Education Grants 2009: $6,798,722

Innovation

Albany Park Neighborhood Council
Chicago, IL $100,000
To train student leaders from the VOYCE collaboration to advocate for improving teacher quality and to develop a pipeline of students of color who are encouraged to pursue careers in policy research and community organizing. (1 yr.)
Chicago Urban League
Chicago, IL $154,500
To fund a new education policy staff position and to build the organization’s education policy analysis and research ability. (1 yr.)
Community Renewal Society
Chicago, IL $150,000
To support Catalyst Chicago, a monthly news magazine that reports on and analyzes the progress, problems, and politics of school reform in Chicago. (1 yr.)
Council of Chief State School Officers
Washington, DC $300,000
To work in collaboration with EducationCounsel to analyze and improve the capacity of the Illinois State Board of Education and the Indiana Department of Education. (18 mos.)
GreatSchools
San Francisco, CA $75,000
For expansion of the GreatSchools Milwaukee program to help inform low-income Milwaukee parents about their K-12 school options and encourage parents to choose academically successful schools. (1 yr.)
Innosight Institute
San Mateo, CA $140,000
To research and develop recommendations for federal, state, and local policy makers to better use technology to improve student and teacher learning. (18 mos.)
Joan Ganz Cooney Center for Educational Media and Research Inc.
New York, NY $199,700
To support the Teacher Preparation for a Digital Age Initiative. (1 yr.)
Michigan State University College of Education
East Lansing, MI $116,726
To expand on the findings of the RAND study ‘Charter Schools in Eight States’ and update the researchers’ analysis of high school graduation, college entry, and degree attainment rates of students who attended a Chicago Public Schools charter high school. (2 yrs.)
The Mind Trust
Indianapolis, IN $100,000
For a research study to evaluate the current governance structure of Indianapolis’ 11 public school systems and make recommendations for reforms that will lead to improved student achievement and greater efficiencies. (1 yr.)

Early Childhood Education

Erikson Institute
Chicago, IL $150,000
To further improve and evaluate the New Schools Project. (1 yr.)
Evanston Community Foundation
Evanston, IL $50,000
To launch the Illinois Early Childhood Fellowship, a special project of the Evanston Community Foundation Inc. focused on developing a pipeline of new, knowledge-committed leaders, and building institutional and field capacity in the early childhood field. (1 yr.)
Illinois Action for Children
Chicago, IL $150,000
To support the Community Focus Project, a community organizing and advocacy project designed to improve the quality of teaching at the early childhood level and better align early childhood education with kindergarten and elementary grade teaching. (1 yr.)
MDRC
New York, NY $100,000
To support the Foundations of Learning Project, a large-scale test of an early childhood professional development model that includes training in classroom management skills, and provides students who are involved in the project with access to onsite clinically trained professionals who provide individualized clinical services to Head Start children identified as being at greatest risk. (1 yr.)
Ounce of Prevention Fund
Chicago, IL $100,000
For its Kids Public Education Policy Project to build support for the alignment of early childhood and K-12 education systems in Illinois. (1 yr.)
Voices for Illinois Children Inc.
Chicago, IL $70,000
To help maintain Illinois’ investments in prekindergarten and birth-to-three programs and increase linkages between prekindergarten and K-3 within the context of a broader developmental approach to education. (1 yr.)
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Inc.
Madison, WI $150,000
To improve the quality of early childhood teaching by increasing the percentage of early childhood educators attaining at least a two-year degree in early childhood. (1 yr.)

Teacher Quality

Center for American Progress
Washington, DC $306,465
To continue to develop and advance policy changes that support improvements in human capital systems throughout the country. (2 yrs.)
Center for Teaching Quality Inc.
Hillsborough, NC $184,500
To recruit and train progressive union leaders in the Midwest. (1 yr.)
Corporation for the Advancement of Policy Evaluation
Washington, DC $447,761
To complete its evaluation of the Teacher Advancement Program in 40 high-need Chicago schools. (2 yrs.)
Education Pioneers
Oakland, CA $100,000
To support its continued work to develop a pipeline of talented education leaders in Chicago focused on transforming the educational system so that all students receive a quality education. (1 yr.)
Education Sector Inc.
Washington, DC $200,000
To improve the effectiveness of our teacher workforce and to modernize teacher policy in districts and schools across the nation. (1 yr.)
The Education Trust
Washington, DC $608,635
To advance teacher quality policies by providing research, policy analysis, and strategy support to national civil rights groups, state-level advocacy organizations, and state legislators. (2 yrs.)
The Mind Trust
Indianapolis, IN $380,000
To promote improved teacher quality policies in Indianapolis and Indiana and to foster educational entrepreneurship in Joyce-targeted districts and cities. (2 yrs.)
National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future
Washington, DC $295,000
To profile the education workforce in Illinois and Indiana, and analyze how retirement structures and policies impact teaching quality in those states. (18 mos.)
National Institute for Excellence in Teaching
Santa Monica, CA $290,000
To strengthen the Chicago Teacher Advancement Program and to provide information about successful performance pay reforms to policy makers and practitioners. (1 yr.)
The Philanthropy Roundtable
Washington, DC $50,000
To continue supporting its K-12 education initiatives, especially those focused on teacher and principal excellence. (2 yrs.)
Public Impact
Chapel Hill, NC $488,620
To provide tools and assistance to policy reformers who want to create meaningful teacher evaluation and tenure systems that enhance student learning. (2 yrs.)
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL $221,815
To conduct a comprehensive study of the distribution of quality principals in Illinois. (2 yrs.)
Target Area Development Corporation
Chicago, IL $225,000
For the development of a statewide grassroots education campaign targeted toward increasing parental access to and knowledge of sound education policy reforms in Illinois. (18 mos.)
Teachers College, Columbia University
New York, NY $200,000
To strengthen media coverage of state and local use of Race to the Top funds, school turnaround efforts, and policies related to improving teacher effectiveness and distribution. (2 yrs.)
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO $295,000
To analyze how the design of the Illinois and Indiana teacher pension systems impact the recruitment and retention of a high-quality teaching workforce. (18 mos.)
Teach for America Inc.
New York, NY $400,000
To continue support of its Policy and Advocacy Initiative to increase alumni involvement in high-impact policy and advocacy work and catalyze broader education reform efforts. (2 yrs.)