EXCELerator

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation agreed to fund a five-year pilot project with a $16 million grant. For the 2006–2007 school year, a total of eleven schools were selected in three large urban districts where the graduation rate was well below the national average and minority enrollment was above 50%.

For the 2007–2008 school year, sixteen additional schools were selected, for a total of 27.