Critical Contributions: Philanthropic Investment in Teachers and Teaching
Teacher effectiveness is widely regarded as “what matters most” in fostering improved learning and better student outcomes. Organized philanthropy recognizes this and has made strengthening instruction a priority for years. A prominent effort currently underway is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) initiative. In total, six school districts are participating in the MET initiative, and the Foundation has invested over $335 million in it. Other foundations have also made significant commitments to improving teacher effectiveness recently including the Ford, Joyce, Stuart Foundations, Carnegie Corporation and scores of other funders of all sizes and types across the nation.
Critical Contributions: Philanthropic Investment in Teachers and Teaching, prepared by a team of researchers from Kronley & Associates and the University of Georgia, examines recent foundation activity to improve instruction and offers an in-depth review of grantmaking in the 2000s. A key finding of the report was the magnitude of philanthropic investment in strengthening teacher quality—between 2000 and 2008, $684 million was directed toward teachers and teaching. Half of this funding came from a group of ten foundations. Similarly much of it—60 percent—was directed to just twenty organizations. With $213 million in identified grants, Teach for America captured more than any other organization working on matters related to teachers and teaching.
Critical Contributions: Philanthropic Investment in Teachers and Teaching, prepared by a team of researchers from Kronley & Associates and the University of Georgia, examines recent foundation activity to improve instruction and offers an in-depth review of grantmaking in the 2000s. A key finding of the report was the magnitude of philanthropic investment in strengthening teacher quality—between 2000 and 2008, $684 million was directed toward teachers and teaching. Half of this funding came from a group of ten foundations. Similarly much of it—60 percent—was directed to just twenty organizations. With $213 million in identified grants, Teach for America captured more than any other organization working on matters related to teachers and teaching.
