ResponsiveEd Partnership Increases Access to Higher Education

A new partnership between Texas A&M University-Commerce and Responsive Education Solutions (ResponsiveEd) opens new opportunities for thousands of students and educators who want to advance their education.

ResponsiveEd is a Lewisville-based non-profit charter school company that operates 70 school campuses with five distinct educational models across Texas and Arkansas.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on June 7, 2021, by ResponsiveEd campus superintendent Ericka Johnson-Allen, Ed.D., and A&M-Commerce president Mark Rudin, Ph.D.

“This is an extremely important moment for us as a university,” said Rudin. “It is our hope that the MOU provides valuable opportunities for students to access higher education and achieve success.”

The partnership extends assistance and support to ResponsiveEd students and staff who are interested in attending A&M-Commerce. Under the agreement, incoming undergraduate students at A&M-Commerce may be eligible for The President's Promise Scholarship and The Rising Lion Program.

The President's Promise Scholarship is a last-dollar tuition scholarship that covers the remaining tuition balance for up to four academic years for qualified students. The Rising Lion Program is a structured academic experience that invites new A&M-Commerce students to begin their semester of entry during the summer so they can acclimate and adjust to college life before the regular fall semester.

ResponsiveEd employees also benefit from the partnership with A&M-Commerce through two grant programs: Quick Start and Teacher of the Year. The Quick Start grant provides a continuous $250 or $500 per semester grant to qualified individuals based on credit hours. The Teacher of the Year grant provides a continuous $250 or $750 per semester grant, based on credit hours, to individuals who meet specific criteria and have been named district or campus teachers of the year.

Superintendent Johnson-Allen said the partnership with A&M-Commerce will help ResponsiveEd fulfill its mission of providing hope for students through education.

“If we provide higher education or an avenue to get there, then we are indeed fulfilling our mission of providing hope to the students we serve,” Johnson-Allen said. “ResponsiveEd is dedicated to cementing educational growth for not only our scholars who are in the classroom but for our teachers who are educating them and our leaders who are paving the way.”

Kimberly McLeod, Ed.D., dean of the College of Education and Human Services at A&M-Commerce, said this partnership is just the first step in a long-term working relationship between ResponsiveEd and A&M-Commerce.

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is known for saying, ‘You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step,'” McLeod said. “We don't know what this partnership will lead to, but this is an important first step.”

Read more about ResponsiveEd.

Photo: Administrators from Responsive Ed and A&M-Commerce gather for a photo.