A Virtual Bridge to Transform Lives: BELL’s Tech Platform

BELL has 25 years of demonstrable impact in closing the U.S. Achievement Gap. Soon, BELL’s new technology platform will bridge more program communities, accelerate collaboration, and ultimately realize nationwide scale with efficiency and effectiveness. The outcome – BELL will transform the life trajectories of thousands of additional students every year.

Approximately 7.5 million K-8th grade students from underserved communities in the United States are performing significantly below grade level.  Like all youth, these children need not just great schools, they must have high-impact opportunities outside of school – where they spend 80% of their time – to achieve their full potential.  Low-income students are less likely to have access to effective out-of-school-time programs; thus, they are more likely to experience summer learning loss (two months of knowledge/skills, on average), which exacerbates the nation’s academic Achievement Gap and perpetuates the intergenerational cycle of poverty in which they are often stuck.

BELL’s theory of change imagines exceptional out-of-school opportunities, focused on core academic content during the summer and after school, as the “great equalizer” toward better life outcomes for pre-K – 8th grade students, especially those “playing catch-up” from the youngest of ages.  Following this theory, the BELL summer program consistently realizes average gains among its scholars – two months in literacy and three months in math (2016) – that help them draw closer to their potential.  The tech platform is the solution to magnify BELL’s theory of change and scale from 15,000 to 25,000 scholars served annually.

BELL’s tech platform will be an intranet that achieves scholar scale while more efficiently maintaining program fidelity and quality among a greater number of disparate, geographically-dispersed program sites, including urban, suburban and rural locales with significant low-income populations.  All BELL partner organizations (e.g., community-based organizations, school districts) and their respective leadership and teaching teams will benefit from the solution.  Over the next 30 months, BELL will develop, pilot and deploy the platform to its full network of partners, who, in turn, can concentrate more time, energy and resources on scholar instruction, and less on the program’s administrative responsibilities.

Measure progress per platform project plan - BELL complete tech platform pilot by 2019

Track usage within platform and program records - 100% of BELL program sites use tech platform by Year 3 of project plan (2020)

Track usage within platform and program records; aggregate partner survey results - BELL and program partners reduce by 50% time spent on administrative/information-gathering activities

BELL’s model is predicated on partnerships and blends organizational assets – BELL’s methodology to deliver outstanding scholar outcomes that follow evidence-based learning principles; program partners’ capabilities to adopt this methodology, and their existing infrastructure (e.g., personnel, bricks-and-mortar space) – to deliver a program greater than the sum of its parts.  It follows that the platform represents a unique technology solution; it provides an overlay across distinct organizations that share a common purpose, streamlines the “moving parts” inherent to robust collaboration, and reduces the resources necessary to basic operations, thus focusing greater attention on program recipients (i.e., scholars) and continued innovation.

The tech platform will require fewer “boots on the ground” to deliver program excellence.  It automatizes many routine functions of partnership management, allowing BELL staff to reallocate time to driving business development (scaling through new partners and sites) and addressing key program concerns, such as continuous improvement and outcomes.  For licensed program partners, the platform allows for greater “ownership” of the program and ensures consistent quality and fidelity synonymous with the BELL brand.  Quite simply, it will make the most of human potential by eliminating time and energy spent on everyday tasks through an interface designed for ease of use.

BELL will develop and pilot the tech platform with program partners during the next 18 months.  After its beta period, BELL will roll out platform use across its national partner network at full scale.  The organization will imbed into its technical assistance to partners a full tutorial and ongoing support for program site leadership and key teaching staff.  BELL will fully fund the build-out of the platform with philanthropic revenue; program partners will bear minimal expenses for its implementation and use.  Instead, BELL anticipates the platform will realize cost savings for partners by reducing personnel effort required for program execution.

BELL has initiated the platform project in a strong financial position.  BELL’s revenue (average $20 million annual budget) comes from philanthropic sources and earned income from program sites, including school districts and community-based organizations.  As BELL pilots, grows and scales the tech platform, it assumes similar operating costs, but also factors in new expenses related its current strategic plan (2017-2020) and capacity-building initiatives, such as the platform.  The organization will sustain itself throughout the project period by continuing to pursue new and renewed philanthropic revenue and business development of national program partners.  It will fund the tech platform via designated contributions from donors; other revenue will support BELL’s program efforts, including execution, evaluation and continuous improvement.  BELL will build ongoing costs related to the platform into its annual IT budget (expenses) and partnership agreements (revenue), though as stated costs to program partners will be minimal, year over year.

BELL’s tech platform represents a complex system that will eventually manage several important programmatic functions, including data entry/collection (e.g., scholar growth), partner training and coaching, partner information management, and BELL-partner communication.  It will fundamentally change the way in which long-time program partners interact with BELL and manage the BELL program.  Thus, BELL must take into careful consideration issues of change management.  As the organization designs the pilot and full implementation phases, it will examine different strategies that can best “socialize” the platform and prepare its users (BELL and partner staff) for the transition in business operations the platform will introduce.

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BELL’s tech platform will serve as a human-centered approach for reaching urban, suburban and rural scholars with equity – a model for adoption anywhere.  Solve would help BELL to research, grow and scale the platform, and to highlight OST as an acute problem, especially symptomatic of low-income populations.  In turn, BELL would serve as a thought leader on the issue within the Solve community, and as a contributor and learner within this community to help leverage knowledge, relationships and practice toward addressing the learning needs of children everywhere.

In 2017, BELL partners with school districts (e.g, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD; Providence Public Schools, RI) and community-based organizations in 34 states, including the YMCA of the USA; National 4-H; The Big Lift (San Francisco/Bay Area); Project L.I.F.T. (Charlotte, NC); Office of Community Schools (New York); and Rocketship Education.

Higher Achievement, Horizons National