Business Roundtable last month announced its recognition of five successful education programs for targeted contributions by leading companies. (News release)

BRT's vice president for education and workforce, Dann Linn, outlined the Philanthropy Initiative in a recent interview with Bloomberg Radio's Jane Stoddard Williams. Led by ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson, who heads BRT's Education and Workforce Committee, the BRT decided to focus a portion of corporate giving on educational programs with a proven record of performance, Dane explains what kinds of programs:

Programs that actually have data that show they are working, as opposed to individuals talking about children who feel much better because they were part of a program. We have worked to identify programs that are proving outcomes, whether that’s defined as students reading at grade level or teachers that are actually prepared to teach the content to the students that they teach day in and day out.

To qualify, programs had to demonstrate their effectiveness and capacity for being expanded, which included:

• Evidence of successful replication;
• Alignment with the Common Core State Standards; and
• Evidence that programs have been in operation for at least three years with demonstrated results over time.

BRT received 96 proposals from individual schools, non-profits, school districts and states covering areas drop-out rates and effective classroom teaching. About half dealt with STEM education, that is, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. After a rigorous and independent evaluation, five programs were recognized: ST Math, Success for All, New Teacher Center, the National Math and Science Initiative’s UTeach program and the NISL's Executive Development Program for School Leaders.

In the Bloomberg podcast, Williams also interviews Nancy A. Madden, Success for All cofounder, Ellen Moir, New Teacher Center founder, and Matthew Peterson, MIND Research Institute co-founder and ST Math creator.