In This Issue | Philanthropy in Ed. Reform

When I was in seventh grade, Mr. Gladstone held up my paper in front of the classroom one day. I'd written an outline for a short story about a horse race. With his big, battered hands—he'd been a boxer before becoming an English teacher—he held my paper aloft, and my heart sank. This could not be good, I thought. I was one of those "invisible" students who did well but didn't draw attention.

Then Mr. Gladstone smiled, and I felt myself gently plucked from obscurity by this popular "tough" teacher, whose neck disappeared into shoulders like mountains and whose smile was set off by a nose flattened in the ring long ago. He called my story outline a "poem," and he asked me to come to the front of the room to read it aloud.

And so I read my outline/ poem, "The Preakness," with a crashing heart and an elevated sense of my own potential. In that moment, Mr. Gladstone had turned a simple assignment into a life-changing event for a timid middle school girl. More than 30 years later, I still can't know if I would have kept on writing if not for Mr. Gladstone.

The image of the inspired teacher is a popular one. Hollywood movies about talented but unconventional teachers—think of Robin Williams's memorable Dead Poets Society and Julia Roberts's recent Mona Lisa Smile—stoke the public imagination about the power of a single teacher to change lives.

The image moves us because there's truth in it. But in doing the research for this issue of the magazine, I've come to consider more thoughtfully some larger forces at play in a teacher's ability to inspire. Our institutions of learning have long been shaped by the involvement of the great businesses and philanthropies of this country.

From Andrew Carnegie's 19th-century drive to put a free public library in every town in America to Bill and Melinda Gates's 21st-century initiative to link those public libraries to the Internet; from Westinghouse's sponsorship in the 1940s of the Science Talent Search student competition to Intel's present sponsorship of that prestigious event; people from the worlds of business and philanthropy have been steadfastly helping to set the stage for inspired teaching and learning.

It is true that there are teachers who do incredible things through sheer talent and perseverance with very little in the way of material support and professional development. But it is at least as true that, every day, teachers are carrying their students to new heights of learning by gaining a purchase on the solid ground of programs and initiatives made possible by philanthropies and businesses.

As this new century of education philanthropy unfolds, businesses and charitable organizations are, themselves, looking for firmer ground. Goodwill and deep pockets aren't sufficient to help lift America's world standing in education. Programs and practices must be validated by scientific research, many say. Beyond a growing conviction, it's also the law. The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act requires schools that are receiving Title I funds to use practices proven to work by empirical research.

Schools are looking to their partners in business, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector to help them put in place proven measures to improve schooling for every child. The stories that follow portray partnerships that, through research, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to school reform are elevating teaching and learning for all.