Byron Butler, The Daily Tell

The Carnegie Corporation of New York has announced $10 million in grants to be used in the development and implementation of new elementary, secondary and post-secondary school designs and systems.

The grants are part of the corporation’s larger effort to support designs that address the weaknesses in the U.S. education system – such as poorly designed curricula, isolation from external resources, understaffed schools, incoherent management systems and entrenched school models that stifle innovation.

“If we as a nation are serious about offering all students the education they need to compete in a global economy – and deserve as citizens – we must seriously raise our expectations about student achievement and take whatever steps are necessary to replace dogma with solutions that will provide America’s students with the highest level of educational excellence,” said Carnegie Corporation of New York president Vartan Gregorian.

The grant is to be divided among three institutions working to improve the United States educational system.

The recently-formed U.S. Education Delivery Institute will receive $2.5 million, intended to help the nonprofit work with state and governmental education programs in cultivating the skills and technical capacity to implement education reform on a grand scale.

Another $2.5 million will be awarded to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The funds will help the foundation develop a one-year mathematics program designed to help community college students segue into four-year educational programs in the humanities and social sciences.

The final $5 million will go to the NewSchools Venture Fund. The group will invest the money in nonprofit entrepreneurial organizations that are dedicated to closing the achievement gap for underprivileged, underserved and immigrant children. Including this gift, the Carnegie Corporation has awarded the NewSchools Venture Fund with more than $7 million in the past 18 months.

The Carnegie Corporation was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1911. In the words of its founder, the corporation is dedicated to promoting “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.”