Laura and John Arnold Foundation Launches Powerful K-12 Education Tool

ERIN Project Helps Analyze National Education Landscape

HOUSTON, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) today announced an innovative education database system, the Education Resource Information Navigator Project (ERIN Project). The web-based system is free and open to the public.

As part of LJAF's Technology & Innovations Initiative, the ERIN Project provides a broad overview of the national education landscape. ERIN, which is currently in beta mode, provides user-friendly information in five key areas, including: education research, education policy, reform organizations, education technology, and philanthropic support across 13 key topics ranging from issues such as blended learning to teacher evaluations. The database allows audiences, such as researchers and advocates, to see the education landscape through multiple perspectives.

"The ERIN Project is the first of many examples of how the Laura and John Arnold Foundation will create and foster innovative ways to transform how policymakers and the broader public make decisions about major issues," said Caprice Young, LJAF Vice President for Education Initiatives. "In order to help the education community have a transformational impact on education, ERIN provides a multidisciplinary perspective that looks at the current educational environment and helps us identify where we can progress together."

The ERIN Project gives users the opportunity to dive into important issues and questions in education reform such as, charter school effects on student performance, the laws shaping teaching and recruitment, the top 20 philanthropic organizations working to improve curriculum, and many others.  

Some of the foremost experts in education contributed to the creation of the ERIN Project in order to make it a cutting-edge, functional information source. These researchers include some of the foremost authorities in education reform, including: Dan Goldhaber, Director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings; Jay P. Greene, Head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute; Robert Siegler, Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Carnegie-Mellon University; Grover Whitehurst, Director of the Center for Education Data & Research and Professor in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell, and more.

"The ERIN Project assembled a leading group of scholars to survey the research on the most pressing and sometimes controversial issues in education policy.  The result is an invaluable tool for policymakers, researchers, and the general public," said Jay P. Greene.  "The ERIN Project doesn't claim to offer the definitive answer on what works in education, but it provides easy access to resources so that people can make their own reasoned judgments based on the best information available."

As Vice President for Education Initiatives, Caprice Young will guide the ongoing work of the ERIN Project as well as the LJAF's overall national education investment strategy. Young, a nationally respected education innovator, has held top leadership positions in technology, education, government, and business, including serving as the Assistant Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles; a Manager in IBM's eBusiness consulting practice; founding CEO of the California Charter Schools Association; CEO of KC Distance Learning; and, most recently, CEO of ICEF Public Schools. Young has also served on numerous boards, including the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District, on which she presided as President, as well as the Governor's Advisory Committee on Education Excellence (California), the Fordham Foundation, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

LJAF actively seeks opportunities to invest in organizations and thought leaders that have a sincere interest in implementing changes that comprehensively address current and future education challenges. We seek fundamental changes that not only yield immediate gains, but also repair broken systems for future generations. LJAF welcomes the opportunity to be a resource to those that share these goals.

To begin using the ERIN Project database, please visit: www.erinproject.org.

About the Laura and John Arnold Foundation
The Laura and John Arnold Foundation is a private foundation that currently focuses its strategic investments on education, criminal justice and public accountability reform. LJAF has offices in Houston and New York City. www.arnoldfoundation.org.

Contact: Meredith Johnson
(713) 554-1927
[email protected]

SOURCE Laura and John Arnold Foundation