The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle
What/who in education has captured the interest of the powerful Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation these days? The following list of education-related grants — all awarded in November 2012 — show that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are big with the foundation, and, of course, the foundation continues to pour millions into its initiative around teacher evaluation based in part on student standardized test scores. Here’s the list, assembled from the organization’s website:
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to inform state and local policies on teacher evaluation as a significant and valuable tool
Amount: $2,101,177
Term: 2 years
Topic: Advocacy & Public Policy
Grantee Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to support entrepreneurs responding to school needs through innovation in product design and development
Amount: $750,000
Term: 1 year
Grantee Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Date: November 2012
Purpose: for general operating support
Amount: $200,000
Term: 1 year
Grantee Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to establish educator panels composed of individuals committed to locally designing and championing the implementation of the recently passed teacher and leader effectiveness policies
Amount: $600,759
Term: 1 year and 10 months
Grantee Location: Portland, Oregon
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to create a three year strategic plan and also carrying out a new model for community engagement to reach underrepresented populations
Amount: $10,000
Term: 1 month
Grantee Location: Burien, Washington
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to develop and implement a high quality Massive Open Online Course that will engage a broad range of students in successfully advancing their general and developmental education
Amount: $50,000
Term: 9 months
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to develop and implement a high quality Massive Open Online Course that will engage a broad range of students in successfully advancing their general and developmental education
Amount: $49,998
Term: 8 months
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to develop and implement a high quality Massive Open Online Course that will engage a broad range of students in successfully advancing their general and developmental education
Amount: $50,000
Term: 8 months
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to develop and implement a high quality Massive Open Online Course that will engage a broad range of students in successfully advancing their general and developmental education
Amount: $50,000
Term: 8 months
Grantee Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Vanderbilt University
Date: November 2012
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to support a research project seeking to understand what conditions and supports will need to be in place for principals and other key stakeholders to productively use new measures of teaching becoming available
Amount: $590,525
Term: 1 year and 4 months
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to develop and implement a high quality Massive Open Online Course that will engage a broad range of students in successfully advancing their general and developmental education
Amount: $49,939
Term: 1 year
Date: November 2012
Purpose: to develop and implement a high quality Massive Open Online Course that will engage a broad range of students in successfully advancing their general and developmental education
Amount: $49,999
Term: 8 months
Grantee Location: San Jacinto, California