New Teaching and School 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 Children's Defense Fund's Freedom School™ 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.

  • Cristo Rey Network thumbnailThe Cristo Rey Network is a national association of high schools that provide quality, Catholic, college preparatory education to urban young people who live in communities with limited educational options.

  • A Kauffman Foundation grant allows twenty-five Duke TIP Kansas City-Area Scholars to participate through 12th grade in the Next Generation Venture Fund (NGVF) program designed to prepare a pipeline of high potential youth from underrepresented and economically disadvantaged populations to be competitive for admission to selective colleges and universities.

  • Expeditionary Learning Schools thumbnailExpeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound (ELS) 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.

  • 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.

  • The Kauffman Foundation supports the development and potential start-up of a variety of new schools models in the Kansas City area including Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound, KIPP Schools, and Cristo Rey.

  • 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.

  • Teacher Induction in Kansas CityNew teachers need more focused and consistent mentor support, according to a recent study funded by the Kauffman Foundation.

  • 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.

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.

  • Hannah Lofthus, a Teach For America corps member at Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant Charter School, speaks to Kauffman Foundation associates about her experiences as part of the high-performing charter school in New York City.