On its hundredth anniversary in 1988 the Society made a very special gift to the nation. The Society established the Education Foundation and endowed it with an outright gift of 20 million dollars. The earnings of the endowment were forever dedicated to improving the geographic literacy of American students. To encourage others to join the cause, the Society offered an additional 20 million dollar challenge grant. Every individual and corporate contribution to the new Education Foundation would be matched by an equal amount from the challenge grant. The response has been remarkable. Individuals, foundations, corporationseven state governments have contributed more than 15 million dollars to the Foundations endowment. Those contributions together with the Societys matching gifts allow the Foundation to support a 50-state grassroots network of teachers and academic geographers dedicated to improving geography education.
More than 150,000 teachers and hundreds of academic geographers representing more than 60 colleges and universities across the land have joined forces. They have organized themselves into 54 geographic alliances stretching from Alaska to Puerto Rico, from Maryland to California and everywhere in between. Dedicated to the principle that educational progress begins with the classroom, the alliances give teachers the knowledge, skills, and materials they need to make geography an exciting subject. Their efforts are beginning to pay dividends. In 1988, when the Society commissioned a Gallup survey to determine how much geography Americans knew, one in three could not locate the Pacific Ocean and one in seven could not find the United States on an unmarked world map. On a recent national examination of geography knowledge and skills nearly three-quarters of all students tested showed at least minimal command of the basics of geography. Half of them were able to draw fairly complex maps, and many were able to use geographic information to solve complicated problems.
The catalyst for this refreshing improvement is the Societys Education Foundation. Unlike many programs with national aims, the Education Foundation gives its alliance grantees broad discretion, requiring only that teachers participate in the planning and implementation of all activities. Alliance-trained teachers are having a broad and very visible effect on education. In more than 30 states they serve on state curriculum committees. A few have assumed major positions in state departments of education. One chairs a state board of education. Thousands more affect the lives of millions of students every school day.
As Society Chairman Gilbert Grosvenor assesses his legacy, he is proudest of his accomplishments in geography education. Even though he has stepped down as President of the Society, he will remain active in the affairs of the Education Foundation and the Geography Education Program. He is still as committed as ever to making American students the best in the world in geography.
Many challenges remain before Gil Grosvenor's goal is achieved, but the Education Foundation has proved to be a powerful stimulus for change. A new generation of teachers is entering the classroom. Hundreds of thousands of new students will join them over the next decade. The Foundation will use its influence to ensure that those teachers enter the classroom ready to teach geography not as a dull, rote subject but as a window on "the world and all that is in it."
In a world where major changes can occur in a matter of months rather than generations, it is hard to predict where education will be in another decade. Technologies that are emerging will change the way geography and all other subjects are taught. Other technologies will come along to take us in unimagined directions. But whatever happens, Gil Grosvenor, the Education Foundation, and the National Geographic Society will be there to help show the way.
|