The NewSchools Venture Fund is a non-profit organization with a mission to "transform public education through powerful ideas and passionate entrepreneurs", support education entrepreneurs who are working to better serve disadvantaged children, and provide "thought leadership" to help bring about "broad systematic…

Since 2007, "Forward Thinking" has provided the roadmap for the department's work. These goals have served the department well in aligning and focusing the work at hand. The goals are: (1) Provide guidance and support to meet school and district needs; (2) Enhance professional development involving best practices; (3) Develop tools to…

In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a 10-year, multi-million dollar initiative, the Washington State Achievers Program (WSA), to increase opportunities for low-income students to attend postsecondary institutions in Washington State. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted funds to the College Success Foundation…

Although private philanthropic dollars in education make up just a fraction of overall education financial support, strategically targeted corporate philanthropic resources can serve as a vital catalyst for positive, lasting, and high-impact change in public education. Recognizing this, the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) and the Harvard…

In fall 2007, and in alignment with the strategic plan of the Colorado State Board of Education, the Colorado Department of Education released "Forward Thinking," a plan which publicly announced seven goals that, when attained, would culminate in a statewide system of accountability and support addressing the needs of all districts. Some…

Over the years since Benjamin Franklin gave them a boost, libraries have played a distinctive role in American life. (Editor)

Discuss issues related to corporate foundation support of urban public-school reform efforts. (PKP)

The PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning was at a turning point in August 2006. It had been five years since the corporate foundation had shifted its focus from general-purpose grantmaking to supporting individual and community learning, and its flagship Early Childhood Literacy Initiative--launched in 2003 to raise literacy rates in the communities…

This article explores the General Education Board, a John D. Rockefeller-led philanthropy, and its work during the first half of the twentieth century to improve Southern US public education. In contrast to most historical treatments of the Board that limit their investigations to its origin, this essay explores the full sweep of the Board's…

Describes how, with budgets tightening, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University at College Station are among the elite public institutions wondering if they should trade state money for greater autonomy. (EV)

The present study describes the private pursuit of improved Finnish elementary education in the time of Gustavus (1771-1808). In those days, the Government did not have enough resources to reorganise the Swedish educational system as a whole; therefore, the most efficient way to promote elementary education was to rely on private initiatives. The…

This volume of transformed research utilizes an activist approach to examine the notion that nothing is apolitical. Research projects themselves are critically examined for power orientations, even as they are used to address curricular problems and educational or societal issues. Philosophical perspectives that have facilitated an understanding…

Examines considerations of tax reform and their impact on the ability of colleges and universities to attract private giving, frequently making the difference between institutional death and survival. (Author/PG)

Reviews A Foundation Goes to School'' which is an examination of the Comprehensive School Improvement Program. (RB)

Philanthropy plays a visible but little-studied role in education reform, making it easy to both overestimate and underestimate its significance. The emergence of "new" givers in the last few years, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, has shifted the landscape of school reform. This article, based…