Below is a roundup of some of the great work our grantees and Foundation staff accomplished in December 2018.
Bedtime Math
A new study on the effects of Bedtime Math showed that changes in parental attitudes impact children’s math achievement–and the impact lasts for years. Overdeck Family Foundation funded the study, which was conducted by current and former University of Chicago researchers and was published in the December issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
The study found that math-anxious parents who used Bedtime Math with their children saw improvement in their children’s math achievement that lasted years after the families stopped using the app. Exposure to the math app also changed parents’ attitudes about math for the better.
The study was featured on USA Today, NPR, and EdWeek.
Sesame Street in Communities
Sesame Street in Communities is featured in the New York Times for its work to help parents, caregivers, and others to improve the lives of children.
The program has addressed topics like the incarceration of a parent, the death of a parent, nutrition and school preparedness. Its work is credited with helping Sesame Workshop see the need to address childhood homelessness.
Opportunity Insights & TNTP
Opportunity Insights and TNTP are featured in The74’s article, “11 Charts That Changed the Way We Think About Schools in 2018.”
Opportunity Insights is highlighted for its work on equity, especially the finding that black kids born to high-earning parents are just as likely to fall into hardship as they are to maintain their own status. TNTP is highlighted for its work on instruction, particularly its finding that students spend six months of class time on remedial work.
EiE
Engineering is Elementary is featured in EdWeek for its work with young children, including preschoolers and kindergartners.
“They’re natural engineers with an inclination to design the world around them,” said Christine M. Cunningham, founding director of Engineering is Elementary and vice president of the Museum of Science in Boston.
AfterSchool Alliance
AfterSchool Alliance thanked the Overdeck Family Foundation for its continued support, which in 2018 resulted in $30 million of new funding for STEM education in Pennsylvania and the establishment of Vermont’s first statewide afterschool funding stream.
The new round of funding will be used to provide support to 16 state networks who are interested in developing and advancing afterschool STEM.