The CME Group Foundation has launched the second phase of its early math education initiative with twenty-three grants totaling $3.6 million.

Established in 2010, the multiyear effort aims to help young children from low-income communities develop proficiency in math by providing a birth through third grade continuum of best practices in professional development for teachers and caregivers. To that end, the new grants, which will be allocated over three years, will be used to scale professional development and family engagement programs, make investments in pre-service teacher prep, and support research and educational conferences. Phase-one grant recipients receiving a second grant include Teach for America, the Ounce of Prevention Fund, Christopher House, and Voices for Illinois Children.

"[The] CME Group Foundation's support of Teach For America's early math work in Chicago will allow more than a hundred Teach For America teachers to provide more than twenty-two hundred low-income [Chicago Public School] students with high-quality early math instruction in the 2016-17 school year," said Ben Chrischilles, senior manager of development and government affairs for TFA. "We're very grateful for the community of organizations [the] CME Group Foundation has brought together to focus on this issue and look forward to working together to increase early math outcomes for CPS students."

For a complete list of recipients, see the CME Group Foundation web site.