Below is a roundup highlighting some of the great work our grantees and Foundation staff accomplished in August 2019.
Centering Healthcare Institute
A mixed-methods evaluation of CenteringParenting’s integrated, participatory approach to maternal and child health found early evidence that the model increased the number of visits attended by parents and children in the first 15 months of life. The study, conducted at Neighborhood Family Practice, an urban community health center on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio, explored maternal participants’ experiences and children’s clinical metrics compared with those receiving traditional well-care visits in the same community health center. Children in the CenterParenting group also had higher vaccination rates than those in the other group.
CenterParenting also secured future Medicaid funding through a recently signed New Jersey bill, which expands Medicaid’s benefits in the state to include group prenatal services. “Right now, moms and babies across the country are dying at disturbing rates from preventable complications,” said Senate Leader Tom Kean (R-21). “Here in New Jersey, the statistics are particularly alarming, especially among women of color. Our state’s most vulnerable mothers and newborns deserve greater access to quality healthcare throughout pregnancy. The enactment of this law will help close the racial disparity gap, create stronger families, and save lives.”
Centering Healthcare is a grantee in the Early Impact portfolio.
Sesame Workshop
Chance the Rapper in “T is for Theater” with Cookie Monster in 2019. Credit: Sesame Workshop
Sesame Street celebrated its 50th-anniversary last month and the NY Times covered their unique history of bringing music to children as a method of teaching different concepts and ideas. Since 1969, the show has brought musicians from nearly every genre to living rooms throughout the US, from Stevie Wonder and Loretta Lynn to Lin-Manuel Miranda and Chance the Rapper.
The brainchild of documentarian Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, vice president at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Sesame Street aimed to address the challenges of early childhood education for low-income households that were unmet by federal programs like Head Start. Fueled by an initial $6 million raised from the Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation, and Public Broadcasting—a significant sum of money for the time and for an untested idea—Sesame Street took to the airwaves and reached 1.5 million homes in its first week alone. Since then, this iconic brand has attracted considerable attention from additional funders, as explored by Inside Philanthropy.
Sesame Workshop is a grantee in the Early Impact portfolio.
MoMath
Looking for something fun to do with the kids? MoMath’s monthly program made the NY Metro Parents’ list of ‘Family & Kids Activities.’ Working under the mentorship and guidance of a math expert, students spend an hour working on “engaging and beautiful” math problems curated by MoMath.
MoMath is a grantee in the Inspired Minds portfolio.
TeachNC
North Carolina teachers at a rally. Credit: NC Policy Watch, Progressive Pulse
North Carolina is looking to add teachers to its classrooms and believes TeachNC can help with teacher recruitment efforts. This state initiative for recruiting educators, which partners a media campaign with an informational website, launched with enthusiasm last month with support from partners Best NC and TEACH.org.
“Being a teacher allows you to have a fruitful and fulfilling career anywhere in North Carolina–your hometown, a big city, the mountains, or the coast,” said Superintendent Mark Johnson. “We have over 2,500 public schools in North Carolina’s 100 counties, and now we have an easy-to-use platform to learn about becoming a teacher.”
TEACH is a grantee in the Exceptional Educators portfolio.
FIRST
Evidence from our ongoing multi-year longitudinal study demonstrates that FIRST—a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of youth in STEM programs—is fulfilling its mission and that student interest in STEM extends to both their educational and career choices.
FIRST demonstrates how they prepare young people for a future in STEM.
FIRST is a grantee in the Inspired Minds portfolio.
Springboard Collaborative
Jon Marchione for NPR illustrates Springboard Collaborative in action.
To help struggling readers, Springboard Collaborative runs afterschool and summer programs in low-income elementary schools across 13 US cities. In this story, NPR’s Rachel Martin and Anya Kamenetz interview Springboard Collaborative founder Alejandro Gibes de Gac, as well as a student and teacher participating in the program in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. NPR published an additional piece exploring Springboard’s work the following week.
Springboard is a grantee in the Early Impact portfolio.
Digital Promise (the Learner Variability Project)
Source: Digital Promise report
The study of “learner variability” explores how students’ variable social, psychological, and cognitive skills impact their classroom and educational experience. Digital Promise’s Learner Variability Project released a survey of 1,880 adults that sought to understand how teachers, parents, and the public view learner variability, students’ ability to reach high levels of academic achievement, and the use of education technology. Survey results suggest that more than half of the teachers polled use technology frequently in the classroom. EdSurge’s Michael Horn digs into the survey results.
Digital Promise is a grantee in the Innovative Schools portfolio.
Nurse-Family Partnership
To help first-time expectant moms, Nurse-Family Partnership pairs them with a specially trained nurse who guides them through a healthy pregnancy and becomes a trusted resource after delivery through the child’s first two years of life. In Detroit, “13 out of every 1,000 babies… die before their first birthday,” a staggering statistic that is about twice the state’s average. Nurse-Family Partnership’s Detroit program is working to bring down this statistic, as described in this FOX report.
Nurse-Family Partnership is a grantee in the Early Impact portfolio.
Foundation News
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