Reconnecting Education & Foundations: Turning Good Intentions into Educational Capital. Summary of the Findings and Recommendations

In early January 2004, in connection with its centennial, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching began a 30-month appraisal of relations between influential philanthropic foundations and educational institutions (both K-12 and higher education) with the goal of strengthening those relations. The authors, both co-directors of the project and editors of the book based on the project, summarize their findings in this brochure. They interviewed nearly three dozen leaders who had worked with and/or for foundations and educational institutions. Some of them were involved primarily in K-12 education or in higher education, some in foundation programming and leadership, and some in both spheres. The comments of these foundation leaders about higher education, K-12 education, and foundations are listed. The authors then present a set of six recommendations on how relations between foundations and institutions of education might be strengthened. These recommendations are: (1) Building Educational Capital; (2) Openness; (3) External Review; (4) Professional Development; (5) Collaboration; and (6) Putting Educational Capital to Work. This summary is based on the Carnegie/Jossey-Bass publication of the same title, "Reconnecting Education and Foundations: Turning Good Intentions into Educational Capital," [ED493650]. The overarching goal of the recommendations and the essays that comprise the book is to encourage a new look at how foundations work in education. [This project was also supported by the TIAA-CREF Institute.]