Learning Forward, in partnership with Educate Texas, a public-private initiative of Communities Foundation of Texas, and the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, has been selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as an inaugural recipient of a Networks for School Improvement grant. The team will establish the first-ever Texas Network for School Improvement Collaborative (TXNSI Collaborative) with the one-year, $500,000 grant, which aims to increase 8th-grade math proficiency — a key indicator in college success — among low-income and minority students at 10 North Texas schools. The TXNSI Collaborative is one of 19 networks in 13 states using continuous improvement methods to change middle school and high school outcomes, funded by a total of $92 million in grants