interventions. By comparison, only 6% of all studies of education interventions reviewed by What Works Clearinghouse meet comparable standards for rigorous research and show positive, significant results.

The grant will support Leading Educators in building upon its record with several new offerings, including a School Teams AI Collaborative and a science educator network that will launch this fall.

• The School Teams AI Collaborative pilot program, launched in October, will equip 80+ educators across nine cities and 19 schools to be at the forefront of developing AI-enabled instructional best practices.
• The Next Generation Science Educators Network will provide ongoing professional development for 30 science leads, school leaders, and school system leaders to work toward nurturing high-quality, student-led science experiences that diversify STEM pathways.
• Leading Educators will also expand systemic science of reading partnerships, particularly with state education agencies, and offer short-cycle advising services to senior leaders to establish the conditions for comprehensive improvement efforts to succeed.

Learn more about Leading Educators here: https://leadingeducators.org/

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About Leading Educators

Leading Educators is a national nonprofit that helps school systems and states use research on how students learn, what teachers need to excel, and how systems improve to nurture excellent teaching in every classroom. Shoulder-to-shoulder with partners, Leading Educators works to surround educators with intentional collaboration and support systems to get better together so that all students have the teaching they need to thrive in a rapidly changing future. Learn more at www.leadingeducators.org.

About Valhalla Foundation

Valhalla Foundation is dedicated to driving meaningful and measurable outcomes in six key areas: Early Childhood Development, K-12 Education, Data Science Education, Medical Research & Talent, Environmental Innovation, and Collaborative Philanthropy. Valhalla focuses on improving educational and health outcomes, particularly for low-income children and children of color, and emphasizes collaboration with other funders to maximize impact. Learn more at www.valhalla.org.

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