The Building Educational Success Together (BEST) collaboration is an initiative led by the 21st Century School Fund which engages local and national. BEST is fueled by the needs and accomplishments of local partners who are working to improve public schools and neighborhoods in their communities.

The work of the local partners provides critical “field testing” of model policy and practices - testing the practicability of strategies for constituency building, financing, government reform, public/private partnerships, intergovernmental collaboration, and school facility management. Without the active engagement and collaboration of these “living laboratories” for change, BEST could not and would not exist. In short the models for positive change grow out of real-life problem solving.

The backbone of the BEST process is our series of quarterly gatherings where BEST partners share their assumptions, strategies, and experiences in improving urban public schools, school systems and their communities. Together, we develop ideas and strategies to further policies and use of best practices in school facility planning, design, construction, management and funding. In addition, we define and develop research and communications priorities. Throughout the year BEST partners remain in contact with one another informally. Indeed our “culture of collaboration” has been critical to our individual and collective successes and ongoing growth.