Vision

School systems and their support organizations have reliable, practical evidence and measures for planning and implementing a high-impact math improvement initiative district-wide.

Opportunity Overview

The Gates Foundation is seeking select applicants for a 6-month planning grant (beginning in January 2021) focused on math curriculum implementation in grades 6–8. Through this grant, the foundation hopes to help districts and their nonprofit partner create a plan for bringing together a coherent instructional system that “anchors on an instructional vision and core curriculum, and includes the complete set of educational elements that influence instruction (e.g., interim assessments, supplements, interventions, professional learning, and learning management systems).”

At the conclusion of the planning phase, successful grantees will be eligible for additional implementation funding to support the plan’s execution in Fall 2021.

Eligibility

Applicants must comprise a lead nonprofit partner and two districts serving priority students (secondary students who are experiencing poverty, Black, Latinx, and/or English Learner–designated).Districts must be either in the early stages of implementing an eligible math curriculum (early stage = 0–2 years of use), or refreshing implementation plans due to major instructional shifts that resulted from COVID-19 school closures.

Eligible curricula include:

• Agile Mind
• Ready (Curriculum Associates)
• Eureka Math (Great Minds)
• Into Math (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Illustrative Mathematics
• Zearn Grade 6
• Carnegie (TX only)

In addition to utilizing one of the selected curricula, Instruction Partners seeks districts that are excited to engage fully in all aspects of the planning process. We expect this to take up to 10% of central district time.

What will my district receive?

Each district will receive $25,000 to support their time and investment in this work. Through the planning process, Instruction Partners will work with the district to complete the following deliverables:

• A curriculum implementation plan
• Completed partnership-specific learning plans
• Executed partnership and data-sharing agreements
• An assessment of district needs in response to COVID-19 and how the partnership will address them
• A draft “Results Framework and Tracker” for implementation plans

Submission details

Applications are due in late October, and Instruction Partners will apply as the lead partner and on behalf of two districts.