The Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee, a refugee aid group, won a first-of-its kind $100 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Wednesday for an ambitious education and outreach program designed to address the needs of displaced Syrian children.

The program was selected for the five-year grant from a list of finalists for the foundation's 100&Change competition, which asked organizations to propose "bold solutions to critical problems of our time."

"We are compelled to respond to the urgent Syrian refugee crisis by supporting what will be the largest early childhood intervention program ever created in a humanitarian setting," MacArthur President Julia Stasch said in a statement. "Less than two percent of the global humanitarian aid budget is dedicated to education, and only a sliver of all education assistance benefits young children. The longer-term goal is to change the system of humanitarian aid to focus more on helping to ensure the future of young children through education."

[For more on this story by  Evie Blad, go to http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek...en-syria-trauma.html]