Among the many groups of Barack Obama's supporters who considered him one of their own, and helped propel him into the presidency, were large numbers of the nation's college professors, administrators, and students. The president-elect won overwhelming support from academe throughout the campaign. The Obama campaign aggressively courted student…

In the world of grant-making, there are private, corporate, and government sources at the local, state, and federal level, and each of them has funds to award. The trick is to make a good match. This article offers tips for finding grant funds and writing grants.

Achieving universal education is a twofold challenge: to get children and youth into school and then to teach them something meaningful while they are there. While important progress has been made on the first challenge, there is a crisis unfolding in relation to learning. Around the world, there have been major gains in primary school enrollment…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have received inadequate funding since their inception. This has challenged the development of programs and infrastructure, the adoption of technology, and the recruitment of faculty and students. Yet among HBCUs there are standouts that, despite unequal funding patterns in comparison to…

The overarching goal of the "Supporting Best Practices in Student Success Project" is to create, enhance, or expand successful programs that are replicable and can be scaled to greatly improve the percentage of underserved students who complete postsecondary education. In doing so, National College Access Network (NCAN) aimed to build…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects an estimated 1% of children in the United States and yet many fundamental questions about the biology of ASD, potential risk factors, effective treatments and interventions, and impacts throughout life remain unanswered. Important advances have been made in understanding the complexity of ASD, but additional…

Despite long-term and ongoing efforts to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students, low-income students continue to perform at considerably lower levels than their higher-income peers in reading and mathematics. Research has shown that students' skills and knowledge often deteriorate during the summer months, with…

The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) kicked off 2010 with its legislative campaign, "Our Race to the Top." This campaign resulted in the passage of a slate of progressive education reform bills. During the summer months, it ran the "Vote for Ed" campaign, which put the issue of Connecticut's struggling public…

Pacific Island countries are recipients of considerable education reform projects, many of which are sponsored by various global donor agencies. These agencies have become partners for development in the region. Research cautions that development projects may have detrimental influences as their designs and delivery often ignore the economic,…

Coming up with ideas for major donations that are not only enticing to the most generous philanthropists but are also aligned with an institution's goals is a vexing problem for many colleges. With 28 colleges now in the midst of capital campaigns with goals of $1-billion or more, finding the right ideas has never been more important. To find…

A surprise request for proposals from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a forthcoming report on university publishing in the digital age were among topics discussed at the annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses. The offer from the Mellon Foundation concerns support for collaborative, monograph-centered projects in…

In this paper the author summarizes some of the most relevant issues, evidence, and divergent thinking relative to the strategic management of human capital in education. This paper has been built upon the most recent research, interviews with 20 of the leading experts around the nation, and structured conversations with leading-edge educators in…

This interview between a member of the FrameWorks staff and a long-time funder of FrameWorks research and field building highlights the critical role that communications can play in maximizing philanthropy's long-term impact in the social sector, even--or perhaps especially--in times of economic scarcity and retrenchment. The interview captures…

African Americans give a larger percentage of their disposable income to non-profits than any other racial group, including Whites. However, there is a lack of literature on Black giving to higher education. This lack of research is particularly acute in our current state of decreased funding to higher education. This case study of the United…

As the U.S. Department of Education prepares final rules for the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund, officials face strong concerns from school districts and philanthropies that requiring matching funds from the private sector is unworkable and would turn foundations into the gatekeepers for the federal grants. Concern about the proposed…