NEWTON, MA | June 16, 2011
EDC has won one grant award—and is a partner in two other awards—in the latest round of the Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC), which announced $7 million in funding for 19 innovative programs to help students master seventh- to ninth-grade level math and reading content.
A $250,000 grant award to EDC will expand, scale, and test a set of digital games and activities built on Portable Wordplay, a project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The new funding will be used to support expanding these games to make them relevant to a wider range of courses; enable a shift in game platform from the DSi to the Web; and evaluate the impact of the games on students’ academic word knowledge and reading ability.
In a second award, EDC will partner with the Louisiana Department of Education, the grantee, to expand the nationally recognized online algebra courses in its Louisiana Virtual School Program. EDC will help provide students and teachers with increased access to required courses, a rich curriculum, enrichment programs, and professional development opportunities using 21st-century technology.
In a third award, EDC will work with grantee CAST, Inc., a nonprofit research and development firm in Wakefield, Massachusetts, to develop a design tool that embeds learning supports based on universal design principles and supports deeper learning for a diverse group of students, especially disadvantaged, low-income, and minority youth, and youth with disabilities.
“The fact that EDC is named in 3 of the 19 awards for innovative programs shows that we are working on some of the most promising new approaches and next-generation designs for learning,” said EDC Senior Vice President Joanne Brady.
NGLC is a multi-year program led by EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit education technology organization, in collaboration with a network of organizations, including the Council of Chief State School Officers, the International Association for K–12 Online Learning, and the League for Innovation in the Community College. The initiative is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. All NGLC grants support programs designed to help students achieve competencies aligned with the Common Core State Standards—state-approved guidelines that establish what students need to learn for success in college and beyond.
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), is a global nonprofit organization that addresses some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development. EDC manages 350 projects in 35 countries. Visit edc.org.
