Our Projects

PROJECT

Capturing and Sharing Knowledge to Build Capacity and Inform Grantmakings

FORD FOUNDATION’S TIME COLLABORATIVE

The Challenge

The TIME Collaborative was a joint effort between the Ford Foundation and the National Center on Time and Learning to radically improve learning for students in select public schools in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee. The Collaborative was designed to develop high-quality and sustainable expanded-time schools, engaging state and local partners in reimagining how time is used by both students and teachers. To build grantee capacity and inform current and future grantmaking approaches, the Ford Foundation sought a partner to capture and share knowledge and experiences from the initiative’s early implementation efforts.

The Learning Agenda Approach

The Learning Agenda applied its streamlined approach to capturing knowledge and making it useable. The team reviewed documents from the TIME initiative and interviewed key partners from the National Center on Time and Learning, state education agencies and local funding intermediaries. TLA distilled the content into brief profiles on the shape of the expanded learning movement in each state, and an informative report capturing early progress of the initiative, including:

  • state interest and motivation for participating;

  • definition of success;

  • implementation details and timeline;

  • leadership structure created to manage and execute the initiative;

  • enablers and barriers to progress;

  • evolution of the initiative; and

  • support needed to continue the work.

TLA presented the findings to grantees at a capacity-building convening.

The Results

The documents created by TLA provided the Foundation and grantees with essential information in a practical, shareable format. The state profiles and accompanying report facilitated information and best practice sharing across the five states and helped create a more closely connected network of learners.

In Their Own Words

“Through rigorous, collaborative field-building activities based on actionable information, The Learning Agenda helped us build both philanthropic and grantee capacity around expanding opportunity and justice in education.”

Sanjiv Rao
Senior Program Officer, Ford Foundation