The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last week announced more than $6 million in new grants to help three urban districts continue efforts to improve high schools.
The Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., school systems will receive a combined $5.2 million to hire instructional coaches in English and mathematics and expand a program that assigns teachers and school staff members as advocates for students and their families.
Grants from local foundations, totaling $7 million, will also pay for the effort.
The districts, which serve a combined 46,000 students, established a partnership last year to collaborate on improving instruction, attendance, academic achievement, and graduation rates in their 10 high schools. The Gates grant will help support that effort as well.
Gates is also aiding academic efforts in the 727,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District, where it will spend $1.3 million over one year to train math teachers and improve algebra curriculum and instruction and other college-preparatory courses.
