2021 Bright Spots: Unlocking Innovation
This blog post explores how three organizations—New Jersey Tutoring Corps, Springboard Collaborative, and EiE—embraced disruptions caused by Covid as an opportunity to fuel innovation.
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New Jersey Tutoring Corps Expands to School Year after Successful Summer
The NJ Tutoring Corps, a research-informed, high-dosage, small-group tutoring program created by Overdeck Family Foundation and the NJ Pandemic Relief Fund, will expand to the school year starting in January. The program was launched in summer to tackle COVID-related learning loss and accelerate learning recovery for NJ students.
Why Funding Family STEM Is More Important Than Ever
In 2021, Overdeck Family Foundation made grants totaling $3.75 million to organizations that support family STEM. This post explores the importance of engaging families in their children's STEM learning and highlights three organizations that are leading the way.
Supporting Kindergarten Readiness and Early School Success in a Pandemic Year
The Early Impact portfolio at Overdeck Family Foundation funds programs that support school readiness both in and out of "school," ensuring that every child has the opportunity for a strong start. This year, with the many challenges and setbacks created by the pandemic, that work is more critical than ever. This post highlights some of our grantee organizations engaging in this important work.
Tech-Enabled Math Solutions: Investing in the Growth and Continued Innovation of Two High-Quality Math Platforms
The pandemic put the benefits of tech-enabled solutions front and center. While traditional math curriculum providers struggled to adapt, digital and tech-enabled curriculum and solution providers were able to quickly respond to student needs, decreasing the amount of interrupted learning that students experienced. In this post, we highlight two solutions that measurably accelerate math learning: Zearn and ST Math.
Celebrating Innovation: Promising Results from Virtual Programs
Learn about three organizations that quickly implemented virtual programs during COVID-19 and now have evidence of impact.
Re-Envisioning "Innovative Schools" for 2021: Why We’re Investing Deeper in Tech-Enabled Learning Solutions
Over the past year, the Innovative Schools portfolio has increased its confidence in the ability of tech-enabled interventions to meet and measurably impact ever-growing needs for students across the country. Read more about our redefined strategy, and why we're focusing on leveraging technology to create and support student-centered, evidence-based K-9 learning solutions.
Announcing a New Home for Family Math: The National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement
We're excited to announce that we have selected NAFSCE (National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement), in partnership with the Erikson Institute’s Early Math Collaborative, as the official new home for family math!
Innovation: Rethinking the Role of Teachers
Within crisis often hides opportunity, and what’s emerging through COVID-19 is the opportunity for teachers to rethink how to best engage with and teach their students.
Why We Funded: Tech-Enabled Innovation for Today’s Distance Learning "Classrooms"
Nobody could have predicted a year ago what the 2020-21 school year would bring. We’re grateful to the many grantees in the Innovative Schools portfolio who were well-positioned to incorporate tech-enabled innovation to meet the moment.