Created by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in 2011, the California Education Policy Fund (CEPF) has worked to improve education policies in California by strengthening and supporting an “ecosystem” of nonprofit advocacy, research, grassroots and information sharing organizations. With an annual budget of about $4 million, the Fund—managed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) and Capitol Impact—has supported organizations advancing a wide range of policies to boost success in college and careers, especially for disadvantaged students.
Beginning in 2013, CEPF narrowed its scope to advancing “deeper learning” in schools. In that same year, RPA enlisted Education First, a national policy, strategy and analysis consulting firm, to examine annually the progress, successes and setbacks of grantees as they worked to advance deeper learning in California. Education First has since that time produced for CEPF three evaluations corresponding to work grantees accomplished in 2013–14, 2014– 15 and 2015–16. This is the fourth and final report and addresses their work in 2016–17, the sixth and final year of CEPF.