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We are collaborating with our friends at the Russell Sage Foundation to sponsor a research grants competition on educational inequality that will support a racially and ethnically diverse cadre of early-career scholars.
It’s important to recognize that the form of research contributes to the social sense-making process, and can create a body of shared understandings based on research principles. Research designed for use, with specific guidance for practice, can embed common ideas in state school improvement delivery systems.
Despite widespread efforts by intermediaries to shape education by conveying research to policymakers, a recent study finds that very few of these policymakers report using research when making decisions. As other studies have found instances where research can shape policy and practice in a variety ways, what explains this contradiction? And what does it mean for efforts to improve the use of research evidence?
Whether it is instrumental or conceptual, research use needs to be measured in order to be understood. But what exactly are we measuring?
Research works in subtle ways to influence policy decisions and practice. Bill Penuel and Anna-Ruth Allen outline three approaches that can help identify the uptake of ideas from research in practice.
Understanding the role knowledge plays in decision making processes is less like hearing one instrument in an orchestral texture than understanding how fine tuning each instrument can influence the overall sound.
William T. Grant Foundation President Adam Gamoran spoke to the American Educational Research Association about our focus on identifying programs, policies, and practices to reduce inequality among youth in the United States.
Sarah Sparks writes in EdWeek that the “new research finds an insidious cycle” and that “fifteen years of new programs, testing, standards, and accountability have not ended racial achievement gaps in the United States.”
Michigan State University’s Jennifer and Zachary Neal are using their recent research grant to investigate the ways that research evidence is identified, evaluated, and adopted by school district leaders. The Neals lead the Michigan School Program Information Project (MiSPI), which is focused on understanding how public school administrators find information about school programs, and how […]
Michele McLaughlin, President of the Knowledge Alliance, talks about her experience interacting with decision makers in Washington, reflects on the often unseen ways that research shapes and influences ideas, and outlines implications for researchers looking to inform policy and practice.
We are pleased to announce the 2016 class of William T. Grant Scholars. Launched in 1982, the Scholars Program supports the professional development of promising researchers in the social, behavioral, and health sciences who have received their degree within the past seven years. To date, the program has sponsored more than 150 talented researchers. Each […]
We recently observed and interviewed leaders in a major urban school district as they set out to revise their district’s school improvement policies. In pursuing their goals, the leaders we followed drew heavily from the 2010 book, Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Drawn from a longitudinal research study of hundreds of schools, Organizing […]
This year, the American Educational Research Association (AREA) will celebrate its one-hundredth anniversary at its annual meeting in Washington, DC on April 8-12, 2016. Throughout its history, AERA has provided a forum for researchers to share substantive findings and methodological advances to further the field. In recent years, AERA has become increasingly engaged in the […]
As we approach the next generation of evidence-based policy, it’s essential that we take steps to ensure that practitioners and decision makers at the state and local level have the support they need.
2016 Application Guidelines for the William T. Grant Scholars Program Available Now
Updated for 2016, our new application guide describes the Foundation’s current research focus areas and outlines eligibility and selection criteria for the William T. Grant Scholars Program.