Launched in 2015, the program responded to a stark and deeply unjust reality: for many Detroit Public Schools students, the difference between attending college tuition-free and being locked out entirely came down to a few dozen
Launched in 2015, the program responded to a stark and deeply unjust reality: for many Detroit Public Schools students, the difference between attending college tuition-free and being locked out entirely came down to a few dozen
Testing, Testing was the Ellis Clark Foundation’s first initiative – and remains one of its most formative.
Launched in 2015, the program responded to a stark and deeply unjust reality: for many Detroit Public Schools students, the difference between attending college tuition-free and being locked out entirely came down to a few dozen points on the SAT or ACT. The Detroit Promise, a public scholarship program guaranteeing free tuition at Michigan’s in-state four-year universities, was within reach – but not without access to preparation, mentorship, and belief.
The barrier was never ability. It was access.
Drawing on the Harkness peer-to-peer method that shaped his own education in boarding school, Ellis organized a volunteer-led tutoring model that brought together students from across Metro Detroit’s racial, economic, and geographic divides. Around shared tables – inner-city and suburban, public and private – we built trust first, then skills. Tutors and students learned side by side, breaking down not only test questions but the skepticism bred by decades of inequity.
The results were immediate and tangible. One by one, participating DPS students raised their scores enough to cross the Detroit Promise threshold – unlocking tuition-free college pathways that might otherwise have been closed. What began as a modest experiment quickly scaled into a proof of concept: when young people are resourced, respected, and united by a common mission, systems can bend.
Today, a decade after incorporation, Testing, Testing stands as the Foundation’s origin story – and a blueprint. It reflects a core belief that continues to guide our work across education, culture, and global storytelling: the future belongs to those who are invited into it early, fully, and together.
Drawing on the Harkness peer-to-peer method that shaped his own education in boarding school, Ellis organized a volunteer-led tutoring model that brought together students from across Metro Detroit’s racial, economic, and geographic divides. Around shared tables – inner-city and suburban, public and private – we built trust first, then skills. Tutors and students learned side by side, breaking down not only test questions but the skepticism bred by decades of inequity.
The results were immediate and tangible. One by one, participating DPS students raised their scores enough to cross the Detroit Promise threshold – unlocking tuition-free college pathways that might otherwise have been closed. What began as a modest experiment quickly scaled into a proof of concept: when young people are resourced, respected, and united by a common mission, systems can bend.
Today, a decade after incorporation, Testing, Testing stands as the Foundation’s origin story – and a blueprint. It reflects a core belief that continues to guide our work across education, culture, and global storytelling: the future belongs to those who are invited into it early, fully, and together.