Ellen Quigley is the Vice President of Programs at the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation An Interview with Scott Bess, Head of School, Purdue Polytechnic High School Background In 2017, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation awarded a $1.25 million three-year grant to support the launch and replication of Purdue Polytechnic High School Indianapolis (PPHS), a first-of-its-kind urban high school model aimed at developing a new generation of talent with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills to meet the needs of an evolving workforce.  Combining personalized learning with project-based curriculum, Purdue University created this model to establish new pathways for Indianapolis’ low-income, under-represented minority students to continue their higher education at […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. On June 30, 2017, the Indiana Department of Education released the first draft of Indiana’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan for public comment. ESSA is the federal law for K-12 schools enacted in 2015 that replaced the federal law No Child Left Behind. It requires states to create student academic achievement goals – based on outcomes like test scores and graduation rates – as well as a detailed plan for ensuring every school receives the necessary assistance to support all students in Indiana. While reviewing the academic proficiency goals proposed by the Indiana Department of Education […]