The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is doling out $92 million to charter networks and nonprofits around the country as part of a new approach to getting more low-income students into college. Part of a longer-term project, the foundation has pledged $460 million over the next five years in pursuit of the same goals.
Called Networks for School Improvements, the new program supports organizations bringing middle and high schools together to improve college readiness and access for low-income, black and Latino students.
Many of the 19 grant recipients in this round, including the charter school network KIPP, have already received Gates Foundation funding in the past. Among those funded in this round:
- San Diego’s High Tech High, which received $10 million to create a “college access network” with 30 other California schools;
- Nonprofit Achieve Atlanta, which received more than $500,000 to create a tool that matches students to colleges that might fit them best; and
- New Visions for Public Schools, which will use a $14 million grant to pursue a college readiness program at NYC schools focused on raising grade-point averages and other metrics of success.
With this latest round, the foundation is largely trying to build on existing work and support college readiness programs the foundation deemed as already showing promise. All recipients will collect data and use it to inform decision-making.
Not all of the foundation’s big ideas have panned out. During the past decade, the Gates Foundation has injected billions into projects, some of which have stumbled. An effort to couple “teacher effectiveness” ratings with targeted professional development was derided in a recent report. And an attempt to steer students from large schools to smaller academies fizzled as well.
