Build UP in Birmingham, Alabama is an early college workforce development program that gives kids the opportunity to earn their high school diploma, an associate's degree and complete a paid apprenticeship to learn high-skilled, high-wage trades.

Jessica Tunney founded TLC Public Charter School to address a shortage of inclusive education options in Orange County. The school's mission is to demonstrate that not only is inclusion possible, but it is preferable for students with disabilities, students who do not have disabilities and students with diverse life experiences of all kinds.

Dr. Richard Glass created Boy’s Lab for boys of color on the South Side of Chicago, so they could have their values and identities affirmed in an academically rigorous environment. He believes “if you are invested in the lives of the students you serve, they'll achieve at higher levels.”

Meet some of the innovators who are changing education. These schools serve as powerful examples of what can be achieved for students when experience, vision and drive come together.

We found that millennial parents are open to a wide range of methods to hold schools accountable for making sure students are learning properly. We were interested in who millennial parents believe should be held accountable when a school is not living up to that responsibility. We asked our focus groups, “What should happen if a school is consistently failing?”

We know millennial parents use a variety of ways to measure their kids’ success in school. Next, we wanted to know how millennial parents evaluate the schools themselves. School culture? Test scores? Extra-curriculars? We asked our focus groups to sketch out what criteria they use to judge a school.

Millennial parents use many different criteria to judge if their kids are getting the skills they need. We wanted to learn how millennial parents are evaluating if their kids are being properly prepared for the future. Grades? Conversations with teachers? Test scores? A combination? We asked our focus groups, “What are the important things you look at to measure how much your kid is learning?”

Millennial parents care not only about their kids’ academic skills but career and life skills. We asked our focus groups, “What is the purpose of a public education?” and “What skills do you expect your kids to have upon graduation?”

Millennial parents expect a lot out of their kids’ schools. We wanted to know how education has changed since millennial parents themselves were in school. We asked our focus groups, “Is millennial parenting different than the way you were raised?”

The Walton Family Foundation announced the creation of the Equitable Facilities Fund and Facilities Investment Fund. The two distinct non-profit funds are supported through the foundation’s Building Equity Initiative, an unprecedented effort to make it easier and more affordable for public charter schools to find, secure and renovate facilities.

Washington Leadership Academy is distinguishing itself as a hub for computer science and as one of the few institutions in the country to offer virtual reality studies.

Maya Martin, founder and executive director of Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE), explains how parents, when united for a common cause, can make their voices heard to improve education in their communities.

EdNavigator is a startup nonprofit that works with employers to offer education advice to their employees. Walton Family Foundation Board Chair Carrie Walton Penner spoke with Gary Briggs, the lead New Orleans navigator for EdNavigator; Kay Everage, who manages New Orleans employer relationships for EdNavigator and is a parent; Kanitra Reed, who is a housekeeper at the International House and a parent; and Sean Cummings, the owner of the International House.

The Learning Center is a new special education program created by KIPP DC to serve students with a range of special needs — from autism to emotional disturbance. Carrie Walton Penner talks with school leaders Michael Cordell and Nicole Abera about how to equip schools to serve special education students well with services designed to meet their needs.

In this Innovations in Education video, Character Lab founder Angela Duckworth talks with Walton Family Foundation board chair Carrie Walton Penner about her research and the impact she hopes that it has.

Walton Family Foundation Board Chair Carrie Walton Penner visits with Papa Dia and members of the African Leadership Group, a Denver-metro organization with a statewide agenda.

Carrie Walton Penner of the Walton Family Foundation speaks with Erika McConduit-Diggs and her family to discuss New Orleans’ open enrollment system, OneApp. Erika, as the head of the Urban League in New Orleans is a champion of OneApp because it helped to create access and educational equity.