By Amanda Brandon
Bill and Melinda Gates began the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in 2000 based on the belief that every life has equal value. They take a three-pronged approach in addressing their mission – to help all people lead healthy, productive lives – through three programs: the Global Development Program, the Global Health Program and the United States Program.
The global funds focus on improving health and economicconditions for people in developing countries. The United States fund is centered on providing opportunities for citizens with the fewestresources to further themselves through education and life experiences.
About 440 employees work in the Seattle headquarters to manage the $34.6 billion asset trust
endowment. The foundation paid $1.6 billion in grantslast year alone, with $13.6 billion since its inception.
Educating First-Generation College Bound Students
One of their large American grant recipients is theEnvision Schools, a nonprofit charter organization that manages four high schools aimed at educating first-generation college bound students. The Gates Foundation has guaranteed $10.8 million to the Envision Schools of San Francisco through 2012.
Ac
cording to Jeri Howland, vice president of development and marketing for the Envision Schools, the Gates Foundation has awarded three grants to date: $800,000 for seed money to support the first five schools; $3 million to support the development of a Bay Area cluster of schools; and $6.9 million to support the expansion of two more schools in the Bay Area and to open five new schools in another area of California.
The schools have an overall budget of $13 million. In their first four years, the cost per student has dropped from $10,900 to $9,400. This average is still above the state average of $7,500. The schools average $2,000 in philanthropy support per student per year as well.
The Envision Schools encapsulate the Gates Foundation mission of people “leading happy, healthy lives.”
About 56 percent of the students attending these schools fit the “first in their families to go to college” profile. Many of the students also come from minority backgrounds and low-income families.
Students entering the Envision Schools may have learning challenges that include entering with proficiency levels as low as fourth grade. These problems are corrected in 100 percent of the cases in four to five years, Howland says.
Even more promising is that 100 percent of the students in the Envision program meet the course requirements for entrance into the University of California system. Only 25 percent of all students in the state meet these requirements.
Forty-six percent of the Envision students enter below grade level in reading and a staggering 56 percent enter below grade level in math.
Greg Sommers, senior program officer in the Gates Foundation’s Education initiative, says the schools are teaching students from diverse backgrounds to “learn how to learn,” using a project-based learning model and blend of art and technology.
“We really use the ‘three Rs’ – rigor, relevance and relationship – to guide what we do,” says Bob Lenz, co-founder of the Envision Schools.
Truly Prepared for What Comes Next
The project-based teaching model adapts California education content standards to coursework “relevant to the real world.” Academic rigor is a standard at the schools, which encourage students and teachers to build “strong relationships” during their two years together, Lenz says.
Students are required to complete three to four large projects each year. These projects must be presented publicly in both traditional and innovative ways. For example, a project called the Holocaust Project, started with a simple question from teachers, “Am I my brother’s or sister’s keeper?” The students are required to work both individually and in small groups on discussion and research based on this question.
They then create a portfolio of work that may encompass standard delivery mechanisms such as speeches and essays alongside technologically-advanced tools including blogs, videos and multimedia. The students then present their entire project in a formal setting to peers, friends and family. Audiences frequently exceed 200 people.
“These kids are coming out of high school knowing how to make films, build Web pages and do graphic design,” Lenz says. “They truly are prepared for what comes next in college and in work.”
In their fifth year, the Envision Schools are on the road to success. The students are surpassing average state scores on the California High School Exit Exam at 84 percent in English and 78 in mathematics. Students have also been accepted to prestigious colleges to include Stanford, UCLA, UC Davis, University of Michigan and Wake Forest among others.
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