Philanthropy

Four years ago in Oregon, two foundations invested $25 million in a "small schools" initiative, the largest private investment ever in Oregon's K-12 schools. The initiative sought to improve student performance and retention by transforming large, under-performing high schools into small learning academies. The first results of the Oregon experiment are in, and unfortunately they aren't very positive. Graduation rates remain low, and attendance and test scores haven't improved much since the large high schools split apart.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—the primary funder, along with the Oregon-based Meyer Memorial Trust—has pumped significant money into the creation of small high schools around the country. But improvements in student achievement and graduation rates have been elusive. Evaluations of the Gates initiative generally show that the redesigned small high schools produce similar results to their predecessor schools, and the Oregon findings are more bad news. The Gates Foundation deserves credit for reacting to these failures in the most productive way possible: continuing its investment in high school reforms, while also modifying that investment in response to research findings.

What would you do if you had $2 billion to invest in education? The New York Times Magazine asked a group of experts involved in education philanthropy. Their responses indicate how education philanthropy is changing—for the better. But the panel brushed over some important questions that any philanthropist should consider when making education investments. We drew three key take-aways from the panel's discussion.

Outcome-Based Accountability

All five participants agreed on the importance of making philanthropic investments more outcome-focused. In the past, philanthropists spent money less strategically, without requiring recipients to demonstrate that they used money effectively. Now, it's all about results. Most funders require concrete progress from their investments.