The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spent more than $20 million this year in grants to institutions and organizations to support the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, continuing the hefty support it has provided since the initiative began more than five years ago, according to its Web site.
The foundation has spent well over $170 million to support the creation and implementation of Common Core State Standards, and has been praised by supporters for its philanthropy and questioned by critics who worry about wealthy private citizens using their personal fortunes to impact public policy.
Millions of Gates dollars were awarded this year for various Core-related activities, including to increase public support for the Common Core; a $3.2 million grant to the New Venture Fund is intended “to support successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards by building public awareness and understanding.” (The fund’s Web site says it is a nonprofit organization “offering domestic and international grant-making services, executing donor-developed projects, and providing full fiscal sponsorship including grant and contract management for innovative public-interest projects.”)
Some of the grants are to help develop new standardized tests aligned to the Core; the Council of Chief State School Officers won $4 million in July “to support the development of high quality assessments to measure” the standards. Other grants are to help teachers develop materials for the Common Core. The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education won a few grants in this regard, including one in July for $3,882,600 to “support a cohort of National Education Association Master Teachers in the development of Common Core-aligned lessons in K-5 mathematics and K-12 English Language Arts,” and another in October for $501,580 “to give support to teachers in Kentucky to implement the Common Core State Standards confidently and effectively.”
Meanwhile, the National Conference of State Legislatures won $447,046 in November to “continue its support of state legislators on Common Core and teacher effectiveness”; UCLA won $942,527 in September “to develop a tool that helps states on Common Core-aligned assessments”; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in August won $115,000 “to support an online, game-based learning experience for reading and writing aligned to Common Core literacy standards”; and the University of Kentucky Research Foundation won $1 million in February to “to support the launch of a new Center for Innovation in Education to advance implementation of the common core and more personalized learning for students and teachers that will enable young people to graduate career and college ready.”
Here’s a list of the Common Core-related grants the foundation handed out so far this year, obtained from their foundation’s Web site, and below the list are details of some of the larger grants.
| Grantee | Year | Issue | Program | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Committee for Economic Development | 2013 | Global Policy & Advocacy | US Program | $865,593 |
| National Conference of State Legislatures | 2013 | Global Policy & Advocacy | US Program | $557,046 |
| Bellwether Education Partners, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $1,981,978 |
| The Aspen Institute Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $1,500,003 |
| Motion Math, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $100,000 |
| National Indian Education Association | 2013 | Global Policy & Advocacy | US Program | $600,000 |
| Center for American Progress | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $550,000 |
| Southeast Asia Resource Action Center | 2013 | Global Policy & Advocacy | US Program | $440,035 |
| Foundation for Excellence in Education Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $2,000,000 |
| The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $501,580 |
| Achievement First Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $837,355 |
| Americas Promise-The Alliance For Youth | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $100,001 |
| Policy Innovators In Education Network, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $499,951 |
| James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $1,749,070 |
| New Venture Fund | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $3,213,686 |
| Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,000 |
| Summit Public Schools | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,000 |
| Military Child Education Coalition | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $563,611 |
| Learning Matters, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $25,000 |
| Aspire Public Schools | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,855 |
| Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $2,500,000 |
| Research for Action Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $650,000 |
| National Catholic Educational Association | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $100,007 |
| National Governors Association Center For Best Practices | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $750,000 |
| Regents University Of California Los Angeles | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $942,527 |
| Education Development Center, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $211,795 |
| James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $500,000 |
| University of Missouri – Columbia | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,826 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $115,000 |
| The Achievement Network | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,249 |
| University of Florida | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,000 |
| Region 8 ESC of Northeast Indiana | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,505 |
| Center for Applied Linguistics | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,396 |
| KnowledgeWorks Foundation | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $241,747 |
| DePaul University | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $248,343 |
| Perkins School for the Blind | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,113 |
| ConnectEDU, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $499,375 |
| Puget Sound Educational Service District | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $247,465 |
| Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,000 |
| National Math and Science Initiative Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $248,760 |
| National Center for Family Literacy Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $239,796 |
| Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $244,733 |
| Arkansas Public School Resource Center Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $200,000 |
| Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $231,846 |
| Battelle For Kids | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,808 |
| Center for Teaching Quality, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,471 |
| New Visions for Public Schools, Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,000 |
| National Council of Teachers of English | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $249,482 |
| New Teacher Center | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,000 |
| The George Washington University | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $259,895 |
| Harvard University | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $557,168 |
| Council for a Strong America | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $1,550,000 |
| American Agora Foundation Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $100,000 |
| The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $3,882,600 |
| Council of Chief State School Officers | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $4,000,000 |
| iCivics, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $500,000 |
| Benchmark Education Company LLC | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $25,000 |
| Six Red Marbles LLC | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $500,000 |
| LearnZillion, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $250,000 |
| Common Ground Software Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $500,000 |
| Filament Games, LLC | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $25,000 |
| University of Washington Foundation | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $610,819 |
| Council of Chief State School Officers | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $799,825 |
| National Association of State Boards of Education | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $800,000 |
| New Venture Fund | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $1,150,000 |
| New America Foundation | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $200,002 |
| National Congress of Parents and Teachers | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $499,962 |
| The Aspen Institute Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $74,290 |
| Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children | 2013 | Global Policy & Advocacy | US Program | $240,000 |
| WestEd | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $30,000 |
| Michigan State University | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $650,000 |
| LearnZillion, Inc. | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $965,525 |
| University of Kentucky Research Foundation | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $1,000,000 |
| Delaware Department of Education | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $400,000 |
| National Paideia Center Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $659,788 |
| The Aspen Institute Inc | 2013 | College-Ready | US Program | $3,615,655 |
—
Council of Chief State School Officers
July 2013
to support the development of high quality assessments to measure the Common Core State Standards
$4,000,000
21
College-Ready
GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
United States
Washington, D.C.
http://www.ccsso.org
Bellwether Education Partners, Inc.
Date: November 2013
Purpose: to support CoreSpring, an initiative to build a bank of shared Common Core aligned formative item and assessment resources that assure improved discoverability, availability and interoperability
Amount: $1,981,978
Term: 24
Topic: College-Ready
Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
Program: United States
Grantee Location: Sudbury, Mass.
Grantee Web site: http://bellwethereducation.org/
October 2013
to support an outreach and public information project that builds support and understanding of the Common Core State Standards and aligned assessments in states
$2,000,000
8
College-Ready
GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
United States
Tallahassee, Fla.
http://www.excelined.org
October 2013
to support successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards by building public awareness and understanding
$3,213,686
7
College-Ready
GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
United States
Washington, D.C.
http://www.newventurefund.org
The Aspen Institute
October 2013
to support a group of school district leaders in their efforts to implement the Common Core standards
$1,500,003
15
College-Ready
GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
United States
Washington, D.C.
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/
James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation, Inc.
Date: October 2013
to support states in their continued implementation of the Common Core State Standards
$1,749,070
26
College-Ready
GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
United States
Durham, N.C.
http://www.hunt-institute.org
Council for a Strong America
July 2013
to educate and engage stakeholders about the Common Core and teacher development through a range of communications activities
$1,550,000
26
College-Ready
GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
United States
Washington, D.C.
http://www.councilforastrongamerica.org/
National Association of State Boards of Education
June 2013
to support a development plan for the organization and its efforts to provide training and information to implement Common Core State Standards
$800,000
24
College-Ready
GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
United States
Arlington, Va.
http://www.nasbe.org