The Gates Foundation has given more than US$100 million to establish approximately 160 early college high schools (ECHSs) across the nation. The ECHS goal, to send traditionally low-performing students to college early and graduate them with 2 years of college credit, has been widely recognized for its constructive potential. However, not all EHCS…

This essay reviews two books on Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund and places them within the historiography of the Fund. "Julius Rosenwald: The Man Who Built Sears, Roebuck and Advanced the Cause of Black Education in the American South," is a biography written by Peter M. Ascoli. The book entitled "The Rosenwald Schools of…

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is closing its online-education grant program, and some college officials are concerned that the decision will leave a fast-growing sector of American higher education without a major source of support. The New York City-based foundation has funneled roughly $80-million into online-education ventures around the…

This paper is a critical evaluation of a pilot cooperative education project conducted with a charitable organization in the UK. An action research approach was adopted. Final level students who are studying auditing have had the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they are developing through their studies to a real-life situation in the…

Good Vibrations is a charity that runs gamelan projects with offenders in prison and on probation. A recent Birmingham City University study investigating the short-, medium- and long-term impact of the project found that participation in a Good Vibrations project acted as a catalyst for positive change. The research found that not only did…

This article features Jordan Thomas, who lost his feet in a spear fishing accident in August 2005. It describes how Thomas turned his own loss into a way to help kids get the prosthetics they need. Just three weeks after losing his feet, Thomas filed the paperwork for the Jordan Thomas Foundation, which aims to raise funds for prosthetic limbs for…

The author reports on a new effort by 12 major education philanthropies that aims to dovetail with the Education Department's "i3" agenda, raising complex issues. The decision by a dozen major education grantmakers to team up on an initiative designed to dovetail with the federal "Investing in Innovation" grant competition is being seen by…

Early college high schools are a promising but expensive pathway to college readiness. Most such schools are supported with state funds and/or grants. This descriptive case study presents an early college program, now in its fourth year in a traditional high school, in which the families, high school and local community college shared the entire…

The early childhood community gives back. With the extreme generosity of the "Exchange" Makeover Project partners, Jewel's Learning Center, selected as the winner of the Center Makeover, will be awarded with new and innovative tools to help build an even stronger educational foundation for the children attending the center. Included will be new…

Nearly 2,500 districts, schools, and nonprofits representing every state have indicated they plan to compete for an Investing in Innovation grant, setting up a furious fight over $650 million in federal economic-stimulus money that is designed to scale up creative solutions to education's most vexing problems. The large group of prospective…

There has been increasing interest on the role of private foundations in education finance and delivery. We argue that this is due to a macro-policy context of stagnating levels of official development assistance for education and an uncritical acceptance of a logic of neutrality and the efficiency and effectiveness of of partnerships and…

This article examines the shift in the locus of decision-making authority across more than 25 years of policy efforts to improve teaching effectiveness. Previously the province of local government, states assumed the lion's share of authority for teaching policy during the 1980s and 1990s. As states and the federal government rose to education…

This article reports that Princeton University has settled a long-running dispute with the heirs of a major donor by agreeing to pay $50-million to the heirs' foundation and approximately the same amount for their legal fees. The case has been closely watched as a test of how strictly institutions must adhere to donors' wishes. The settlement…

This article presents an interview with Diane Ravitch. Ravitch replies to the following questions: (1) What does a good secondary education look like to you?; (2) What should the role of the federal government be?; (3) U.S. public schools regularly take a pounding in the media, but do you see strengths in our system? Were there ever good old days…

For most institutions, the budget pain will get worse before it gets better--if it gets better. Budget constraints have become the norm in virtually every state. In prior recessions, advancement offices tended to view downturns as bumps in the road to be negotiated before returning to business as usual. But the current troubles could signal a…