Realizing that research, innovation and planning are necessary in order to positively affect future students in Texas, the THECB is undergoing a strategic planning process jointly supported by the Houston Endowment, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Meadows Foundation and Greater Texas Foundation.  The primary goal of the THECB’s strategic planning process is to establish an outcomes based student-centered culture at all Texas public colleges and universities.  The benefits of a university with a student-centered culture are immeasurable. In these institutions, student success is the highest campus priority, as measured by the number and percentage of students who complete rigorous programs and degrees with the measurable skills necessary for success beyond undergraduate education.

Current data on student progress and achievement in the state show areas that require quick attention if educational outcomes for students are to improve.  In Texas, less than half of those enrolling in post-secondary education go on to complete a post-secondary degree or credential within seven years of graduating high school.  This disconnect is currently the focus and central theme in the statewide Closing the Gaps initiative, with goals to increase rates of post-secondary participation and completion in Texas.  The total project cost is $546,000 with Greater Texas Foundation contributing $108,000 to support the process facilitated by FSG Social Impact Advisors. Beyond the creation of a strategic plan, FSG will also aid with the development of methods and strategies to implement and achieve these goals.  The plan is estimated to finish in March 2010.

Visit the Coordinating Board website to read more about the Closing the Gaps Initiative.

Teachers at the Summer 2009 San Antonio area AMDM professional development - part of the first wave of yearlong professional support for teachers piloting the course.

Greater Texas Foundation awarded $410,000 to the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas to support the development of an Advanced Mathematical Decision Making (AMDM) mathematics capstone course. In response to the new graduation requirement that Texas high school students complete four years of mathematics, the Dana Center—in partnership with the Texas Association of Supervisors of Mathematics (TASM)—utilized the funds over a two-year period to support the development of a rigorous and engaging capstone high school mathematics course designed to follow Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II.

The course material presents a very hands-on, real-world application approach to the uses and theories of mathematics.  More specifically,

the course emphasizes statistics and financial applications, and it prepares students to use algebra, geometry, trigonometry and discrete mathematics to model a range of situations and solve problems.”

AMDM is designed to help students prepare for many non-mathematics intensive college majors.  It will also serve students who might not be planning to attend college but instead enter into a workforce training program.  The course is being piloted by 120 teachers in 90 Texas schools, as well as a few schools in Illinois and Indiana.

To learn more about the curriculum, visit the AMDM project website.

Read about what pilot teachers are saying about AMDM here.

The Manhattan Institute Award for Social Entrepreneurship honors nonprofit leader who have founded innovative, private organizations to help address some of America’s most pressing social problems.  Throughout our history, the United States has been distinguished by the capacity of citizens to address social problems through new organizations established through their own initiative.  From Clara Barton and the American Red Cross to Millard Fuller and Habitat for Humanity, Americans have consistently come forward, without prompting or assistance from government, to organize nonprofit action to improve American society by providing services to those in need.  It is those who follow in such footsteps whom the Manhattan Institute Social Entrepreneurship Award seeks to recognize.

To visit the Manhattan Institute’s website, click here.

To read more about the award, click here.

Visit the KIPP website.

Krystin Ramos is a 2009 recipient of the award.  Read an excerpt from her essay below:

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.” Those are the words of Confucius.

Without my father in my life and his positive encouragement there is no way I would have been able to make it this far in life.  He has instilled the knowledge and strength that was needed to overcome numerous obstacles and provide the will that helps me realize that I can achieve anything.  Being the first in my family to get this far in college has brought along many hardships, but he has been there by my side and provided any help necessary to get to the next step.  Because of this and his support I would like to celebrate my father as my elder.

When I was in ninth grade I encountered the hardest year in math: Algebra.  I always could pass all my subjects with A’s and B’s in junior high, but high school made me realize that the courses were a little different.  Math just wasn’t my favorite subject, and because of that I would shut down and couldn’t figure out my homework.  When I came home with my first exam and failing grade my dad sat me down and we had a talk.  I was expecting a lecture and probably a punishment, but instead I got something else.  My dad told me that together we would figure it out and I would pass Algebra.  I thought he was crazy but I knew failing a class was not an option.  Every night I would come home with homework and we would sit down together and try to figure it out with my notes and the text book.  I’d spend hours at the kitchen table with him after dinner until every problem was answered and I understood what I was doing.  Pretty soon the math homework stopped looking like a foreign language and started making sense, and when I brought home my report card I had a solid B in that class. 

My dad inspired me to continue taking math and not avoid it because I was scared.  Now that I’m almost a junior in college I have to admit that now math is one of my favorite subjects.  Now that my little sister is reaching high school, she is having a hard time with math as well and it feels good that I can help her just like my dad did for me just a few years ago. 

I hope I’m inspiring my little sisters and showing them that anything is possible, and you can achieve anything you want in life, just like my dad has taught me.

Read more about the Celebrating Our Elders Scholarship Program, here.

Since 2003, Greater Texas Foundation has provided $8.6 million in scholarship grants for post-secondary institutions in the state of Texas.  Providing need based aid remains a significant interest of the foundation.  To see the full RFP, click here.

Since 2003, Greater Texas Foundation has provided $8.65 million in scholarship grants for post-secondary institutions in the state of Texas.  Providing need based aid remains a significant interest of the foundation.  To see the full RFP’s click here.

While in their senior year of high school, students in El Paso, Texas in are taking upper division course work at the University of Texas El Paso.  This group of 23 students attends Mission Early College High School and is among the first cohort to accomplish this level of completion. Because they have not completed high school, these students are not eligible for federal financial aid and therefore qualify for little funding to help pay for this course work at UTEP.  A grant from the Greater Texas Foundation has helped by providing scholarship money for these 23 students as they transition to upper division study at UTEP.

To read more on this story click here

Reasoning Mind currently operates in 28 schools in Texas, as well as in many schools in California and Louisiana.

Year: 2009

Amount: $20,000