All Hands Raised Releases Chapter 02 Highlighting the Collective Impact Work Focused on the More Than 225,000 Children and Youth Living in Multnomah County

AHR Partnership Improving the Way Adults Come Together to Help Kids Succeed from Birth to Career

Last week, All Hands Raised (AHR) released its Chapter 02 publication highlighting the accomplishments, challenges and impactful practices happening through the All Hands Raised Partnership. The Partnership has a singular vision to improve educational outcomes for the more than 225,000 children and youth living in Multnomah County.

Wim Wiewel, Portland State University President and member of both the AHR Board of Directors and the Partnership Leadership Council, said, “It is deeply gratifying to see what is being accomplished through the All Hands Raised Partnership. It is not an overstatement to say that this work is a model for the state and the nation. Everyone engaged in this work should feel good about what is being done to create real and lasting change for our kids.”

For more than four years AHR has worked in partnership with more than 300 individuals and organizations to align practices that work to improve the outcomes for kids, especially kids of color. These efforts are operationalized through four current Collaborative Action Teams that align around a measurable goal, using continuous improvement tools to analyze data, to re-direct efforts as necessary and focus on what’s working.  Chapter 02 illuminates these efforts, which include:

• We’re giving kids a strong start in kindergarten. On-time kindergarten registrations increased by almost 20% in the eight schools that are piloting this work. (p.11)
• Incoming high school freshmen have the opportunity to earn critical credit during the summer through Ninth Grade Counts. Students in these programs–academically at-risk 9th graders–are more likely than their peers to be on track to graduate. (p.17)
• We are making progress to make discipline practices more equitable. Our six partner school district superintendents and leaders from culturally specific organizations worked together to conduct organizational equity assessments and pass equity policies. They are now reducing K-12 suspensions and expulsions to narrow the discipline disparities impacting students of color. (p.15)

• We’re keeping kids in school. Six demonstration schools across the county are focusing on new ways to address chronic absenteeism. More than $1 million in resources were re-aligned to better serve students, including placing six full-time DHS case managers in the schools, and hiring new attendance outreach workers and AmeriCorps volunteers. These professionals support families to make school attendance a top priority and help overcome barriers. (p. 13)
• In 2015, All Hands Raised will launch a fifth Collaborative Action Team focused on strengthening the transition from high school to college and career.

The All Hands Raised Partnership is one of more than 50 cradle to career communities that are a part of the national StriveTogether Network. “All Hands Raised is a leader on many levels, from their focus on equity to their discipline around continuous improvement. Not only that, they are coachable…we consider the All Hands Raised Partnership a national leader to be watched,” said StriveTogether Managing Director, Jeff Edmondson.

The Partnership also serves as one of Oregon’s Regional Achievement Collaboratives in a model role, was recognized with the Portland Monthly 2014 Light A Fire award for Game Changing Project and CEO Dan Ryan was awarded the national “Bill Henningsgaard Cradle to Career Champion Award” by StriveTogether.

All Hands Raised brings together six Multnomah County school districts (Centennial, David Douglas, Gresham-Barlow, Parkrose, Portland Public Schools and Reynolds) with leaders from the county, city, businesses, nonprofits and higher education to help individuals and organizations come together collectively to improve educational outcomes for all of our children and youth from birth to career.