What We Do
All students, pre-K through college, can learn and achieve at high levels if they get a high-quality education. But many young people — disproportionate numbers of low-income students and African American, Latino, and American Indian students among them — continue to be denied access to the high-quality learning opportunities they need, with a devastating impact on their life outcomes. Our mission is to change all that in Michigan: to close our state’s gaps in opportunity and achievement that consign too many students of color and low-income students to lives on the margins of the Michigan mainstream.
The Education Trust-Midwest works in partnership with policymakers, educators, advocates, parents, business and civic leaders, community groups and others to advance the development and implementation of policies and practices that improve the educational outcomes for all of Michigan’s students. We serve as a nonpartisan center for education information, data, policy expertise and partners to practitioners.
Our Work
We do our work in a variety of ways.
- We serve as a center for nonpartisan data, information and analysis about Michigan public education to Michigan families and stakeholders.
- We conduct research and mine national, state and local data to identify best practices across the nation and state, and to share and help build broader understanding of opportunity gaps and how to close them.
- We serve as a voice for Michigan students in education policy debates, and celebrate what’s working in our education system.
- We work alongside state leaders and stakeholders to provide policy expertise — and bridge the gap between research, practitioners and policymakers — to ensure that government policy advances the interests of Michigan students, especially low-income students and students of color.
- We work alongside educators in support of their schools, and to raise the quality of teaching and learning for all students.