Education Models

Innovators in the education community are creating vibrant new environments for learning and transforming existing schools with new energy. We look for ways to support and replicate the most promising school models and the out-of-school programs that take the most effective approaches to helping children improve their academic achievement. When we look beyond the constraints of conventions and traditions, we find new opportunities for young people to learn and engage with the world.

Initiatives

  • The Kauffman Foundation awards small grants of up to $50,000 each for nonprofit organizations offering sustainable after-school and summer enrichment programs for young people, with an emphasis on Kansas City’s urban core.

  • The Children's Defense Fund's Freedom Schools® is a six-week summer educational program for school-age children. Staffed by college-age interns, CDF Freedom Schools provide a supportive learning environment for children—who are referred to in the program as "scholars"—with a curriculum that emphasizes reading, writing, mentoring, leadership, and conflict resolution.

  • The Ewing Marion Kauffman School represents a substantial commitment to continue the Foundation's legacy of providing the best educational opportunities for students in Kansas City’s urban core.

  • Expeditionary Learning Schools thumbnailExpeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound is a comprehensive K-12 educational design that combines rigorous academic content and real world projects called Learning Expeditions with active teaching and community service.

  • Formed in 2011, the Kansas City Education Funders Collaborative is a joint funding initiative of the Kauffman Foundation, H&R Block Foundation, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, and The Hall Family Foundation. Leveraging resources for local education projects of mutual interest, the Collaborative aims to improve and increase the number of quality seats in Kansas City area schools.

  • Kauffman Scholars is a comprehensive multi-year program designed to help promising, yet challenged, low-income urban students in Kansas City prepare for and complete a college education.

  • Knowledge Is Power Program thumbnailThe Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory public schools in under-resourced communities that emphasizes outstanding educators, more time in school, a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum, and a strong culture of achievement and support.

  • Teach for America - Kansas City places top college graduates into teaching positions in the highest-need schools within the Kansas City metro area to provide children in low-income communities with quality educational opportunities.

Featured Resources

  • Putting Performance on the Map: Locating Quality Schools in the Kansas City, Missouri School District, which was funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is a study analyzing performance, location, and enrollment at Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) and charter schools during the 2008-2009 school year. The report also analyzes the District's "Transforming the KCMSD" plan as it impacts the data collected by IFF in the preparation of the report.

  • This report shares the findings of an audit conducted across thirty school districts in which the state of science labs was assessed. The audit was conducted by SuccessLink, with funding of the project from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. This study was conducted as part of the Kauffman Foundation's multi-year agenda to improve student achievement in mathematics, science, and technology subjects in the Greater Kansas City region.