Education -- Boston Metro     

TeenTV ran two eight-week workshops in television production in the summer of 2004, around the time of the Democratic National Convention. The workshops were designed to transform teens into producers of community television programs on youth issues that will be cablecast on Boston Neighborhood Network channels. In addition to technical training in lighting, audio, video and computer equipment, the program provided an opportunity for youth to develop peer leadership skills and practice academic skills such as research, writing and cutting-edge computer software applications, all in a fun and collaborative environment. The workshops focused on civic engagement, with opportunities to explore community and political issues raised by the Democratic National Convention.

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Education -- Boston Metro 

ReadBoston was founded in 1995 to ensure that all Boston children are fluent readers by the end of 3rd grade. It forms partnerships with local organizations committed to childhood literacy to funnel program ideas, best practices and resources into Boston neighborhoods. Through book drives, lending libraries and programs designed to make reading fun, ReadBoston promotes more effective reading instruction and family involvement in literacy development. Programs include Early Literacy Links, which trains teachers and daycare providers in reading instruction; the Family Literacy Project and the Reading is Fundamental Program, which operate through the public school system to set up lending libraries and offer free books as incentives for participation; and Families & Books, which operates lending libraries out of fifteen family homeless shelters. During the summer months, ReadBoston also sends out two "Storymobiles" to community locations, equipped with volunteers who read to children and 10,000 books to be given away.

• Over 500,000 new books given to children through ReadBoston's Book Drive
• 1,700 tutors volunteer weekly to read with young children in early childhood programs, schools and after-school programs
• The Family Literacy Project has set up lending libraries in 21 Boston elementary schools
• 15,000 children participate in the Reading is Fundamental Project annually

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Education -- Boston Metro     

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Education -- Boston Metro    

Achieve Boston is a collaborative effort to help after-school and youth workers develop their professional skills and knowledge, advance their careers, and ultimately better serve children, youth, and families. Achieve Boston is the first collaborative to offer after-school and youth workers a locally-based and easy-to-access training system.   It will simultaneously build a skilled workforce and improve the quality of programs for young people.

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Education -- Boston Metro    

EdVestors was formed in 2002 to link the donor community with those engaged in the work of strengthening urban schools in Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts. EdVestors simultaneously helps donors evaluate which education improvement efforts to invest in and helps those developing effective urban education programs to reach potential donors. Its Education Review Panel screens an initial pool of 100 urban education initiatives with a rigorous review process and selects a group of finalists that are presented for consideration to likely and pre-committed donors, including individual philanthropists and foundations. EdVestors offers potential donors two grant-making opportunities. First, its annual Urban Education Investment Showcase features ten leading initiatives that are proposed to donors who individually make grants to the programs of their choosing. Second, the EdVestors Collaborative Fund raises money that is collectively given to a selected group of grantees. EdVestors also offers technical assistance to selected programs.

• Channeled $900,000 to 22 school improvement initiatives in 2004
• The Fund for Nonprofit Partnerships, a foundation collaborative, merged with EdVestors in August 2003, becoming EdVestors Collaborative Fund
• Seed funding and office space provided by The Boston Foundation

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Education -- Boston Metro 

The Early Education for All Campaign is a coalition of leaders from business, labor, religion, health care, education, early childhood and philanthropy, working in partnership with grassroots leaders, state policymakers, and parents to make publicly-funded high-quality preschool education and full-day public school kindergarten available to every Massachusetts child within ten years. The campaign was launched in the summer of 2000 by experienced child policy advocate Margaret Blood, who then founded Strategies for Children, Inc. in July 2001 to be the operating infrastructure for the Campaign and related activities. A major success was achieved with the passage of provisions in the 2005 state budget that created a new independent Department of Early Education and Care. In December 2004, the Campaign filed "An Act Establishing Early Education for All" with extraordinary bi-partisan support. If enacted, this legislation would create the essential elements of a universally accessible, high-quality early education program.

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Education -- Boston Metro 

The Education Rewards Loan Program fills a longstanding gap in financial aid for people not going on to 4 year degrees or people in the workforce who need to upgrade their skills. By offering Massachusetts residents low interest student loans of up to $10,000 individuals are able to enroll in occupational skills training resulting in an industry recognized certificate, license or credential in eligible occupations that have been identified as high demand or high growth. Examples of such occupations include: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Nurse, Radiology Technician, Engineer and Legal Assistant.  These loans are also available for students enrolled less than half time in Associate Degree programs targeted for eligible occupations, and can be used for tuition, books, and/or living expenses.

• Loan guidelines are flexible and take into consideration an applicants' entire financial picture over a seven year period to assist as many people as possible in qualifying for assistance.
• Unemployment recipients and people lacking work are also eligible for this program despite lack of current income from a job.

This new program is offered in cooperation with MEFA, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, which serves as the program lender.

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Education-- Boston Metro     

Since 1995 Citizen Schools has built a creative and effective learning model that addresses community needs while building student skills through hands-on experiential learning activities. The goal is to prepare students for leadership roles in the 21st century through an after-school program that builds on community values. Each year, 1,200 children participate at 12 campuses around Boston.  Recently, Citizen Schools launched a major national expansion, with the goal of expanding to eleven cities and strengthening the out-of-school time movement across the country.

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Education -- Boston Metro     

MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a large-scale, web-based publication of the educational materials from the MIT faculty's courses. This unique initiative enables the open sharing of the MIT faculty's teaching materials with educators, enrolled students, and self-learners around the world. MIT OCW provides users with open access to the syllabi, lecture notes, course calendars, problem sets and solutions, exams, reading lists, and video lectures from 1,100 MIT courses representing 33 academic disciplines and all five of MIT's schools.

• Plan for 1800 courses by 2008
• Implements Creative Commons licensing for free reuse and distribution
• Includes 33 academic disciplines

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Education - Regional

The Vermont MIDI Project is a digital network that connects elementary and high school music programs across the state. Students use Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) programs to compose music on computers. The compositions are then shared on the project's website. Ten professional musicians from Vermont serve as mentors, offering constructive criticism and support. Since 2000, the Vermont MIDI Project has put on a biannual Opus Concert where professional musicians perform student pieces. The chance to work with the musicians is as valuable an opportunity for students as the writing of the musical piece itself.

• Serves 34 schools in Vermont
• Initial funding through a State Legislature grant for Distance Learning
• Funders have included the WEB Project (a federal Innovation Technology Challenge grant), and a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce establishing the Vermont Millennium Arts Project

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Education - Regional

Huntsville students modeling equations

At a magnet school in rural Alabama, math teacher Brenda Levert created a project to help students learn to graph linear equations by physically modeling lines and functions. For example, students modeling the function "y=x²" hold their arms over their heads, making the shape of the letter "U." In the project, students choreograph dances to songs of their choice, using dance moves to demonstrate at least nine equations. The project helps students not ordinarily successful at math to learn the subject.

• Uses active learning to help students retain information
• Students videotape dance and hand in printouts of depicted equations
• Aimed at students in 8th through 10th grade

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Education - Regional

The EAST Initiative is a nonprofit group founded in December 2001 to help schools create a positive educational environment for students. The organization promotes education steeped in emerging technologies and focused on self-direction and community service. For example, students in Cedarville, Arkansas used their architectural design skills to plan the town's new fire station, city hall, library and public park. Other community service projects by EAST Initiative classes include mapping a local waterway using GPS/GIS systems and building a website for a Native American reservation.

• Over 220 schools in seven states participate
• Over 20,000 students involved
• Founded in Arkansas as a collaboration between academic and business partners

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 Virtual High School;;;

National / International

Innovation

The pacesetter in collaborative online high school course development and delivery.

Description

The Virtual High School (VHS) is a growing cooperative of approximately 300 high schools in 30 states and 10 foreign countries offering netcourses taught by participating school teachers. Each school contributes teachers who, with the help of instructional technology experts, design and offer innovative courses over the Internet.  VHS is the first high school program to marry collaborative educational computer networking for students with graduate-level professional netcourse training for participating teachers.  An exemplar of the educational use of technology, VHS empowers schools to share intellectual resources and course delivery with partners around country.

• Each school contributes to course development
• Adherence of cutting-edge pedagogical methods
• Full selection of courses

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 Connecting Victoria (Australia)  

Education -- National/International

Innovation

<;p align="left" />Using both schools and adult technology training to grow the information technology sector in Victoria, Australia.

Description

Connecting Victoria is the blueprint by the government of Victoria, Australia for growing the State's information and communications technology (ICT) sector.  It has six key planks with the overarching aim of bringing the benefits of technology to all Victorians:  building a learning society, growing industries of the future, boosting e-commerce, connecting communities, improving infrastructure and access, and promoting a new style of government.  Multimedia Victoria is the Government agency principally responsible for implementing Connecting Victoria.  A key aim has been to foster an education system in which ICT becomes part of the everyday classroom.  Victorian schools are now better equipped with technology than ever before; Victorian students are more sophisticated users of technology and the State's teachers have the technology infrastructure and support they need. As a result, Victoria was recognized in 2004 as one of the world's seven most Intelligent Communities.

• Every teacher provided with a notebook computer and e-mail account
• Student-to-computer ratio is among the best in the world
• School curricula updated to emphasize technology skills
• "Skills.net" program has given 107,000 Victorians affordable or free technology training

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 Camfed

Education -- National/International

Innovation

Empowering African communities to combat poverty through female education.

Description

CAMFED has recognized female education as a potential bottom-up solution to many poverty-related problems in African communities. Educated women have been shown to be marry later, to be less likely to contract HIV/AIDS, and to have fewer children, who are healthier and more likely to go to school. Support of girls education and female leadership can mobilize the female population as a valuable resource to realize both economic and social progress. Camfed thus advocates for gender equality, while at the same time providing communities with a catalyst in their struggle to turn the tide of poverty.

• Program implemented in more than 30 districts in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania with 21 new district centers in planning
• Currently supporting 68,290 children in school, and in 2004 alone has reached 480,000+ community members

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 International Education and Resource Network  

Education -- National/International

Innovation

The world's largest online educational network for school age children.

Description

The International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) is a non-profit organization made up of over 20,000 schools in more than 109 countries. iEARN empowers teachers and young people to work together online using the Internet and other new communications technologies. Approximately 750,000 to 1,000,000 students are engaged in collaborative project work worldwide every day. Since 1988, iEARN has pioneered professional development and on-line school linkages to enable students to engage in meaningful educational projects with peers in their countries and around the world.

• World wide instructional computer network
• 20,000 participating schools in more than 109 countries
• 750,000 + students engaged worldwide
• Youth suggested projects

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