This week, we are profiling the remarkable commitment of Eddie Rangel, the Executive Director of Adelante Schools in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Eddie Rangel was in elementary school when he saw a strange envelope on the table. It was a letter from his school, but the listed address was his cousin’s house—not his own. He asked for an explanation from his parents, and they told him the truth: the zoned school for where they lived in Southern California was subpar, and so they registered for school using his cousin’s address in a different catchment area so he could have a better education.
That experience was transformative for Eddie, in more ways than one. Yes, attending the school he did helped to set him up for success. But it also crystallized the realities of educational inequity—that in far too many places, whether you have access to a great school is dependent on where your family can afford to live.
It’s no surprise, then, that Eddie became a charter school educator and a warrior for equity. Today he is the Executive Director of Adelante Schools, a non-profit charter school that manages Emma Donnan Elementary & Middle School on the south side of Indianapolis. Under his leadership, the school has seen remarkable academic progress, particularly in literacy. Adelante’s motto is “Pushing onwards towards the future.” Throughout his career, Eddie has brought that vision to life.
Learning to Make Music
The school Eddie attended using his cousin’s address had great academics, to be sure. But according to Eddie, it was the music program that was truly transformative. Mr. Mercer, the band teacher, showed Eddie the clarinet—and he was hooked. He attributes much of his success as an educator to his musical training. Besides getting him excited to attend school, playing music deeply instills the value of hard work, mentorship, and learning from others. He recalls repeated, back-and-forth competition with fellow clarinetist Jeremy to earn first chair in the middle school band. At any time, they could challenge each other for the top spot through a public, solo performance; whoever performed better would move to first chair. “It’s a very extreme version of getting immediate feedback. I learned that if you want to be successful, you really need to put in your time,” Eddie says.
Needless to say, the practice paid off. He eventually became Band President in high school, and then, with the help of a music scholarship, became the first in his family to attend college. After returning to California and trying to make a go of it as a professional musician for a time, he felt the call of teaching, and was accepted to Teach For America and placed in Indianapolis.
“My School, Is Your School, Is Our School”
Like most teachers, Eddie struggled during his first year in the classroom. Though he had received some helpful training, he didn’t feel confident teaching his first graders how to read. While searching the internet for tips and advice, he stumbled upon resources published by Uncommon Schools. He was blown away by the instructional skills of educators like Juliana Worrell and Julie Jackson, how their engaging teaching was making a difference for kids. But as much as he found their strategies helpful, he was just as impressed by the fact that these resources were available publicly and for free. These fantastic practitioners weren’t just sharing what they were doing, but taking the time to codify and organize their best practices. “I was so struck by how they thought about the mission of charter schools more broadly,” Eddie says. “They seemed to live by the idea of ‘my school, is your school, is our school.’” They looked beyond the walls of their school buildings to make an impact on the larger system.
Eddie took their lesson to heart. After several years in the classroom, he went into school administration, and had an extremely successful stint leading in the Tindley Accelerated Schools network. But then he stepped up for his biggest challenge yet. Alongside Matthew Rooney, he was selected to manage the turnaround of Emma Donnan Elementary & Middle School as part of Indianapolis’ Innovation Network.
Eddie approached that challenge with deep humility. “Given what they had previously experienced, families had every right not to trust us,” he says. On top of that, the school opened in August 2020, in the height of the pandemic. So Eddie and his team put in extra effort to listen to families and respond to their needs. There was certainly some skepticism at first. But once families got to know the talented, committed teachers and started to see Adelante’s model in action, they saw how the turnaround was a great development for students.
According to Eddie, one of the reasons for Adelante’s success is a deep attention to teacher development. “We have to set our teachers up for success, and so we pour into them professionally,” he says. Each day, teachers receive up to 90 minutes of highly tactical professional development that can immediately help them in their classrooms. A big focus has been on the science of reading, which Adelante started implementing prior to it becoming a national priority. This has led to tremendous literacy gains in the school. Whenever possible, they bring cutting-edge research into the school to implement best practices. As Eddie puts it, “We get nerdy with our teachers.”
At the same time, Adelante values their teachers as people and respects them as professionals. For instance, teachers have flexible personal time off, allowing them to leave school in the middle of the day for a doctor’s appointment or similar needs. This practice is very helpful for teacher retention.
Eddie has brought his forward-thinking approach to advocacy. He believes that charter leaders could be doing more to advocate for another, especially when it comes to pushing back against negative stereotypes of charters. Single-site charters, which must essentially operate an entire school district in addition to a school, especially need that support. “I know we’re all busy. But to be successful, we should be working together to collectively address misconceptions as a united front.”
Milken Family Foundation
For his part, Eddie—who describes himself as “super-competitive”—is ready for that effort. He’s prepared to bring the same doggedness and commitment to supporting the charter movement as he did to winning first chair. When he does, students, educators, and families will be better for it.