Crowdsourcing for Edu-Change: Help Us Find Education Non-Profits to Support
Published January 05, 2009 @ 09:03PM PT
The Vision
There are a million education blogs, websites, and non-profits out there advocating for change. One beauty of change.org is its mission to bring together millions of people interested in change, and connect them to existing nonprofits already working to make the changes so many of us want, and in need of our support.
That vision - of serving as an activist portal that supports and grows existing groups collaboratively, instead of splintering them by creating redundant causes that compete with, and dilute, the work those groups are already doing - is what makes change.org unique.
Education.change.org is only four days old, so it's early days here. One of my top priorities right now is to identify and contact as many education non-profits worth supporting as I can. And there's no more sensible way to do that, as far as I can see, than to ask you all to pitch in by "crowdsourcing."
Huh?
Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.
A Simple Way You Can Help
Real simple: Hit "leave a comment" below, and paste links or contact info for the education non-profits you want us to support. We'll take it from there.
Eine Kleine Synchronicity: A Closing Story
I'm one of many thousands of educators who, after drinking the social-media-and-web 2.0-in-education koolaid a few years ago, has been blogging and networking (hey, follow me on Twitter) for education reform like the sanest of madmen. And while so many of us have been able to cause ripples with our work, the inherent solitude of being one voice among tens of thousands on the world-wide web has kept all of us from being able to make waves.
Frustration with that prompted me, about a year ago, to contact some people to discuss how we could consolidate our forces and create waves at the least, tsunamis at best, that aimed not just at talk, but at political action to change education.
Long story short, this classroom teacher had neither the time, resources, nor tech skills to make such a vision a reality, and that pained him.
Then came change.org.
Reacting to the news of this site's launch, one of the people involved in that old discussion, Scott Schwister in Minnesota, wrote this a couple of days ago:
Back in ancient times, during one of our potent conversations, you said something about a vision of web 3.0-to-come: read-write-ACT. Take all the words and thoughts and convictions and put them into action. And here it is, and here you are.
Life's been so fast lately, I'd forgotten those conversations. But Scott's right. The convergence is a mind-bender for me.
So Here We Are.
Let's get started. The pooled talent in the comments in four short days already inspires (and, yes, humbles and somewhat intimidates) me. I'm hoping it will come through on this crowdsourcing request. Help your pet education non-profits by adding them below?
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Comments (36)
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Author
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Clay is an American high school Humanities teacher, technology coach, and Apple Distinguished Educator who has taught for the last eight years in Asian international schools. According to law, he's married to his wife. According to his wife, he's married to his Mac.
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There wasn't a "reply" button that I could find - maybe you meant this "leave a comment" button? I hope so. The best nonprofit education org that I know of (whom I have also done some illustration work for, so I may be biased) is here:
www.appliedscholastics.org
More power to you in your quest, and I hope to be of assistance.
Posted by Matthew Veenker on 01/05/2009 @ 11:17PM PT
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Oops :) Thanks for both, Matthew. Change made.
Posted by Clay Burell on 01/06/2009 @ 12:41AM PT
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Hi folks,
I just lost a long post after I pressed the Post Comment button. It could be my script blocker. So this is a test. Please delete it if it makes it through.
Posted by Gregory Louie on 01/06/2009 @ 03:19AM PT
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Hi Clay,
My favorite non-profit is Concord Consortium.
What do they do? They create a body of interesting software to allow educators to communicate and to contribute open-ended science inquiries.
Check out their projects at:
http://www.concord.org/work/projects/#current
Posted by Gregory Louie on 01/06/2009 @ 03:54AM PT
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Hi Clay,
I tried to send a comment. no luck.
Posted by Gregory Louie on 01/06/2009 @ 03:59AM PT
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You should check out the Breakwater School in Portland Maine. They are a non-traditional school with a great sense of community invovlement.
<a href="http://breakwaterschool.org/">Breakwater School</a>
Posted by Derek Viger on 01/06/2009 @ 04:07AM PT
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I guess you can't post a link that way in a comment. Here is the straight link.
http://breakwaterschool.org/
Posted by Derek Viger on 01/06/2009 @ 04:08AM PT
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We all know that hitting and physical violence are wrong and not the proper way to teach our children, yet Physical (Corporal) Punishment of Schoolchildren by educators and school administrators is legal in 21 states today. The following non-profit organizations were founded by and are operated by volunteers who are concerned citizens who witnessed first-hand physical abuses of children occurring in schools, often-times where a child was restrained by more than one adult during the administration of physical punishment with a paddle. Please support the efforts of the following non-profit organizations working to Abolish Physical (Corporal) Punishment of Children in Schools (The monetary cost of eliminating teachers' right to assault and batter schoolchildren is $0):
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education www.nospank.net
National Coalition to Abolish Corporal Punishment in Schools wwwstophitting.com
The Hitting Stops Here! www.thehittingstopshere.com
The No Spanking Page www.neverhitachild.org
People Opposed to Paddling Students www.nospankingzone.org
Parenting Without Punishing www.nopunish.net
Posted by Julie Worley on 01/06/2009 @ 07:03AM PT
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I'd like to recommend the Institute for Humane Education (http://humaneeducation.org), whose mission is to create a humane world by training people to be humane educators and by empowering citizens to make choices that do the most good and least harm for all people, animals and the planet.
Posted by INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE EDUCATION on 01/06/2009 @ 11:08AM PT
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I would like to recommend the Alternative Education Resource Organization at http://www.educationrevolution.org. AERO is a nationwide group of alternative educators and other supporters that is dedicated to promoting educational alternatives and particularly fostering democratic education. The leader of the organization, Jerry Mintz, has consulted with schools all over the world to introduce students, teachers and school administrators to democratic education practices involving all three groups.
Cooper Zale
www.leftyparent.com
Posted by Cooper Zale on 01/06/2009 @ 12:25PM PT
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The Souce for Learning (www.sourceforlearning.org) is a small non-profit based in the U.S. that has been providing support to educational efforts (once just video, now loads more) for over 25 years. SFL was once known as NITV or Network for Instructional Television. Like many 20th century entities, SFL moved to being entirely web-based in the 90s.
What do they do? Several things. They provide a highly-respected (though only word-of-mouth-marketed) teacher resource web site, TeachersFirst.com, free for teachers and ad-free. They have a powerful, integrated early childhood assessment/curriculum/parent involvement tool that is being used in Head Starts, pre-K's, special ed EC programs, and day care settings and is PLAY based, NOT worksheet-based (PreschoolFirst.com). The fees for joining are an effort solely to recoup the development costs. Family childcare and single site daycares can subscribe for a tiny amount and kids have activities to build a love of learning and exploring for the rest of their lives. And parents who use it come to understand why "the play is the thing." A third, even smaller service of SFL is TeachersAndFamilies.com.
How do I know all this? I, like many passionate teachers, moonlighted for SFL for years. I am fortunate enough to work for them now. These are real teachers and education-passionate people who really want to support meaningful changes to benefit kids. These are the good teachers who stay up at night writing and finding good stuff for their peers. These are the ones who did not quit after 2 years to do something more lucrative or prestigious.
Posted by Candace Hackett Shively on 01/06/2009 @ 01:12PM PT
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I wanted to respond to Julie, who suggested supporting orgs working to abolish corporal punishment. I grew up with corporal punishment in my schools and I work in a large number of schools now where it's still going on. Thank you for highlighting this issue!
I just wanted to mention that there is an alternative to corporal punishment. It involves completing Functional Behavior Assessments for students with negative behavior, then supporting those students with Positive Behavior Interventions and Support. I don't know of a PBIS non-profit that we could support financially, but I would encourage everyone to check out the PBIS website that the US Office of Special Education Programs has on-line.
Posted by Jennifer Parker on 01/06/2009 @ 03:00PM PT
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Hey all - just found out about this site, great stuff. A few non-profits to put out there:
- Spark, San Francisco, CA, www.sparkprogram.org: "Spark is a youth empowerment organization, with a mission of inspiring middle-school youth to pursue their interests, create bonds with their communities, and develop a lifelong passion for learning."
- Fertile Grounds Project, New York, NY, www.fertilegrounds.org: "The Fertile Grounds Project’s mission is to provide young people with the space, tools, and support they need to take control over their own educations and build an identity in a world where they can belong."
- Youth on Board, Boston, MA, www.youthonboard.org: "Through trainings, workshops, and publications, Youth on Board prepares youth to be leaders and decision-makers in their communities and strengthens relationships between young people and adults.
- Teddy McArdle Free School, Little Falls, NJ, www.tmcafs.org: "Teddy McArdle is non-profit independent alternative school . . . based on democratic and free school educational philosophies.
Best,
Dana Bennis
Posted by Dana Bennis on 01/06/2009 @ 03:10PM PT
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Public Education Networkhttp://www.publiceducation.org/
Posted by Keturah Neville on 01/06/2009 @ 03:55PM PT
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Student-centered, real world learning.
Providing opportunity "one student at a time"
The Met, a Big Picture Learning School
www.metcenter.org
Met Dollars for Scholars
www.metcenter.org
Posted by Loriana De Crescenzo on 01/06/2009 @ 04:23PM PT
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Here are just a few non-profits dedicated to building and identifying best-practices for inclusive education and communities.Johanna
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(1) The Including Samuel Project:Using the power of documentary film forINCLUSIVE EDUCATION · SOCIAL CHANGEDISABILITY RIGHTS · WORLDWIDE OUTREACHPUBLIC AWARENESS · CURRICULUM AND TRAININGThe Including Samuel Project is a program of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Donations to The Including Samuel Project will help build more inclusive schools and communities through curriculum, training, and outreach.
(2) University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability: http://iod.unh.edu/
(3) Waisman Center: http://www.waisman.wisc.edu/cedd/indexfr.html
(4) Fraser Schools: http://www.fraser.org/about_fraser/
(5) Rise Schools: http://www.riseschool.org/
(6) Strive U: http://pslstrive.org/striveu.html
(7) L'Arche: http://larcheusa.org/
Posted by F F on 01/07/2009 @ 06:45AM PT
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Denver Scholarship Foundation: http://denverscholarship.org
Posted by Israel García on 01/07/2009 @ 06:50AM PT
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Here's to making waves.
I'll put in a plug for Admission Possible, a Minnesota org helping low-income kids gain admission to college. AP is already listed and active on Change.org. Find them at http://www.admissionpossible.org/.
Posted by Scott Schwister on 01/07/2009 @ 09:52AM PT
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How 'bout Teach for America? They bring some amazing teachers into some really difficult neighborhoods with great success!
www.teachforAmerica.org
Posted by Jess Hellman on 01/07/2009 @ 05:34PM PT
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Studio at Colton School
http://www.cano-la.org/studio_at_colton.html
We are currently seeking more support and as always more grants!
..........
Studio at Colton is an arts education program in New Orleans LA.
Studio at Colton School is an innovative and
educational studio and presentation environment providing both studio
and exhibition space to facilitate the creative activity of New Orleans
area.
There are nearly 100 artists of all disciplines and cultural
organizations working with students in a collaborative workshop
environment. This program aims to showcase the creative products of the
region and to help students improve their creative skills and work
habits as well as expand their performance and career expectations.
http://www.cano-la.org/studio_at_colton.html
Posted by leah walbourne on 01/08/2009 @ 11:09AM PT
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I work for an inspiring educational organization called Peace Village. This non-profit's philosophy shares Gandhi's view that "to create true peace, one must begin with the children". Peace Village works with young people to help them access their own powerful peacemaker within as well as teaches the history of non-violence, peace movements, resisistance to war and oppression, and conflict resolution. As well as summer camps in many Western states, Peace Village is an integral part of Network Charter School, an innovative charter school that provides a hands on - alternative education for young people grades 7-12 in Eugene, Oregon.
To find out more check out
http://www.peacevillageinc.org
Posted by Rena Dunbar on 01/08/2009 @ 02:28PM PT
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Rosie's Broadway Kids is a non-profit that's bringing performing arts classes into the neediest public schools in New York City.
Visit http://www.rosiesbroadwaykids.org to find out more.
Posted by Alex Karas on 01/08/2009 @ 03:28PM PT
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I have to say that Charter Schools aren't viable for the common good. I worked for David Brennan from November 2004 - June 2005 as a special education teacher. I wasn't renewed, I suspect, due to my unwillingness to compromise on matters of truthfullness.
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ShowNewsletter.aspx?ID=12&page=1634&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Before that, I worked for Willlard Wilson Feb.2004 - March 2004, teaching Spanish which is my other area of certification and experience. The reference which he provided me with is now useless:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090108/NEWS01/301080044/1056/COL02
Apparently, this is why he ran out of money for my Spanish program. In the actual reference, he recommended my work and said he ran out of money for the program. He also failed to make good on the verbal promise he made to provide me with a contract.
Posted by Jane Schiff on 01/08/2009 @ 05:24PM PT
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I actually disagree with this thread - not violently, but practically. In truth, all it really reveals is that so few public schools have an web presence independent enough to pass as a "nonprofit." In fact, the most exciting education I have seen is NOT among nonprofits, but in what at first appear to be pretty typical public schools. Where a kid and a teacher, or a bunch of kids, or a bunch of people, tackle solving real problems with the theoretical resources the curriculum can provide. Nothing is more exciting than the process of making something relevant - and that is much less common among nonprofits, whose relevance is almost always enough in jeopardy to demand a kind of defensive intensity. It is infinitely more exciting when and where a school has a communal attitude that MAKES new ideas from old methods, and then BENDS those ideas to solve immediate problems, whether those problems be personal, psychological, political, practical, industrial, or whatever.
I don't know whether I've ranted about it before but in the 19th century Louis Agassiz taught freshman biology to Harvard students in the days before Darwin. He would wander the labs and keep students from dissecting their fish, muttering as he walked, "Watch your fish." I really think public education needs a lot of "watching," and people should invest the kind of energy they now invest in nonprofits in making their schools as exciting and as moving as possible.
I also think, in spite of how nice places like Citizens Schools, Teach for America, and other "star like" non-profits, that much of the problem of public education has come from "outsourcing" some of their critical functions. At one time, teachers learned through a mentorship and apprenticeship, through teams assembled from different disciplines often working with different ages on similar problem focused activities. Now, we can barely imagine a public school doing that, but that's our roots. Let's return, and let's keep those tax dollars working harder rather than siphon more energy into special schticks of edupreneurial wheeler dealers. With all deference to the wisdom of those dealers, they remind me very uncomfortably of their peers on Wall Street, who screwed up the economy. Good ideas are often the paving on the street to perdition.
Posted by Joe Beckmann on 01/10/2009 @ 05:42PM PT
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Hi:
I work at Sapientis a non profit organization in Puerto Rico dedicated to improve the quality of the public education system. We are the third largest school district in the US and unfortunately our students are falling behind.
Sapientis is the only organization in Puerto Rico that uses the adaptive leadership model (developed in Harvard) to train program participants in schools to be able to confront and resolve their problems. We also are developing a social movement that works toward getting public policy to improve the quality of the public education system. Visit www.sapientis.org (we have a bilingual web site) to get more information.
Posted by Yasmin Velez on 01/13/2009 @ 08:17AM PT
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I personally feel that the best way to help schools and nonprofit organizations is by finding additional assistance within the community - whether it's paid or unpaid help - to fill the gaps. Upbear.org is a new and innovative site dedicated to supporting educational endeavors. The initial goal of Upbear is to provide a free online location for schools and organizations in the Baltimore area the ability to post any number of jobs and volunteer opportunities. As the site grows, especially to other cities, states and countries, the concept will be expanded to include the ability for businesses to get involved with their employees who are interested in educational aspirations. By creating a simple way for organizations to post available assignments, as well as an easy solution for individuals to find ways to help, schools will finally be able to reduce teacher stress levels and get back to focusing on student learning.
Posted by Ben Woods on 01/15/2009 @ 05:55PM PT
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We have changed k-12 schools and the way that they teach children and help teachers. We now want to bring this to every child in need and every parent in hope. We want to inspire teachers again and help communities to reach the goals that they desire. We are www.starshineacademy.org in Arizona and in Sudan. Please help us to spread what works and then improve upon that. It is time to change and stop talking about how we might.
Posted by Trish McCarty on 01/18/2009 @ 08:11PM PT
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What if education were truly relevant and child-centered, relying on innate human curiosity and the desire to master one's environment? What if, instead of giving lip service to notions like empowerment and responsibility, schools were actually driven by such things?
For over 40 years, Sudbury schools have shown the amazing results of combining freedom with responsibility, trusting children while expecting much of them. The Center for Advancing Sudbury Education exists to promote awareness of the Sudbury model, as well as to provide support services for Sudbury schools around the world.
http://www.sudburyschooling.com/
see also http://apps.facebook.com/causes/55710?m=3124eff7
Posted by Bruce Smith on 01/27/2009 @ 01:22PM PT
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Hi there, congratulations on your site! Here are the two most important non-for-profit organizations to support: ChallengeDay.org and Soulshoppe.com. They are anti-bullying respect programs, that have a sustainable feature. So hmmm as opposed to those one day seminars schools get to encourage their kids and staff to respect one another (which doesn't work). They have the schools form a team of staff, peers, administrators and parents to sustain what they come in and do. What they come in and do is nothing short of miraculous!
Posted by Lois Roberts on 02/03/2009 @ 08:12AM PT
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There is a school that trains volunteers for international development positions, where teams of foreigners relearn the wheel. It's affiliated with Humana People to People and the DRH Movement, based on a travelling highschool experiencial education program in Europe. It's a great introduction for the right person, although it needs a lot of professional organizational help.
Posted by tamsin mcewen on 02/15/2009 @ 08:07PM PT
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The LAMP (Learning About Multimedia Literacy) is a nonprofit educational organization for media literacy in New York--how about bringing education into the digital age?
http://www.thelampnyc.org
Posted by LEARNING ABOUT MULTIMEDIA PROJECT on 03/19/2009 @ 12:40PM PT
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The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum is a non-profit language arts and character development curriculum for sixth and ninth grade students in Boston and beyond.A year-long language arts curriculum that invites young people to explore their own capacity to act courageously, the core of the curriculum is the reading of award-winning, age-appropriate books that stress the theme of courage in the lives of children and young adults.
The program requires students to examine the many forms of courage by reading these novels, participating in classroom discussions, and writing about courage in their own lives in the lives of those around them and in the community.
Posted by Meredith Dabek on 03/26/2009 @ 06:48AM PT
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I would like to recommend the nonprofit I work for, the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Inc. (MMEP). Since our founding in 1987, the staff, Board Members, and Partners have sought to "increase success for students of color and American Indian students in Minnesota schools, colleges, and universities."
Although our mission specifically names students of color, in reality all students in Minnesota benefit. Case in point, one of our initiatives, the Minnesota College Access Network (MCAN), is working to close the college participation gap of low income, students of color, and first-generation college students. Just recently, we held a series of financial aid trainings, delivered in several different home languages, which reached over 470 students and parents.
Our newest initiative is a Covenant for Minnesota setting out specific benchmarks to close the achievement gap. We like to say that, "A democratic society cannot exist unless all students are succeeding academically."
Posted by Caren Custer on 06/02/2009 @ 12:48PM PT
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Hello, I am currently the Social Networking Intern at the Children's Forum and I am so pleased to recommend this non profit. The Children's Forum, a non profit organization with a mission to provide high-quality early care and educational services to all children, which shares the same philosophy and goals as Crowdsourcing for EDU-Change.
The Children's Forum would love to expand our relations with you and we have created our own Facebook page located under the "Children's Forum," http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Childrens-Forum/118483045976. We invite you to join our page and continue spreading knowledge on early care and education issues. Thank you.
Posted by Lyndsi Stafford on 06/04/2009 @ 12:35PM PT
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Parents United for Public Schools, http://www.parentsunited.org
helps parents find their voice where school policy and funding decisions are made.
Posted by Jennifer Armstrong on 11/05/2009 @ 08:38AM PT
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I promise this is a great educational non-profit resource that's worth supporting: the George Lucas Educational Foundation (aka Edutopia.org)
http://www.edutopia.org/
Posted by Lora Ma on 11/05/2009 @ 11:46AM PT
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