The impacts of poverty on students’ ability to learn effectively – from lack of readiness for kindergarten to health-related impediments to focusing in class and disproportionate placement in segregated and under-resourced schools – are increasingly understood. The Broader, Bolder Approach to Education advances a comprehensive, research-based policy agenda to mitigate those impacts and, thus, even the education playing field so that all US children have a true opportunity to thrive in school and life.

Featured Resources

Mission Statement
Executive Summary
Original BBA Mission Statement

BBA's Leadership


Co-Chairs


Helen Ladd
Susan B. King Professor of Public Policy, Duke University

Helen F. Ladd is the Susan B. King Professor of Public Policy Studies and professor of economics at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. She edited Holding Schools Accountable: Performance Based Reform in Education … continued


Pedro Noguera
Distinguished Professor of Education and Director, Center for the Study of School Transformation, UCLA

Pedro Noguera is the Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. His research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions, … continued


Paul Reville
Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration and founding director, Education Redesign Lab

Paul Reville is the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He is the founding director of HGSE’s Education Redesign Lab. He recently completed … continued


Joshua Starr
CEO Phi Delta Kappa International

Joshua P. Starr has been CEO of PDK International since July 2015. Prior to that, he served as Superintendent of Schools of Montgomery County, MD from 2011-2015 and Stamford, CT from 2005-2011. Dr. Starr started … continued



Advisory Board Members



National Coordinator

Elaine Weiss
National Coordinator

Elaine Weiss is the National Coordinator for the Broader Bolder Approach to Education, where she works with four co-chairs, a high-level Advisory Board, and multiple coalition partners to promote a comprehensive, evidence-based set of policies to allow … continued