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| From the issue dated March 10, 2006 |
Schools, Colleges, and Foundations: a Sampling of Recent Projects and Grants
Companies have had mixed results in the sale of remedial education
Forum: Join an online discussion about what colleges should be doing to make sure that first-year students arrive prepared to do college work.
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A new report from the NCAA breaks out revenue and expenses more clearly than before and shows what many had feared: Most athletics programs are heavily subsidized. The Lectures Are Recorded, So Why Go to Class? One-Third of West Virginia U.'s Faculty Meets, Reaffirming Calls for President's Ouster AAUP Criticizes U. of New Haven Over Lecturer's Dismissal Education Dept. Easing Off on Preferred-Lender Limits Higher Education Act Nears Completion, but Major Hurdles Remain As Campuses Become More Diverse, Colleges Must Alter Fund-Raising Approaches, Report Says | |||
- Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
-
3223 Howell Mill Road, N.W.
Atlanta, Ga. 30327
(404) 367-2100
What it's spending: Authorized $6.5-million in 2005 for its Pathways to Success program.
What it hopes to achieve: Pathways to Success focuses on helping needy youngsters in high school acquire the skills and information they need to pursue postsecondary education.
Among recent grants: Awarded $250,000 to Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing. Through the center's Pathways Into Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology program, Georgia Tech faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduates will serve as mentors to financially needy youngsters and help ninth-grade students prepare for the PSAT. Students will also be offered instruction in special elective courses, such as nanotechnology.
Also provided $115,000 to the Algebra Project (Cambridge, Mass.) to start math-literacy programs for ninth- and 10th-grade students at several schools in Arizona, Georgia, and South Carolina where the foundation already has other projects. The project will offer math teachers two-week professional-development training in the summer to enhance teaching methods. It will also train college and high-school students to teach mathematics to younger pupils.
Plans for the future: In the short term, the focus is on building effective programs in a small number of schools. Eventually the foundation hopes to expand Pathways to Success to other cities and towns.
Official overseeing school-college efforts: Daniel J. Shoy Jr., program officer; dshoy@ambfo.com
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
-
What it's spending: $777-million to improve high schools and $1.24-billion for scholarships from 1999 through 2005.
What it hopes to achieve: To increase the high-school graduation rate for all students and to increase the percentage of students who graduate prepared for college or work; to provide scholarships; to evaluate programs and provide tools and resources for educators and policy makers.
Among recent grants: Awarded more than $125-million to support efforts to improve high schools in New York City, such as creating small high schools that would offer rigorous educational programs, supporting new schools, overhauling existing schools, and expanding options for students most at risk of dropping out.
Allocated $20-million to Communities Foundation of Texas to develop and support a network of math, science, and technology academies serving disadvantaged students throughout the state.
Plans for the future: The foundation intends to continue its focus on improving instruction and curriculum in the nation's high schools.
Officials overseeing school-college efforts: Deborah Wilds, senior program officer, and Jim Shelter, program director.
- GE Foundation
-
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, Conn. 06828
(203) 373-3216
http://www.ge.com/foundation/grant_initiatives/education.html
What it's spending: $100-million from 2005 through 2009.
What it hopes to achieve: In 1989 the foundation created the College Bound program to increase collegegoing rates at more than 20 high schools across the United States. In September 2005, the foundation started the College Bound District Program, a collaboration among education, business, and community leaders to strengthen the college-readiness skills of elementary- and secondary-school students in districts in and around the cities where the company has offices.
Among recent grants: Awarded $25-million over four years to Jefferson County Public Schools District, in Louisville, Ky., to improve college readiness with an emphasis on math and science skills. In addition to the money, GE employees will volunteer their time to improve the schools.
Plans for the future: Later this year, the foundation will announce two more cities, in addition to Louisville, where the College Bound District Program will start operations.
Official overseeing school-college efforts: The foundation declined to provide a name.
- Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
-
4801 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, Mo. 64110
(816) 932-1000
What it's spending: Has pledged $50-million over the next 10 years to improve mathematics, science, and technology achievement among students attending schools in the metropolitan Kansas City area, and $70-million over 19 years (starting in 2003) to help low-income students in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., prepare for college.
What it hopes to achieve: To better prepare Kansas City students to study math, science, and technology in college and to create an approach that can be copied nationwide. Plans to support efforts to recruit and train math and science teachers, finance after-school programs, and push for public policies that promote math, science, and technology education. In addition, the Kauffman Scholars program pays for 200 to 300 students in seventh grade to receive rigorous academic coaching and training in other skills they need to succeed. The program provides academic enrichment, preparation for the SAT and ACT, assistance in getting college scholarships, and efforts to provide support to students once they get to college and to keep parents involved throughout.
Among recent grants: Awarded $2.1-million to the First (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics and Lego League, two programs designed to expose students to math, science, and technology concepts in real-world ways. The robotics competition for high schools enlists local engineers to volunteer to work with students and teachers to build a working robot from a box of parts. High-school teams compete in regional competitions, with winners advancing to the national finals. With the Kauffman Foundation's grant, the Kansas City area went from having two high-school teams last year to 26 this year — the largest concentration of robotics teams of any city in the country. First's Lego League program is designed for middle-school students and involves creating robotic devices using Lego blocks.
Provided a total of $1-million to ChalkWaves, the JASON Project, and Project Lead the Way, which are designed to help students apply science-and-engineering concepts and theories to class projects.
Allocated $500,000 for Homework Zone, a free after-school call-in number staffed by certified teachers that provides assistance to Kansas City-area elementary and secondary students on any school subject, but particularly math and science.
Plans for the future: The foundation wants to help local school districts create comprehensive, districtwide plans to improve student achievement in math, science, and technology. Kauffman has awarded the districts $30,000 to $50,000 to develop such plans, and it will decide how much to give each district once the formal plans are set. The foundation is also looking at innovative ways to improve the skills of math and science teachers and recruit new teachers into those fields.
Officials overseeing school-college efforts: Dennis W. Cheek, vice president of education, oversees the math-and-science effort; R. Stephen Green is president and chief executive of the Kauffman Scholars program.
- John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
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Wachovia Financial Center, Suite 3300
200 South Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, Fla. 33131-2349
(305) 908-2600
What it's spending: $12-million from 2000 to 2006.
What it hopes to achieve: To re-energize the teaching of high-school journalism, civics, and current events and to promote and expand the teaching of the Constitution and First Amendment to high-school students.
Among recent grants: In July 2005, the foundation made a two-year, $850,000 grant to Ball State University to increase the understanding and appreciation of the First Amendment in high schools and to encourage the use of news articles and events in high-school classrooms. The program includes workshops designed to reach at least 1,000 educators.
Plans for the future: To go after other big, innovative ideas and to support other projects with the potential to improve education.
Official overseeing school-college efforts: Eric Newton, director of journalism initiatives; newton@knightfdn.org
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation
-
What it's spending: A total of $15-million in 2004 and 2005.
What it hopes to achieve: To increase the number of minorities who attend collage and improve the math and science skills of high-school students.
Among recent grants: Awarded a total of $7.5-million over three years to four universities — Pennsylvania State University, University of California at Santa Cruz, University of Minnesota, and University of Texas at El Paso — through its Enlace (Engaging Latino Communities for Education) program, and plans to spend a total of $35-million on the effort by 2007. The program is designed to get community-based programs, parents, schools, community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities to work together to encourage Hispanics to attend college.
Provided $1-million over three years to the Foundation for Excellent Schools for a nationwide effort to develop partnerships between colleges and public schools in neighborhoods with predominantly low-income families.
Plans for the future: To continue its programs to get more students into college and help them succeed, and to support community-college efforts to offer degree programs that lead to fulfilling careers, rather than just preparing students to enter four-year colleges.
Official overseeing school-college efforts: Gail McClure is the foundation's vice president for youth and education programs; Miguel Satut is program director of Enlace; and Ted Chen is program director of New Options for Youth, which focuses on improving community colleges.
- KnowledgeWorks Foundation
-
1 West 4th Street, Suite 200
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
(513) 929-4777
(877) 852-3863
What it's spending: Plans to award more than $50-million from 2002 through 2006.
What it hopes to achieve: To enhance high schools in Ohio and to improve college-going rates by creating new programs as well as building the capacity of existing college-access programs.
Among recent grants: Awarded $486,000 to the Dayton Early College Academy as part of the foundation's Ohio Early Colleges program. Through the program, high schools operate on college campuses and offer students the opportunity to get college credit at the same time they are earning high-school diplomas. The program also improves the skills of high-school teachers by linking them with university professors who teach the same subjects they do.
Plans for the future: The foundation wants to develop community-based councils in Ohio who will devise ways to integrate education from preschool through a four-year college degree. The foundation is also urging policy makers to create a core curriculum for Ohio.
Officials overseeing school-college efforts: Harold D. Brown, vice president for school improvement, is overseeing the Early Colleges program; his e-mail address is brownh@kwfdn.org. Brett Visger, vice president for college and access, is overseeing the effort to integrate education efforts; his e-mail address is visgerb@kwfdn.org.
- Lumina Foundation for Education
-
What it's spending: $10.1-million in 2005.
What it hopes to achieve: The McCabe Fund supports organizations that help students — particularly members of minorities, low-income students, and those whose parents are not college educated — to gain access to postsecondary education. College Goal Sunday supports a program managed by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which provides volunteers in 25 states to offer guidance in filling out the federal student-aid form. The Advancing Academic Excellence program supports Indianapolis public schools that offer college-level curriculum choices for all students. The money goes to train teachers, subsidize exam and tuition costs, and provide support for the students.
Among recent grants: Awarded $1,602,900 to the American Student Achievement Institute, in Bloomington, Ind., to raise high-school standards and better prepare students for postsecondary education.
Allotted $100,000 to Orange County Bar Foundation, in Irvine, Calif., to help Latina students from poor families gain access to higher education through a mentor program.
Plans for the future: Intends to continue efforts to prepare students for college.
Officials overseeing school-college efforts: Jeanna Keller manages the McCabe Fund and College Goal Sunday programs; Jill R. Kramer manages the Advancing Academic Excellence program.
- MELMAC Education Foundation
-
What it's spending: Has authorized $3-million from 2003 to 2009.
What it hopes to achieve: The Connect Aspirations to a Plan program makes grants designed to increase the percentage of Maine high-school graduates that obtain postsecondary education. By last year, the program achieved its goal of getting at least 68 percent of students to obtain higher education.
Among recent grants: A four-year grant of $10,000 per year to Upper Kennebec Valley High School, in Bingham, Maine, an isolated area with just 100 high-school students in grades nine through 12. The grant supports college visits, both in Maine and elsewhere in the Northeast, and assistance in college planning, college applications, and financial aid. The money also pays for a series of activities to celebrate college-going seniors, including a bulletin board at the school, parent nights, and a senior-class night with presentations of sweatshirts from the graduating senior's college. For the Class of 2003 — before the grant began — only 46 percent of graduates enrolled in college by the September after high school graduation. For the Class of 2005, 77 percent had enrolled by September.
Plans for the future: Intends to support the Connect Aspirations to a Plan program, which started in 2003, for 10 years, and in 2005 pledged to spend $3.4-million over seven years to support efforts to help students stay in college.
Official overseeing school-college efforts: Wendy L. Ault, executive director.
- Nellie Mae Education Foundation
-
1250 Hancock Street, Suite 205N
Quincy, Mass. 02169
(781) 348-4200
(877) 635-5436
What it's spending: $4.7-million in 2005.
What it hopes to achieve: To strengthen collaboration between high schools and universities with the intention of making sure more students go to college and succeed there; to achieve better academic results for minorities; and to help people with high-school-equivalency degrees make the transition to college.
Among recent grants: $87,500 last year to Hartford Public Schools (Conn.) to run a magnet school that has succeeded in getting all of its students, mostly members of minorities, to go to college.
Earmarked $150,000 a year over five years for the University of Maine at Presque Isle to collaborate with Caribou High School, both of which are in sparsely populated areas. The program works with middle- and high-school students to prepare them to enroll at the university.
Plans for the future: During the next grant cycle, the foundation hopes to encourage more students to aspire to go to community college.
Official overseeing school-college efforts: Jay Sherwin, program officer.
- Sallie Mae Fund
-
What it's spending: $10.5-million in 2005.
What it hopes to achieve: To increase access to higher education by knocking down three of the main barriers to higher education: financial need, lack of awareness about financial aid, and poor academic performance.
Among recent grants: $600,000 to support Kids to College programs in five states. The Kids to College program introduces sixth graders to the benefits of college and the courses they need to stay on the college track.
Provided $28-million to Building Hope: A Charter Schools Facilities Fund. The schools offer college-preparatory courses to students in the District of Columbia.
Plans for the future: The fund is conducting its "One Million Dollars for Access" campaign in four states — California, Florida, New York, and Texas — to teach minority students about college financial aid. It will also continue its Paying for College workshops and scholarship programs to help low-income and minority students find the money they need to obtain higher education.
Official overseeing school-college efforts: The foundation declined to provide a name.
— Compiled by Marilyn Dickey
http://chronicle.com
Section: School & College
Volume 52, Issue 27, Page B34