California Education Partners (Ed Partners) is an education consultancy that says it backs learning and collaboration between California’s school districts. The organization promotes collaborations among California’s school districts to improve, and uses research, expertise to achieve its mission. ¹

The organization is perhaps most notable for advocating “equitable grading,” a practice that limits the issuance of low or failing grades to students to reverse perceived social inequities. ²

Background

California Education Partners is a non-profit education reform organization that promotes

district-to-district collaborations. ³ The organization, also known as Ed Partners, was established in 2010 to help school districts gain insight and expertise of professionals working in those schools and systems to share information. ⁴

The organization has offices in the California cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and Sanger. ⁴

Initiatives

California Education Partners runs programs such as “on track” to ensure students graduate on time, a K-12 research collaborative to improve student outcomes for English learners and increase access and equity to marginalized groups of students, and a pre-k to age 3 coherence collaboration. ¹

California Education Partners were involved in two projects deemed successful by the think tank Policy Analysis for California Education, jointly operated by several universities to study California schools. The two examples were a math project at Lake Tahoe Unified School District’s Sierra House Elementary School and a reading program in Grass Valley School District. In both, California Education Partners staffed academic experts, and provided three years of hands-on help to improve instruction. ⁵

Since at least 2019, Modesto City Schools has contracted with consultants to implement equitable grading practices to reverse perceived “inequities” in schools. In 2023, the school district paid California Education Partners $270,000. In 2024 it paid the organization $90,000 for work on equitable grading, Defending Education found. ²

California Education Partners advocated that school districts in Los Angeles, Santa Ana and other areas limit the use of “Ds” and phase out “Fs” in grading. The new system would allow high school students who fail tests or homework assignments to repeat the assignment. Ed Parters and other advocates call this mastery of learning, or basing success on what students learned instead of how they test. California Education Partners argues this allows students the opportunity to show that they know the material, or to obtain support to learn it. ⁶

The organization arranged the Stanford/SFUSD Partnership in 2011. Ed Partners also established the Stanford-Sequoia K-12 Research Collaborative in 2017. Both partnerships promote research, and engage practitioners, policy makers, and academics in a dialogue about the research findings and research-based decision-making. ⁷

Ed Partners’ Research Practice Partnerships arm matches school district leaders with researchers to produce research-based evidence on the needs of local schools, districts, and students. The research arm is “a connector between district leaders and researchers in California to close the research-practice gap in the education sector.” ⁴

Funders

The Robert and Ruth Halperin Foundation contributed $1,695,000 to California Education Partners in 2023. ¹

The Heising-Simons Foundation donated $1.5 million to California Education Partners in 2023. ¹

The Silver Long Foundation gave $1,085,388 to California Education Partners in 2023. ¹

In 2016, the Gates Foundation contributed $9.9 million to California Education Partners. ⁸

Leadership

Phil Halperin is the co-founder and executive director of California Education Partners. He is also the president of the Silver Giving Foundation, which focuses on early education and enhancing teacher career pathways. He has co-chaired seven successful ballot campaigns that in total raised more than $7 billion for the public schools and children of San Francisco. ⁹

Melinda Leung is the chief financial officer of California Education Partners. Previously, she was the director of finance at Tides and oversaw more than $500 million in annual revenue and about 160 fiscally sponsored projects. She also formerly worked in finance management positions at Brandeis Hillel Day School, Presidio Graduate School, Kaiser Permanente, and Heald College. ¹⁰

Janna Smith is the director of operations for Ed Partners. Previously she was director of talent and programs at 1440 Multiversity. She also has more than 10 years of experience in social work, including mental health and the foster care system. ¹¹

Laura Schwalm is the chief of staff for California Education Partners. She was previously the superintendent of the Garden Grove Unified School District. She had a 42-year career in the district that began with student teaching and later included teaching and administrative positions before becoming superintendent. ¹²

The board of directors is made up of Halperin; Schwalm; Mike Hanson, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Adela Madrigal Jones, retired Superintendent of Sanger Unified School District; Ellen Moir, the founder and CEO of New Teacher Center; Jennifer O’Day, a fellow at the American Institute for Research; Stefanie Phillips, chief talent officer for WestEd’s Human Resources, Learning & Development, and Employee Experience and Belonging teams; and Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, deputy director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities. ¹³

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2. “Equitable Grading.” Defending Education. June 11, 2025. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://defendinged.org/investigations/equitable-grading-consultants/
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5. Walters, Dan. “How California can fix its school crisis. Two projects point the way.” Cal Matters. December 12, 2024. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/12/how-california-can-fix-its-school-crisis-two-projects-point-the-way/
6.  Loo, Nancy. “Why some California schools are changing student grades.” News Nation. December 8, 2021. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/west/why-some-california-schools-are-changing-student-grades/
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8. “The California Education Partners.” Gates Foundation. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2016/09/inv-009228
9. “Phil Halperin.” California Education Partners. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://www.caedpartners.org/person/phil-halperin-2/
10.  “Melinda Leung.” California Education Partners. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://www.caedpartners.org/person/melinda-leung/
11. “Jenna Smith.” California Education Partners. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://www.caedpartners.org/person/janna-smith/
12. “Laura Schwalm.” California Education Partners. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://www.caedpartners.org/person/laura-schwalm/
13. “Board.” California Education Partners. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://www.caedpartners.org/about/board/