Subscribe to Blog RSS (What is RSS?)
Social Entrepreneurs Offer a Lesson on Education Innovation to Presidential Candidates
September 03, 2008
In the 8/31/08 edition of the Los Angeles Times, national education entrepreneurs, including our partner Ted Mitchell of NewSchools Venture Fund, laid out the imperative for the next president to support the work of education entrepreneurs in transforming the lives of low-income children. The piece argues for a major expansion of innovation funding and an entrepreneurial mindset in federal education policy. Such expanded efforts—in charter schools, human capital, and tools that improve education—will speed the pace of positive change for systems, for schools, and for children.
Among the calls to action for our next administration are:
1. Expand innovation incentives and free them from the earmarks and conditions that have blunted past initiatives. Adequate incentives, coupled with rigorous accountability, would remedy this.
2. Use influence over state and local policy to sweep away regulations that hamper innovative thinking, such as caps on the number of public charter schools allowed and excessive restrictions on how teachers are trained and credentialed.
3. Continue the strong push of two efforts already underway. One is the move toward a common set of standards for what students should be expected to know and be able to do. Then, to make shared standards work, a national data infrastructure must be built to assess educational progress.
This op-ed also featured the outstanding work of other Commongood Careers partners such as KIPP, Teach for America, and New Leaders for New Schools.
Comments (0)
In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 22, 2008 Tennis anyone?
Tenacity will be honored by the USTA during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the US Open this year as the featured National Junior Tennis League organization. Attracting over 30,000 adult and youth spectators, Arthur Ashe Kids Day honors tennis legend Arthur Ashe and continues his mission of using tennis as a means to instill in kids the values of humanitarianism, leadership and academic excellence. To see the coverage, tune in to CBS Sports TV on Sunday, August 24th, from 12 - 1:30 PM (EST) for the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day national broadcast featuring a short video on Tenacity.
We congratulation our partner Tenacity for being recognized on this special day that celebrates the importance of shaping and encouraging youth in the classroom, on the court, and in the community.
Comments (0) Events & Career Fairs, In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
August 20, 2008 Yesterday, the New York Times Magazine published a cover story on education reform in New Orleans. The article focuses broadly on the reform efforts here in the city and features one of New Schools for New Orleans’ incubated schools, Miller McCoy Academy.
The article also highlights the work of Teach For America, teachNOLA, and New Leaders for New Schools and shows incredible images of students of Langston Hughes Charter School.
We applaud the tremendous effort of New Schools for New Orleans and its supporters to further the transformation public schools in New Orleans.
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 14, 2008 Newsweek’s reporter Donna Foote recently spent a year following four Teach For America Corps Members from their training stage to the end of their first school year. In addition to writing a book about it, she also wrote a article for Newsweek about what she learned.
Plus, Foote cites some impressive stats, for example that about 10 percent of Yale, Georgetown and Harvard seniors apply to be a part of Teach For America’s corps of world-changing teachers. She also writes about the realities of the challenges facing America’s education system and how Teach For America is offering solutions.
Encouragingly, the article notes that many of Teach For America’s alumni are inspired by their experience to do more. Foote points out that KIPP, whose impressive education successes we recently blogged about, was started by Teach For America alums.
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 14, 2008 Achievement First’s mission is to close the achievement gap and deliver equal educational opportunity for all children in America. Thanks to support from public, private, and individual donors, Achievement First’s new school in Hartford, Conn. is able to open in time for the new school year.
Due to lack of state funding, the school’s future was uncertain just a few weeks before it was to open. Fortunately for Hartford and its students, local figures like Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving came forward to champion Achievement First’s cause and energize donors to help get the schools ready for the fall.
With Achievement First’s success in education, it’s no wonder so many in Hartford were ready to step forward to support the organization. A recent report shows that students at a similar school in New Haven, Conn. performed an average of 56 percent higher on all sections of the state test than their peers in non-Achievement First schools in that city. Now that’s putting achievement first!
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 13, 2008 Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal published an article about how today’s donors are looking for more control over the money they give. It perceptively notes that while we’re not all millionaires looking for total control over every dollar we give, it’s nice to know our donations go to supporting the cause we donate to in the best way possible.
That’s where the article recognizes organizations like Kiva and DonorsChoose.org. The article advises: “if you want to exercise the kind of control that deep-pocketed philanthropists enjoy, consider donating to one of a new breed of charities that allow donors to browse descriptions of specific projects online and fund them, in whole or in part. “
Both Kiva and DonorsChoose.org use the Internet to connect individual donors directly with recipients of the donation, whether through Kiva’s microloans or DonorsChoose’s donations to classrooms. They champion diverse causes, but they’re both doing what’s great: helping people exercise their philanthropic spirit, no matter the size of their bank account.
Comments (0) In the News, Sites We Like, Social Entrepreneurism
August 04, 2008 KIPP works to prepare students in underserved communities for success in college and in life through a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools. Their results have been inspiring, setting students up for all kinds of success, including a 90 percent high school graduation rate and an 80 percent continuation of KIPP grads on to college.
Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews recently wrote an article about KIPP’s focus on finding the cause for any drop-outs from its schools and its continuing research on learning how its graduates are doing once they reach college. He highlights the importance of KIPP’s dedication to looking at the data to achieve results.
And achieve they do. The article also notes that in addition to being much more likely to graduate high school and go to college than their non-KIPP school peers, middle school students who completed four years at KIPP increased their average math achievement level from the 40th to the 82nd percentile and their reading level from the 32nd to the 60th percentile. Dare we say “KIPP up the good work”?
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 02, 2008 We love success stories, so we’re so happy to share with you the latest achievements of Rare’s Latin American Pride program graduates.
Pride partners throughout Latin America use social marketing tools to change attitudes and behaviors critical to conservation. Rare provides the tools, along with in-depth training and technical support as its local partners launch two-year Pride campaigns that have resulted in truly impressive results.
One Pride program alum, Martin Castillo Paniagua of Mexico’s National Park Service, helped lead a campaign that grew knowledge of one area as protected in the target community from 35 to 98 percent. You can read all about his and other Rare Conservation success stories here.
Comments (0) Green Hiring, In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
August 01, 2008 BELL, a nonprofit organization that offers after school and summer educational programs for children living in low-income, urban communities, was recently awarded a three-year $500,000 grant by New York Life.
The grant will allow for at least 500 students in 2008, 750 in 2009, and 1,000 in 2010 to participate in the BELL’s highly effective Summer program in New York City. The program, which helps to strengthen reading, writing and math skills, has been so successful that over 95 percent of children enter their program at the “failing” level advance to a higher academic performance category and at least 75 percent of them go on to achieve “proficient” or “advanced” levels in core skills.
Plus, Earl Martin Phalen, Co-founder and CEO of BELL, notes that the students on average gain four to six months worth of education during BELL’s six-week program. What student wouldn’t want the equivalent of six month summer vacation? With growing support, learning programs like BELL make summer a great time to achieve.
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
July 08, 2008 One Community certainly gives Akron, Ohio residents a reason to come together. Working to bring economic and civic progress to communities through innovative uses of technology, OneCommunity has some great success stories in its archives and its most recent gives Akron an excellent opportunity to connect.
Last week, the Akron City Council gave the go ahead for an agreement between OneCommunity Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic to create a network that will provide wireless Internet connectivity in an 11-square-mile area of the city. The agreement puts into action the first $250,000 in matching funds from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s $500,000 challenge grant.
Akron will also be the new home of the OneCommunity Knight Center for Digital Excellence, which provides resources to spread broadband access programs so that communities can fully participate in today’s digital world.
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
July 01, 2008 Teach For America has proven once again that it can pinpoint fresh opportunities for talent. It earned 6th place on CollegeGrad.com’s list of Top Entry Level Employers. The organization works to close the education gap in America by recruiting recent graduates from across America to invest two years in teaching in urban and rural public schools.
A little while back, Alice Lunsford, Teach For America’s Director of External Talent Recruitment, told us about some opportunities for entry-level jobseekers at her organization. She said that “[Teach For America] is filled with people who are passionate about their work and working in a smart manner toward measurable goals. It’s the culture that I think makes it a great place to work, especially coming out of college.” (Read the whole article here.)
That sounds to us like CollegeGrad.com had it right when they chose Teach For America for the top of their list!
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
June 29, 2008
Service Nation , an effort headed by Be The Change Inc. , is building strong foundations.
Habitat for Humanity just joined the movement, whose goal is to engage 1 million Americans in a year of full time national service by 2020 and inspire a culture of civic service nation-wide. Habitat’s added support makes the list of organizations backing Service Nation 100 strong. Support for the movement is impressive and expansive. The organizing committee includes entrepreneurial organizations like College Summit, Teach For America, Year Up and many more.
Service Nation aims to engage the country in a dialog about national service. Keep an eye on them as they set forth bold goals for national service in America at their Service Nation Summit Sept 11-12 this year.
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
June 26, 2008 Jumpstart doesn’t kid around when it comes to building literacy and helping children succeed, but it knows how to throw a good party too! More than 150 young professionals attended its Read for the Record launch party, which raised nearly $46,000 for Jumpstart and its programming.
The national Read for the Record effort is designed to build awareness for America’s crisis in early childhood education and Jumpstart’s role in solving the crisis by breaking the world record for the greatest number of children reading the same book on the same day.
While the campaign’s spokesperson LL Cool J wasn’t there (see him voice his support in this YouTube video) the party did boast a few celebs, including Boston Bruins player Bob Sweeney.
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
June 25, 2008 Echoing Green just announced its Fellows for 2008. The Fellows’ program spans the globe and its impact will be felt in regions as diverse as China, India, Israel, Mexico, and across the U.S. The impressive group of 27 adults, nine of whom are under 26, is both the organization’s youngest and one of its largest.
This year’s Fellows will tackle issues as wide ranging as community improvement, economic development, education, the environment, health, human rights, and legal advocacy.
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
June 23, 2008 DonorsChoose.org is enriching education by connecting donors with teachers who need funding for their school projects. This has some of its supporters from San Francisco blooming into lovely young philanthropists.
Neil Armstrong Elementary’s 4th and 5th grade students grew over 5,000 marigolds from seeds that they planted at school. By growing and selling the marigolds in the past year, the Neil Armstrong Elementary students funded over 20 teacher proposals on DonorsChoose.org, resulting in over 2,500 hours of instruction to over 600 students.
This coming year, they are hoping that their efforts will have an even greater impact. So far, they’ve met over half of their $10,000 goal. Visit their challenge page to see their progress, an adorable photo of the class, and how you can help them out!
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
Tenacity Honored at 2008 US Open
Transforming Public Education in New Orleans
A Year with Teach For America
School is in Session for Achievement First
Give Like a Millionaire
KIPP’s Commitment to Evaluation Gets Noticed
Rare Conservation Raises Awareness in Latin America
BELL Rings in an Educational Summer
OneCommunity Helps Close the Digital Divide
Teach For America Makes the Top Ten
Be The Change Builds Up Support
Jumpstarting a Good Time
Echoing Green’s Newest Fellows
Since 1987, Echoing Green has invested $27 million in more than 450 leaders to make a difference in lives all over the world. This year’s promising Fellows will be an excellent addition to Echoing Green’s impact. Congratulations and best of luck to the 2008 Fellows!
Philanthropy in Full Bloom
Categories:
Recent Posts:
- Social Entrepreneurs Offer a Lesson on Education Innovation to Presidential Candidates
- Commongood Careers Partners Deliver in a Pinch!
- Tenacity Honored at 2008 US Open
- Transforming Public Education in New Orleans
- Net Impact Survey: MBAs Working in the Social Sector
Archives: